Abstract
An integrated method is required for comprehensive assessment of the environmental impacts and economic benefits of rice production systems. Therefore, the objective of this study was to apply different footprinting approaches (carbon footprint (CF), nitrogen footprint (NF), water footprint (WF)) and determine the economic return on organic rice farming (OF) and conventional rice farming (CVF) at the farm scale. Over the 4-year study period (2018–2021), the results showed lower net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in OF (3289.1 kg CO2eq ha−1 year−1) than in CVF (4921.7 kg CO2eq ha−1 year−1), indicating that the use of OF can mitigate the GHG emissions from soil carbon sequestration. However, there was a higher CF intensity in OF (1.17 kg CO2eq kg−1 rice yield) than in CVF (0.93 kg CO2eq kg−1 rice yield) due to the lower yield. The NF intensities of OF and CVF were 0.34 and 11.94 kg Neq kg−1 rice yield, respectively. The total WF of CVF (1470.1 m3 ton−1) was higher than that in OF (1216.3 m3 ton−1). The gray water in CVF was significantly higher than that in OF due to the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Although the rice yield in OF was nearly two times lower than that in CVF, the economic return was higher due to lower production costs and higher rice prices. However, more field studies and long-term monitoring are needed for future research.
Highlights
Introduction published maps and institutional affilWith approximately 10–12% in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2 eq), agriculture—mainly rice cultivation—is part of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and is a major anthropogenic source of atmospheric methane (CH4 ) [1,2]
Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration was not considered in carbon footprint (CF) estimation by many studies due to a lack of data and the requirement for long-term investigation
The organic rice farming (OF) method used fewer rice seeds than the conventional rice farming (CVF) one due to use of the transplanting method, while the broadcasting method was commonly used for CVF
Summary
With approximately 10–12% in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2 eq), agriculture—mainly rice cultivation—is part of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and is a major anthropogenic source of atmospheric methane (CH4 ) [1,2]. Global fertilizer usage has increased from 32 to 106 Mt year−1 (+331%) since the Green Revolution in the 1950s, leading to an increase in nitrous oxide (N2 O) emissions since . Farming activities contribute to carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emission in the field from the use of fossil fuels [2]. GHG emissions from the agricultural sector are a non-negligible part of global warming that has caused serious environmental problems. Thailand is one of the world’s major producers and exporters of rice As reported in several studies (e.g., Ding et al [4]; Pandey and Agrawal, [5]; Arunrat et al [6]; Maraseni et al [7]), rice cultivation iations
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