High Input Intensity Research Articles

Linking types of East Javanese rice farming systems to farmers' perceptions of complex rice systems

CONTEXTComplex rice systems (CRS) are polycultures in which rice is grown together with one or more plant or animal species using combined methods of practices from indigenous knowledge and modern science in augmenting ecological processes to foster ecosystem services in rice agroecosystems. However, their implementation faces challenges due to farmers' knowledge gaps, high capital outlay and labour shortages. OBJECTIVEThis study aims to link types of rice farming and farmer perceptions to facilitate recommendations to scale up CRS. METHODSWe constructed a farm typology based on a survey of 111 farm households and aggregated cognitive maps (ACMs) based on fuzzy cognitive maps developed in focus group discussions in Malang and Lamongan, East Java Province, Indonesia. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSThe farm typology classified farm households into three types: (a) small farms with high inputs of agrochemicals (SH, n = 29) which were all identified in Malang; (b) medium-size farms with high input intensity of agrochemicals (MH, n = 43), distributed across Malang and Lamongan; and (c) medium-size farms with low inputs of agrochemicals (ML, n = 39), all detected in Lamongan. ACMs revealed the differences in farmer group's perceptions on farm input-output relations, agroecosystems processes and CRS component interactions. SH and MH farmers prioritised economic benefits over ecosystem services and crop-livestock components. SH farmers were locked into high-input and high-output systems, while MH farmers failed to obtain high output despite high input use. Intervention schemes could be developed such as thorough training on economics for SH farmers and efficient use and on-farm production of fertilisers for MH farmers. Meanwhile, with the majority of ML farmers having adopted CRS, their priorities were more evenly distributed across all components, implying their more holistic understanding of the interacted components. However, technical assistance on agronomic, post-harvest management and marketing were still considered to be needed to ensure a long-term sustainability of CRS practices by ML farmers. SIGNIFICANCECombining farm typology and fuzzy cognitive mapping could facilitate a comprehensive understanding of farming system types, their characteristics and farmer perceptions as a key to formulate appropriate interventions for a specific farm type. Therefore, these methodological approaches could provide guidance to accelerate transitions toward complex agroecosystems.

Visible-light optical limiting of vanadia–polyvinylpyrrolidone nanofibers

In this work, vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) nanoparticles-filled electrospun polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) nanofibers were investigated systematically at various nanofiller weight percentages (8 and 10 wt%) and input intensities to reveal the effective optical limiting feature in the visible spectrum. XRD analysis demonstrated the purity of the produced V2O5 nanoparticles. According to SEM findings, V2O5 nanoparticles were effectively integrated into the PVP nanofibers. Two distinct absorption bands were observed at around 400 and 217 nm. These bands were related to PVP and V2O5 nanoparticles in linear absorption measurements, respectively. Moreover, an increased Urbach energy value was obtained with an increase in V2O5 nanofiller content within PVP. Open-aperture Z-scan measurements were taken at 532 nm considering the band gap energy of the V2O5 nanofillers in PVP composite nanofibers. In 8 wt% V2O5 nanofilled PVP nanofibers, one-photon absorption (OPA) was the main nonlinear absorption (NA) mechanism, and the defect states of the V2O5 nanoparticles had no contribution to NA. On the other hand, sequential two-photon absorption was the main NA mechanism, and the defect states of the nanoparticles caused more efficient NA behavior in 10 wt% V2O5 nanofilled PVP nanofibers. The effective optical limiting behavior was obtained for this composite nanofiber with lower limiting threshold as 1.49 × 10–5 J/cm2. The V2O5 nanofilled PVP nanofibers presented strong potential optical limiters in the visible wavelength region. This was attributed to their high linear transmittance at low input intensities and their robust NA behavior at higher input intensities.

Reducing Water, Nutrient, Pesticide, and Carbon Footprints and Costs for Drip-Irrigated Vine Crops with Compact Bed Plasticulture

Highlights Narrower and taller compact beds (CB) were designed to increase the system efficiency of drip-irrigated plasticulture. CB lowered water, fertilizer, plastic, pesticide, and fuel inputs while maintaining watermelon yield. CB reduced GHG emissions and input costs while increasing input productivity. CB are a synergistic and win-win climate-smart design to increase the sustainability of high-intensity plasticulture. Abstract. Raised bed plasticulture, used globally for producing high-value fruits and vegetables, is a high input and high intensity production system. We show that improved water and nutrient efficiency with reduced material inputs, costs, and carbon footprint is achieved with the use of taller and narrower plastic-mulched compact beds [61×30 (width × height in cm), 61×10, 46×30, and 41×30] compared to the wider and shorter conventional bed [76×20] used for growing watermelon. The primary motivation behind the compact bed design is to improve economic and environmental sustainability by reducing the bed width, to increase the fraction of the bed that is wetted by drip irrigation and to reduce the area of farmland covered under plastic. Compact beds were evaluated at two locations in South Florida with different hydrologic settings, using an ensemble of field data (inputs, plant health, yield, soil moisture, and nutrient levels) and a field-verified hydrologic model (HYDRUS). No reduction in yields was observed with compact beds, indicating no production risk for the growers. Compact beds conserve water and reduce deep percolation losses by 6 cm compared to conventional beds, thereby improving water productivity by 20%. Compact beds require less fertilizer (10%-50%) to maintain the same nutrient (N-P-K) concentrations as those in conventional beds because of smaller soil volumes. Reductions in water and fertilizer inputs provide the environmental benefit of reducing nutrient leaching to groundwater, while reduced impervious area reduces runoff losses. Compact beds reduced input (fertilizer, plastic mulch, pesticide, and diesel) costs of the system by US$720/ha and greenhouse gas emissions by 1630 kg CO2e/ha (9%) compared to conventional plasticulture. The annual cost savings create a win-win for farmers to increase profits and/or invest in conservation measures such as precision irrigation. Compact beds offer a climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy for the plasticulture system for watermelon and other similar cucurbit crops (e.g., cucumber, pumpkin, and zucchini). Keywords: Climate-Smart Agriculture, Economics, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Nutrient Leaching, Sustainable Design, Water Conservation.

