Abstract
The breakthrough in super hybrid rice yield has significantly contributed to China's and global food security. However, the inherent conflict between high productivity and environmentally sustainable agriculture poses challenges. Issues like water scarcity, energy crises, escalating greenhouse gas emissions, and diminishing farm profitability all threaten agricultural sustainability. In response to these challenges, we applied a holistic food-carbon-nitrogen-water-energy-profit (FCNWEP) nexus framework to comprehensively evaluate sustainability of distinct crop management strategies across three sub-sites in central China. Field experiments were conducted in Hubei and Hunan Provinces from 2017 to 2021, with a widely adopted elite super hybrid rice (Y-liangyou900). Four crop management treatments were implemented: a control (CK, 0 kg N ha-1), conventional crop management (CCM, 210-250 kg N ha-1, 7:3 basal: mid-tiller fertilizer ratio), and two integrated crop management treatments (ICM1, 180-210 kg N ha-1, 5:2:3 basal: mid-tiller: panicle initiation fertilizer ratio; ICM2, 240-270 kg N ha-1, 5:2:2:1 basal: mid-tiller: panicle initiation: flowering fertilizer ratio). Grain yield, carbon footprint, nitrogen footprint, energy footprint, nitrogen use efficiency and economic benefits were among the assessed variables. Our results showed that significant yield variations were observed, with ICM2 consistently outperforming CCM and ICM1 across the three sites. In Jingzhou, Suizhou, and Changsha, ICM2’s grain yield was 30.2, 24.7, and 13.3% higher than CCM, respectively. Additionally, net profits for ICM2 exceeded those of CCM and ICM1 by 31.8 and 115.2% in Jingzhou, 32.2 and 109.9% in Suizhou, and 15.4 and 34.0% in Changsha. Integrated crop managements, specifically ICM2, demonstrated improved nitrogen and energy use efficiency, resulting in reduced carbon, nitrogen, water, and energy footprints. Overall, composite sustainability scores, calculated using the FCNWEP framework, indicated that both ICM2 and ICM1 generally exhibited higher sustainability levels compared to CCM. This study offers valuable insights into practical management methodologies and provides recommendations for enhancing agricultural sustainability.
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