Assessing the impact of land consolidation on agricultural transport-related Co₂ emissions

Carbon emissions are one of the most important drivers of climate change, threatening global sustainability goals. The agricultural sector, which is one of the important sources of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), deepens this problem with increased fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions due to land fragmentation. When fragmented lands are transformed into large and holistic agricultural areas thanks to land consolidation (LC), tractor operations can be carried out more regularly and this can reduce fuel consumption. This study examines the impacts on transport-related CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption in three different land consolidation areas (Akçaşar, Borukuyu and Yenikuyu). Transportation distances before and after land consolidation were analysed and linked to tractor fuel consumption; transport-related CO₂ emissions were estimated based on these data. In the calculations, the Tier 1 method was applied based on the guide published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The study also tested whether the differences in distance achieved in the before and after LC periods were statistically significant. The results show that the number of parcels decreased and transportation distances were significantly reduced after land consolidation. Accordingly, fuel consumption and transport-related CO₂ emissions decreased by 32% in Akçaşar, 25% in Borukuyu, and 30% in Yenikuyu, respectively. Paired sample t-test and Wilcoxon analyses confirmed that these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.001), while Cohen’s d values indicated a moderate effect size. These findings demonstrate that land consolidation can significantly reduce transport-related emissions by improving the efficiency of agricultural transportation processes and can contribute to sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation policies.