Purpose The growing awareness of the importance of biodiversity in agroecosystems in increasing and ensuring the supply of biomass has led to heightened interest from governments and farmers in alternative crops. This article assesses one such alternative crop, cup plant ( Silphium perfoliatum L.), in terms of the environmental aspects of cultivation for forage production. Many studies have previously focused on cup plant, but so far, this plant has not been assessed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. Materials and methods This study compares the environmental load of cup plant with the most commonly grown silage crops in Central European conditions—maize—and with another common forage crop—lucerne using LCA. The system boundaries include all the processes from cradle to farm gate and both mass-based (1 ton of dry matter) and area-based (1 ha of monoculture) functional units were chosen for the purposes of this study. The results cover the impact categories related to the agricultural LCAs, and the ReCiPe Midpoint (H) characterization model was used for the data expression, by using SimaPro 9.0.0.40 software. Results This study compares the cultivation of cup plant with the most commonly grown silage crop in Central European conditions—maize—and with another common forage crop—lucerne. The paper shows the potential of cup plant to replace conventional silage (maize and lucerne silage mix) with certain environmental savings in selected impact categories, and importantly, while still maintaining the same performance levels in dairy farming as with conventional silage, as already reported in previous publications. For the Czech Republic alone, this would, in practice, mean replacing up to 50,000 ha of silage maize and reducing the environmental load by about tens of percent or more within the various impact categories and years of cultivation. Conclusion Cup plant can replace the yield and quality of silage maize, represents a lower environmental load per unit of production and unit of area and generally carries many other benefits. Thus, cup plant is a recommendable option for dairy farming. Given the recent experience and knowledge of the issue, the cup plant can be considered an effective alternative to conventional silage.

中文翻译：

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从 LCA 的角度来看，杯子植物是传统青贮饲料的替代品

目的 越来越意识到农业生态系统中生物多样性在增加和确保生物量供应方面的重要性，这导致政府和农民对替代作物的兴趣日益浓厚。本文评估了一种这样的替代作物，杯形植物 (Silphium perfoliatum L.)，从用于饲草生产的环境方面考虑。许多研究以前都集中在杯类植物上，但到目前为止，还没有使用生命周期评估 (LCA) 方法对这种植物进行评估。材料和方法 本研究使用 LCA 比较了杯形植物与中欧条件下最常见的青贮作物——玉米——以及另一种常见的饲料作物——苜蓿的环境负荷。系统边界包括从摇篮到农场大门的所有过程，本研究选择了基于质量（1 吨干物质）和基于面积（1 公顷单一栽培）的功能单元。结果涵盖了与农业 LCA 相关的影响类别，并通过使用 SimaPro 9.0.0.40 软件使用 ReCiPe Midpoint (H) 表征模型进行数据表达。结果 本研究将杯形植物的栽培与中欧条件下最常见的青贮作物（玉米）以及另一种常见的饲料作物（苜蓿）进行了比较。该论文展示了杯装植物替代传统青贮饲料（玉米和苜蓿青贮混合料）的潜力，并在选定的影响类别中具有一定的环境节约，而且重要的是，同时仍保持与传统青贮饲料相同的奶牛养殖性能水平，如先前出版物中所述。仅就捷克共和国而言，这在实践中就意味着要更换多达 50,000 公顷的青贮玉米，并在各种影响类别和种植年限内将环境负荷降低约百分之几十或更多。结论杯植可以替代青贮玉米的产量和质量，代表较低的单位产量和单位面积环境负荷，并且通常具有许多其他好处。因此，杯具是奶牛养殖的推荐选择。鉴于最近在该问题上的经验和知识，杯型植物可被视为传统青贮饲料的有效替代品。在实践中，这意味着要更换多达 50,000 公顷的青贮玉米，并在各种影响类别和种植年限内将环境负荷降低约百分之几十或更多。结论杯植可以替代青贮玉米的产量和质量，代表较低的单位产量和单位面积环境负荷，并且通常具有许多其他好处。因此，杯具是奶牛养殖的推荐选择。鉴于最近在该问题上的经验和知识，杯型植物可以被认为是传统青贮饲料的有效替代品。在实践中，这意味着要更换多达 50,000 公顷的青贮玉米，并在各种影响类别和种植年限内将环境负荷降低约百分之几十或更多。结论杯植可以替代青贮玉米的产量和质量，代表较低的单位产量和单位面积环境负荷，并且通常具有许多其他好处。因此，杯具是奶牛养殖的推荐选择。鉴于最近在该问题上的经验和知识，杯型植物可被视为传统青贮饲料的有效替代品。结论杯植可以替代青贮玉米的产量和质量，代表较低的单位产量和单位面积环境负荷，并且通常具有许多其他好处。因此，杯具是奶牛养殖的推荐选择。鉴于最近在该问题上的经验和知识，杯型植物可被视为传统青贮饲料的有效替代品。结论杯植可以替代青贮玉米的产量和质量，代表较低的单位产量和单位面积环境负荷，并且通常具有许多其他好处。因此，杯具是奶牛养殖的推荐选择。鉴于最近在该问题上的经验和知识，杯型植物可被视为传统青贮饲料的有效替代品。