A sustainable agricultural supply chain considering substituting organic manure for chemical fertilizer

Abstract

Promoting organic manure utilization and increasing soil carbon sequestration is essential to develop sustainable agriculture, and has become a critical issue in agricultural planting. This study addresses a substitute organic manure for chemical fertilizer problem from the perspective of supply chain network with consideration of subsidy policy, social responsibility and quality preference. The supply chain network equilibrium methodology is adopted to investigate the optimal transaction prices and volumes among various decision-makers in the network with the objectives of maximizing economic profits and environmental benefits simultaneously. A production function based on experimental data of organic manure substitution is introduced into the agri-product supply chain network with multiple layers and participants. A table grape supply chain case is carried out in this work and the results show that: (1) Increasing subsidies is efficient to improve organic manure utilization, while excessive subsidies are not conducive to long-term sustainable agriculture development. (2) Social responsibility benefits the environment, while it would bring additional economic pressure for farmers. (3) High-quality preferences could inspire farmers to make green planting decisions. This study provides effective organic manure promotion strategies for different participants in the agri-product supply chain network, which could promote green planting and sustainable agricultural development.