Sustainability of agroecosystems by indices: A comparative study between indicators of ecological footprint sustainability and emergy analysis; a case study in Dez catchment, Iran

Abstract

Efficient farm management is one of the most important issues in achieving Sustainable performance. Ecological Footprint (EF) measurement and Emergy Analysis (EA) are appropriate tools to achieve the principles of sustainability in different ecosystems. This study aimed to compare the indicators and determine the ecological sustainability of two cropping systems of irrigated wheat and grain maize using ecological footprint evaluation and emergy analysis in the catchment area of Dez in Iran in the crop year 2019–2020. For this purpose, a total of 400 questionnaires from wheat and maize farmers were collected based on a simple random sampling method. The results of evaluating the ecological footprint method of wheat and maize cultivation in the study area at the level of one hectare were 3.50 and 4.66 global hectares, respectively. Also, the results of total emergy inputs for the ecological system of wheat and maize production were 1.60E+16 and 2.55E+16 sej ha−1 per year, respectively. This study showed that the two methods EF and EA are complementary. The evaluation results of both sustainability indices were very close to each other so both cultivation systems were environmentally unsustainable. We also found that the ecosystem of the irrigated wheat production system is more desirable than the ecosystem of the maize production system in terms of yield, renewability, and environmental sustainability. Since both cropping systems are strongly affected by the purchased inputs (more than 95%), as a result, they create a high environmental pressure, which shows the apprehensive condition of the current agricultural production systems in Iran. This study is the first study from Iran that uses these two tools simultaneously to determine the sustainability assessment of two strategic products of the region.