The carbon emission per kilogram for grapes is 0.824 kg, according to the new label for sunshine rose grapes grown by the Jiaxing Lvjiang Grape Professional Cooperative. Recently, the cooperative launched the Sunshine Rose Grape Carbon Label. This is both the first carbon label for the grape industry and the first carbon label for the fruit industry in China.
This circular green label is printed with the words "Sunshine Rose Grape Carbon Label", and the QR code on it can be scanned to track the carbon footprint of grapes from garden construction, and agricultural management, to fruit bagging, picking, packaging, and waste disposal. Among them, using farm manure instead of chemical fertilizer and reducing the use of fertilizer and pesticides alone contributed to 12.51% of the total carbon reduction.
Zhu Yifeng, president of The Lvjiang Grape Cooperative and president of the Grape Branch of the Zhejiang Fruit Industry Association, said,
"Throughout the wine-growing process, we strive to reduce our carbon footprint." This year, the cooperative's vineyards were dominated by farm manure, reducing the amount of fertilizer used by two-thirds and the use of fruit bags by one-third. This also reduced the production costs by more than 20%. Moreover, the branches pruned from the winter vineyard were crushed and mixed in farm manure, which not only achieved environmental protection but also reduced costs.
"The carbon footprint accounting of Sunshine Rose grape products meets international carbon footprint standards and has been notarized by the Hangzhou Lin'an Notary Office." Zhang Yanmei, the senior engineer of the Provincial Eco-Environmental Science Design and Research Institute, said that the carbon emissions of agricultural products account for 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Compared with energy and chemical fields, the cost of energy conservation and emission reduction in agriculture is lower.
"The use of carbon labels for agricultural products has helped people build awareness of carbon emission and promote major changes in the way that the agricultural products are grown."
In addition to the sunshine rose grape pilot in Nanhu District, the first group standard for the carbon footprint of the fruit industry in China is also being formulated, which can be used and promoted in the fruit industry.
Source: Hangzhou Daily