Abstract
Agricultural biodiversity usually leads to greater sustainability in production practices. To understand the environmental implications of the development of village-level multi-cropping in rural China, we compared the environmental impact of a highly diverse vegetable multi-cropping system to a conventional wheat/maize rotation system based on the method of life cycle assessment (LCA). Using household level cultivation data, this study examined the gate-to-gate environmental impacts of on-site cultivation practices relating to the production of 10,000 nutrient equivalent units. Results show that vegetable multi-cropping resulted in decreased average land requirement, and diesel, water and electricity usage by 69.8%, 62.2%, 71.7%, and 63.4%, respectively, while average nitrogen (Total N), phosphorus (P2O5), and potassium (K2O) usage in vegetable multi-cropping systems decreased by 16.3%, 42.1%, and 75.8%, respectively. Additional corresponding effects led to a decrease in the total global warming, eutrophication, and acidification potentials from external inputs by 21.6%, 16.7%, and 16.2% of the entire system, respectively. Moreover, the midpoint human toxicity potential from pesticide usage of the vegetable multi-cropping system was lower than that of the conventional system. However, the midpoint eco-toxicity potential from pesticide usage was higher due to certain highly toxic substances, and both human and eco-toxicity potentials from heavy metals were all higher by a few orders of magnitudes. Thus, to mitigate these detrimental consequences, some related measures are proposed for sustainable practices in the future implementation of multi-cropping systems.
Highlights
Worldwide agricultural intensification has been found to negatively affect agro-ecosystem services [1,2,3,4,5]
A representative example can be found in Fengqiu County, Henan Province, where an entire village concentrates on multi-cropping vegetable cultivation
Multi-cropping involves crops grown in the same field in both spatial and temporal successions, which has often been overlooked in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. This current paper aims to assess the environmental impacts of a representative vegetable multi-cropping system in rural China
Summary
Worldwide agricultural intensification has been found to negatively affect agro-ecosystem services [1,2,3,4,5]. China has one of the largest global agro-industries and its high crop yield has been achieved through the increased use of fertilizers [6,7] which has in turn led to adverse effects such as increased greenhouse gas emissions [8,9,10], and eutrophication [11] and acidification of freshwaters [12,13]. In this context, innovative approaches must be considered to address the need for agricultural sustainability. Local census data indicated that the village has been yielding a per capita income of two to three times that of a traditional village, with winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays) rotation in previous years
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