ORIGINAL PAPER Life cycle assessment of organic and mineral fertilizers in a crop sequence of cauliflower and tomato R. Quiro ´s • G. Villalba • X. Gabarrell • P. Mun ˜oz Received: 21 July 2014 / Revised: 4 January 2015 / Accepted: 5 January 2015 / Published online: 20 January 2015 Ó Islamic Azad University (IAU) 2015 Abstract This study presents a life cycle assessment of a crop sequence of cauliflower and tomato that is subjected to three different fertilization treatments; the crops were cultivated in a Mediterranean region. The main objective of this study is the assessment of organic and mineral fertil- izers that are applied to a crop sequence of tomato and cauliflower. Two allocation procedures that are based on the crop cultivation time and the degree of nitrogen min- eralization were implemented to allocate the compost burden to the crops. The results indicated that the crops fertilized with home compost achieved the best environ- mental performance in all impact categories, regardless of the allocation methods, with the exception of marine eutrophication and terrestrial acidification. The comparison of the impact (kg eq. of pollutant/day) on the entire hor- ticultural cycle with the individual crops indicates that cycle yielded the least amount of impact among the assessed categories. The crops that were fertilized with the home compost using the allocation method, which is based on the degree of nitrogen in the soil, exhibited the least impact value among all categories. However, the allocation procedure based on the cultivation duration was considered to be the better attributional method given the high degree of uncertainty in the nitrogen degradation. This uncertainty is related to the complex interactions among the variables to metabolize the following nutrients (i.e., nitrogen) of fertilizers: variety of crops, crop management, soil type, weather conditions and fertilizer. Keywords Compost Á Impacts Á Horticultural Á Nitrogen Á Soil Á Weather Introduction Agriculture is considered to be a major contributor to some existing environmental impacts, such as water pollution, given the intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides (Ongley 1996; European Commission 1999; Laegreid et al. 1999). Fertilizer and pesticide applications affect not only the target crop but also subsequent crops. A crop sequence is a farming practice in which different crops are grown in the same field at different times over several years. This practice is implemented to promote soil fertility and minimize the development of pests, and weeds while ensuring optimal nutrient management. Multi-crop- ping systems have several advantages, such as increased production, effective pest, disease and weed control and improved soil health (Ehrmann and Ritz 2013). The timing and crops of a rotation are dependent on the type of farming (arable-mixed or organic/conventional), local cli- mate conditions, soil type, water availability, irrigation, type of crop and potential market opportunities, which are Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13762-015-0756-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. R. Quiro ´s Á G. Villalba Á X. Gabarrell Sostenipra Research Group, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Auto `noma de Barcelona, Edifici C Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain R. Quiro ´s (&) Á G. Villalba Á X. Gabarrell Department of Chemical Engineering XRB, Universitat Auto `noma de Barcelona, Edifici Q Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain e-mail: Roberto.quiros@uab.cat P. Mun ˜oz Sostenipra Research Group, Institute of Research in Agrifood Sector (IRTA), Environmental Horticulture, Cabrils, 08348 Barcelona, Spain 123 Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. (2015) 12:3299–3316 DOI 10.1007/s13762-015-0756-7