Soil Sustainability Assessment for Rice Cropping Recommendations: A Case Study in An Giang Province, Vietnam

Abstract

Background: The study aimed to identify the sustainability of soil fertility and social-economic factors for major rice cropping and offer suggestions for sustainable rice cropping. Methods: The kite sustainability assessment is a multi-objective assessment method based on standardized scoring formulas built on land assessment criteria with limiting factors. It used the AHP method to determine how different critical factors affect whether a place is good for growing rice. The soil fertility, economics, and social factors were also significant in determining whether or not rice could grow there and how well it might do. Results: The soil fertility status of the two main rice cropping in the study area has low pH, high organic matter content, high cation exchange capacity, and high clay content. Besides, the soil has a good water-holding capacity, high total N content, and average total P content. Utilizing the AHP method, it was determined that soil fertility, economic, and social factors were the second-most significant factors in determining the suitability of land for agriculture as well as the possibility and performance of rice. While the double-rice cropping model is only sustainable regarding fertility, the triple-rice cropping model achieves the sustainability goal of economic, social, and soil fertility indicators. Two rice cropping seasons, lWS-mSA (double rice) and mWS-eSA-eAW (triple rice), achieve a balanced level in all indicators of level 2 of soil fertility. Therefore, in both models, a system that reaches a sustainable level exists. Even so, the lWS-mSA cropping season could be less harmful to the environment than the mWS-eSA-eAW season in terms of the environmental group.