Abstract
The intensification of agricultural production is connected to the increased use of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation water, and energy. Among all cropping systems, rice cultivation is considered to be one of the most significant sources of environmental harm due to the flooding conditions in which rice normally grows; at the same time, rice has important economic and social implications, especially in areas where it is a staple food. In the last 20 years, sustainable development of agricultural production has become a priority for scientific research and policy programs. Several studies proposed methodological frameworks to assess the impacts of different management practices adopted in agro-ecosystems and to identify strategies to mitigate the negative effects of agricultural intensification. Such methodologies are based on the use of particular indicators, which are increasingly seen as crucial tools in impact assessment studies and for decision making. This paper aims to review and analyze the most significant methodological frameworks developed to assess the sustainability of agricultural production systems, with a particular focus on rice cultivation. The analysis includes highlighting which dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental, social, and governance) are covered by each method and identifying which indicators are used to describe the different dimensions. The spatial scale of the application of the indicators, their typology, the data needed for their implementation, and the criteria for formulating the overall sustainability judgment were then examined. The analysis highlighted the scarce availability of clear operational data for the calculation of the indicators and the often-limited involvement of stakeholders in the development and implementation of the methodologies. The exceptions to these limitations are represented by a few methodologies developed under the umbrella of important international organizations to promote sustainability and research efficiency in specific agricultural production systems, such as the SRP (sustainable rice platform) for rice. Finally, the analysis shows that there is a need to develop methodologies that are applicable not only to an individual farm or group of farms, but also at larger spatial scales (district, watershed, region), which are often those of greatest interest to decision makers.
Highlights
Even when stakeholders and experts are involved in identifying reference values or in the choice of weighting and scoring procedures to provide the overall sustainability judgment, numerical reference values and criteria adopted in the choice of weighting and scoring are seldom reported in the papers
This work provides an extensive review of methodologies developed over the last 20 years to evaluate the effects of management practices adopted in various agro-ecosystems on their overall sustainability
Particular attention was paid to the rice production system, because rice is a widely cultivated crop that can potentially produce significant impacts on the environment
Summary
The expansion of agricultural land and the intensification of agricultural production methods are approaching environmental, social, and economic limits [1]. The unsustainable use of natural resources in the agricultural sector has caused a variety of negative environmental outcomes, such as groundwater depletion, agrochemical pollution, soil exhaustion, and increase of greenhouse gas emissions [2,3]. It is feared that the productivity of many intensive systems cannot be maintained under current management practices [4]. It is necessary to move towards more eco-efficient management
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