INTEGRATING ECONOMIC OPTIMIZATION AND LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT IN ITALIAN WHEAT FARMING: A WEB-BASED INTERFACE

This work presents a freely accessible web interface designed to enhance awareness among local stakeholders regarding the environmental footprint of wheat production. Users input key parameters, including province, altimetry, expected wheat selling price, and fertilizer, herbicide, and insecticide unit costs. Upon submission, the system calculates the expected yield per hectare and the required input levels that maximize profit under three distinct climatic conditions: favorable, normal, and unfavorable. The computations are based on an economic maximization framework. The parameters are estimated at the province-altimetry level using approximately 20,000 observations of durum wheat-producing farms from 2008 to 2022 taken from the Rete di Informazione Contabile Agricola (RICA). Finally, the computed input levels are integrated into a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to quantify key environmental sustainability indicators.