Abstract
Wheat is a key global crop, providing about 20 % of dietary calories and protein in human diet. Italy produces 6.5 million ton annually on 540,000 hectares, ranking among the top 15 global producers. The aim of this study is to present a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of the soft wheat supply chain in central Italy, aligned with 14044:2006, using primary data provided by three major Umbrian farms (central Italy) as a part of the supply chain of an important Italian bakery products industry (Colussi SpA). These farms are large enough to be considered representative of the industrial wheat production in central Italy. Among the various stages of soft wheat production analyzed, the investigated system puts an emphasis on the protection against fungal diseases and the use of pesticides, as this phase involves particularly critical points due to process variability. The data collected for the LCI refers to 1 ton of product, and all the stages from raw materials production to seed harvesting were considered. Precise estimations of fuel consumption were performed by considering the specific power requirements of different soil operations. Furthermore, the incorporation of stubble into the soil, a common practice in the region, was partially included in the nitrogen emission calculations. While seed treatment and carbon input to the soil could not be accounted for, due to data unavailability, the study lays the groundwork for future integration of these elements by identifying suitable methodologies and data gaps. This study provides one of the few regionalized inventories available for soft wheat production, addressing a significant gap in the current literature, which often relies on secondary data due to the scarcity of primary datasets. A key contribution of this work is the integration of previously unavailable data, especially concerning emissions from pesticides and fertilizers – data typically absent from databases and often overlooked in LCA studies despite their relevance. Overall, this regionalized inventory contributes to the development of more accurate and context-specific environmental assessments of soft wheat production. It can serve as a reference for future studies in comparable agro-climatic areas and supports the improvement of sustainability strategies in cereal farming systems.