Abstract
Operationalization of sustainability assessments is necessary to promote the sustainable development of agroecosystems. However, primarily, focus has been on the development of sustainability assessment tools with less attention on whether these are suitable for adoption and implementation in specific areas. This drawback could lead to inappropriate management guidance for agricultural practices. Hence, three extensively used models, i.e., the Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR) framework, ecological footprint (EF), and emergy analysis (EMA), were applied to quantify the sustainability performance of the agroecosystems in 27 cities in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA), China, in 2016. The models were compared using the Pearson correlation analysis and natural break method, to determine a more adaptive method for agricultural sustainability assessments. The level of agricultural sustainable development of each city varied according to the methodology considered for its calculation. Compared with the EMA model, the DPSIR and EF models showed a better relationship (Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.71). The DPSIR model more accurately represented regional rankings of the agricultural sustainability at the municipality level due to its comprehensive consideration of multiple dimension factors and significance for policy making. However, each methodology has its own contribution depending on the study objectives. Hence, different models should be used for adequate determination of agricultural sustainable development at different regional scales; this would also enable better implementation of agricultural practices as well as policies in any given agricultural area for promoting the sustainable development of agroecosystems.
Highlights
Agriculture is the foundation of human survival and development, which provides multiple ecosystem services, such as a food supply, environmental conditioning, and cultural education, among others [1]
For the exploration of the different assessment results, the normalized assessment results of the three approaches are conducted with Pearson correlation analysis based on SPSS 26.0 and cluster analysis by using the natural break method based on ArcGIS 10.2, respectively
Changzhou, Jiaxing, and Taizhou are characterized by preferable performance, while Hefei and Tongling show the lowest level, with an Sustainable Development Index (SDI) value of 0.39
Summary
Agriculture is the foundation of human survival and development, which provides multiple ecosystem services, such as a food supply, environmental conditioning, and cultural education, among others [1]. Agricultural sustainability is defined as practices that meet current and future societal needs for food and fiber, for ecosystem services, and for healthy lives, and that do so by maximizing the net benefit to society when all costs and benefits of the practices are considered [2]. Sustainability 2021, 13, 121 is encouraged for sustainable development of agroecosystem, e.g., a small low-pressure irrigation network, recycling of waste resources, and the use of clean energy and crop straw for fermenting biogas [5]. As the embodiment of sustainable development ideas in the agricultural field, sustainable agriculture has been increasingly highlighted in both policy agendas and the capital market in recent years [6]
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