Abstract
Ratoon rice (RR) is regarded as a labor-saving and efficient approach to rice cultivation; however, sub-optimal production techniques (fertilization, irrigation, harvesting) may lead to serious environmental problems and unsustainable agriculture. In this study, emergy analysis was combined with indicators of soil fertility, global warming potential (GWP), and profitability to comprehensively assess the sustainability performance of three cultivation modes: (i) traditional farm practice (TRA), (ii) optimized mode (OPT), and (iii) OPT plus green manure planting (OPTM). Over 2 years, compared with the TRA mode, OPT and OPTM modes increased total rice yield by 10% and 19% on average and improved profit by 233.7 and 456.5 Yuan ha−1, respectively. Single emergy analysis results showed that, compared with the TRA mode, OPT and OPTM (2-year average value) modes increased production efficiency by 10% and 8%, reduced renewable fraction and emergy sustainability index by 14–19% and 18–23%, respectively, and increased environmental loading ratio by 31% and 22%. Multiple EMA analysis results showed that, compared with the TRA mode, OPT and OPTM (2-year average value) modes reduced UEVNmin by 23% and 21% and increased UEVGWP 32% and 51%, respectively. The UEVTotal revenue and UEVBenefit of OPT and OPTM increased by 8–29% and 4–37%, respectively, compared with TRA mode. The comprehensive assessment indicated that, despite OPT and OPTM modes have a range of improvements and dis-improvements versus the TRA mode, OPTM was the more sustainable mode of RR production overall. However, some sustainability indicators remained poor, and there remains scope for further optimization via, e.g., precision application of enhanced-efficiency fertilizers, application of a straw-decomposing inoculant to improve soil fertility, and use of new improved rice varieties with high regenerative ability to improve the yield of ratoon crops.
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Acknowledgements
Thanks to C.F Li for data collection.
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This work is supported by the Engineering Research Center of Ecology and Agricultural Use of Wetland, Ministry of Education (KF202109), and Hubei special fund for agricultural science and technology innovation (2018skjcx01).
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Conceptualization and methodology: J.H. Investigation and data collection were performed by Z.D. and R.H. Analysis and review were performed by Z.D. and D.S. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Z.D., and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Ding, Z., Hu, R., Styles, D. et al. Optimized ratoon rice system to sustain cleaner food production in Jianghan Plain, China: a comprehensive emergy assessment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 24639–24650 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17747-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17747-1