Methodologies for the Sustainability Assessment of Agricultural Production Systems, with a Focus on Rice: A Review

The intensification of agricultural production is connected to the increased use of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation water, and energy. Among all cropping systems, rice cultivation is considered to be one of the most significant sources of environmental harm due to the flooding conditions in which rice normally grows; at the same time, rice has important economic and social implications, especially in areas where it is a staple food. In the last 20 years, sustainable development of agricultural production has become a priority for scientific research and policy programs. Several studies proposed methodological frameworks to assess the impacts of different management practices adopted in agro-ecosystems and to identify strategies to mitigate the negative effects of agricultural intensification. Such methodologies are based on the use of particular indicators, which are increasingly seen as crucial tools in impact assessment studies and for decision making. This paper aims to review and analyze the most significant methodological frameworks developed to assess the sustainability of agricultural production systems, with a particular focus on rice cultivation. The analysis includes highlighting which dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental, social, and governance) are covered by each method and identifying which indicators are used to describe the different dimensions. The spatial scale of the application of the indicators, their typology, the data needed for their implementation, and the criteria for formulating the overall sustainability judgment were then examined. The analysis highlighted the scarce availability of clear operational data for the calculation of the indicators and the often-limited involvement of stakeholders in the development and implementation of the methodologies. The exceptions to these limitations are represented by a few methodologies developed under the umbrella of important international organizations to promote sustainability and research efficiency in specific agricultural production systems, such as the SRP (sustainable rice platform) for rice. Finally, the analysis shows that there is a need to develop methodologies that are applicable not only to an individual farm or group of farms, but also at larger spatial scales (district, watershed, region), which are often those of greatest interest to decision makers.

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Old Wine in New Bottles: Exploiting Data from the EU’s Farm Accountancy Data Network for Pan-EU Sustainability Assessments of Agricultural Production Systems

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su131810080 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (18) ◽

pp. 10080

Author(s):

Keith B. Matthews ◽

Ansel Renner ◽

Kirsty L. Blackstock ◽

Kerry A. Waylen ◽

Dave G. Miller ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Production ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Production Systems ◽

Data Network ◽

Eu Policy ◽

Farm Accountancy Data Network ◽

Specific Implementation ◽

Sustainability Assessments ◽

Agricultural Production Systems

The paper presents insights from carrying out a pan-EU sustainability assessment using Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data (the old wine) with societal metabolism accounting (SMA) processes (the new bottles). The SMA was deployed as part of a transdisciplinary study with EU policy stakeholders of how EU policy may need to change to deliver sustainability commitments, particularly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The paper outlines the concepts underlying SMA and its specific implementation using the FADN data. A key focus was on the interactions between crop and livestock systems and how this determines imported feedstuffs requirements, with environmental and other footprints beyond the EU. Examples of agricultural production systems performance are presented in terms of financial/efficiency, resource use (particularly the water footprint) and quantifies potential pressures on the environment. Benefits and limitations of the FADN dataset and the SMA outputs are discussed, highlighting the challenges of linking quantified pressures with environmental impacts. The paper concludes that the complexity of agriculture’s interactions with economy and society means there is great need for conceptual frameworks, such as SMA, that can take multiple, non-equivalent, perspectives and that can be deployed with policy stakeholders despite generating uncomfortable knowledge.

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Best Management Practices (BMPs): Perimeter Borders

EDIS ◽

10.32473/edis-ae439-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 2009 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Kati W. Migliaccio ◽

Brian Boman ◽

Jemy Hinton ◽

Kevin Hancock

Keyword(s):

Best Management Practices ◽

Agricultural Production ◽

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

Biological Engineering ◽

Fact Sheet ◽

Best Management ◽

Agricultural Production Systems

AE439, a 2-page illustrated fact sheet by Kati W. Migliaccio, Brian Boman, Jemy Hinton, and Kevin Hancock, describes perimeter borders used in agricultural production systems in Florida, their benefits and maintenance. Includes references. Published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, January 2009. AE439/AE439: Best Management Practices (BMPs): Perimeter Borders (ufl.edu)

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Prospects for the development of agrarian production systems in in the Right Bank Polesie of Ukraine

Interdepartmental thematic scientific collection "Agriculture" ◽

10.31073/zem.95.69-72 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (95) ◽

pp. 69-72

Author(s):

Yu.A. Tarariko ◽

L.V. Datsko ◽

M.O. Datsko

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Economic Feasibility ◽

Capital Investments ◽

Resource Potential ◽

Grain Processing ◽

Processing And Storage ◽

The Right ◽

And Storage ◽

Agricultural Production Systems

The aim of the work is to assess the existing and prospective models for the development of agricultural production in Central Polesie on the basis of economic feasibility and ecological balance. The evaluation of promising agricultural production systems was carried out with the help of simulation modeling of various infrastructure options at the levels of crop and multisectoral specialization of agroecosystems. The agro-resource potential of Central Polesie is better implemented in the rotation with lupine, corn and flax dolguntsem with well-developed infrastructure, including crop, livestock units, grain processing and storage systems, feed, finished products and waste processing in the bioenergetic station. The expected income for the formation of such an infrastructure is almost 8 thousand dollars. / with a payback period of capital investments of 2-3 years.

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Nitrate Leaching to a Shallow Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Aquifer as Influenced by Conventional No-Till and Low-Input Sustainable Grain Production Systems

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1993.0475 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 28 (3-5) ◽

pp. 691-700 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

J. P. Craig ◽

R. R. Weil

Keyword(s):

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Cropping System ◽

Atlantic Coastal Plain ◽

Grain Production ◽

Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽

Mineral N ◽

Low Input ◽

No Till

In December, 1987, the states in the Chesapeake Bay region, along with the federal government, signed an agreement which called for a 40% reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus loadings to the Bay by the year 2000. To accomplish this goal, major reductions in nutrient loadings associated with agricultural management practices were deemed necessary. The objective of this study was to determine if reducing fertilizer inputs to the NT system would result in a reduction in nitrogen contamination of groundwater. In this study, groundwater, soil, and percolate samples were collected from two cropping systems. The first system was a conventional no-till (NT) grain production system with a two-year rotation of corn/winter wheat/double crop soybean. The second system, denoted low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA), produced the same crops using a winter legume and relay-cropped soybeans into standing wheat to reduce nitrogen and herbicide inputs. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in groundwater were significantly lower under the LISA system. Over 80% of the NT groundwater samples had NO3-N concentrations greater than 10 mgl-1, compared to only 4% for the LISA cropping system. Significantly lower soil mineral N to a depth of 180 cm was also observed. The NT soil had nearly twice as much mineral N present in the 90-180 cm portion than the LISA cropping system.

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