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Abstract
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Cotton is one of the important products that play an important role in providing a livelihood for the rural in many parts of Iran. Cotton production requires huge amounts of resources such as water, fossil energy, and agro-chemicals, whose utilization degrades the environment in different ways. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the environmental impact of cotton production in the Southern Khorasan Province of Iran. For this purpose, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques have been used to investigate the environmental impact of cotton production. LCA is a practical method to assess the environmental impact of production flow, in which all phases of the product life cycle are examined by a comprehensive approach. Moreover, a combination of the LCA method with other managerial techniques like DEA could enable researchers to offer more practical and interpretable results to decision-makers. The findings of the efficiency test showed that the mean technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency, and scale efficiency were 0.81, 0.92, and 0.87, respectively. The highest environmental burden in cotton production was associated with respiratory inorganics followed by non-renewable energy, carcinogens, and global warming. In addition, the highest effects were on human health, and then, on resources and climate change. Energy, on-system pollution, and waste have played a significant role in the environmental impacts of cotton processing. This study suggests improving farmers' knowledge toward the optimum application of chemical fertilizers, or their substitution with green fertilizers, which reduces the environmental effect of growing cotton in the area
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