Value of Ecosystem Services in Conventional and Organic Rice Paddies: A Case Study in Wannian, Jiangxi, China

Abstract

Abstract In the current study, the ecosystem services (ES) of conventional and organic rice paddies in Wannian, Jiangxi Province, China are investigated. First, the ES at the field level under organic and conventional paddies were investigated. Total economic value of ES in organic rice paddies was 30093.08 yuan RMB/ha per year and that of conventional rice paddies was 22 793.31 yuan RMB/ha per year. The total indirect value of ES was 14 813.7 yuan RMB/ha per year in organic rice paddies and 12 424.56 yuan RMB/ha per year in conventional ones. There were significant differences between organic and conventional rice paddies for the economic values. Then, this economic information was used to extrapolate and to calculate the total and indirect value of ES from rice paddies in Wangnian. The total and indirect economic values of ES from conventional rice paddies in Wannian were 6791 million and 3702 million yuan RMB per year respectively, and the total and indirect economic values of ES from organic rice padd...