Investigation of the Defect and Intensity-Dependent Optical Limiting Performance of MnO2 Nanoparticle-Filled Polyvinylpyrrolidone Composite Nanofibers.

To enhance the optical limiting behavior triggered by nonlinear absorption (NA), wide-band gap MnO2 nanoparticles were incorporated into polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) polymer nanofibers at various concentrations. SEM images of the composite nanofibers showed that MnO2 nanoparticles are well entrapped in the nanofibers. With an increase in MnO2 nanofiller concentration, a widened optical band gap energy and an increased Urbach energy were observed. As the concentration of MnO2 nanofiller in PVP increased, the NA behavior became more pronounced but weakened with higher input intensity. This behavior was attributed to the filling of the localized defect states by one photon absorption (OPA). The NA mechanisms of the composite nanofibers were examined, considering their band gap energies and localized defect states. Although all of the composite nanofibers had OPA, sequential/simultaneous two photon absorption (TPA), and excited state absorption mechanisms, the higher concentration of the MnO2 nanofiller led to stronger NA behavior due to its more defective structure. The highest optical limiting behavior was observed for composite nanofibers with the highest concentration of MnO2 nanofiller. The results obtained show that these composite nanofibers with a high linear transmittance and an extended band gap energy can be used in optoelectronic applications that can operate in a wide spectral range. Furthermore, their robust NA behavior, coupled with their promising optical limiting characteristics, positions them as strong contenders for effective optical limiting applications.

The femtosecond structure of extreme contrast, multi-terawatt second-harmonic laser pulses at 400 nm

Ultrahigh intensity contrast and short pulse laser–solid interactions offer an attractive platform for investigating high-energy-density matter, particularly in the context of structured and ultra-thin targets that form hot, dense plasma conditions. Harmonic generation can improve the contrast of laser pulses by several orders of magnitude. In this study, we present the characterization of extreme contrast, relativistic intensity second-harmonic pulses at 400 nm, using the self-diffraction frequency-resolved optical gating technique. The 400 nm pulses were generated at various input intensities using potassium dihydrogen phosphate and lithium triborate crystals. Our observations reveal the presence of spectral broadening, pulse compression, and complex structures at higher input intensities. We see that extreme contrast, few tens of femtosecond pulses can have multiple “prepulses” at the 100s femtosecond scale as large as ten percent of the peak value. These can preionize a solid significantly and may influence the interaction. Simulations based on nonlinear pulse propagation equations reinforce our findings.

Modulatory effects of real-time electromagnetic stimulation on epileptiform activity in juvenile rat hippocampus based on multi-electrode array recordings

Electromagnetic stimulation (EMS) has proven to be useful for the focal suppression of epileptiform activity (EFA) in the hippocampus. There is a critical period during EFA for achieving the transition from brief interictal discharges (IIDs) to prolonged ictal discharges (IDs), and it is unknown whether EMS can modulate this transition. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the intensity- and time-dependent effect of EMS on the transition of EFA. A juvenile rat EFA model was constructed by perfusing magnesium-free artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) on brain slices, and the induced EFA was recorded using a micro-electrode array (MEA) platform. After a stable EFA event was recorded for some time, real-time pulsed magnetic stimulation with low and high peak-to-peak input magnetic field intensities was carried out. A 5-min intervention with real-time magnetic fields with low intensity was found to reduce the amplitude of IDs (ID events still existed), whereas a 5-min intervention with real-time magnetic fields with high input voltages completely suppressed IDs. Short-time magnetic fields (9 s and 1 min) with high or low input intensity had no effect on EFA. Real-time magnetic fields can block the normal EFA process from IIDs to IDs (i.e., a complete EFA cycle) and this suppression effect is dependent on input intensities and intervention duration. The experimental findings further indicate that magnetic stimulation may be chosen as an alternative antiepileptic therapy.

High saturation photocurrent THz waveguide-type MUTC-photodiodes reaching mW output power within the WR3.4 band.

In this paper, we report on waveguide-type modified uni-traveling-carrier photodiodes (MUTC-PDs) providing a record high output power level for non-resonant photodiodes in the WR3.4 band. Indium phosphide (InP) based waveguide-type 1.55 µm MUTC-PDs have been fabricated and characterized thoroughly. Maximum output powers of -0.6 dBm and -2.7 dBm were achieved at 240 GHz and 280 GHz, respectively. This has been accomplished by an optimized layer structure and doping profile design that takes transient carrier dynamics into account. An energy-balance model has been developed to study and optimize carrier transport at high optical input intensities. The advantageous THz capabilities of the optimized MUTC layer structure are confirmed by experiments revealing a transit time limited cutoff frequency of 249 GHz and a saturation photocurrent beyond 20 mA in the WR3.4 band. The responsivity for a 16 µm long waveguide-type THz MUTC-PD is found to be 0.25 A/W. In addition, bow-tie antenna integrated waveguide-type MUTC-PDs are fabricated and reported to operate up to 0.7 THz above a received power of -40 dBm.

Study on Asphalt-Cement Isolation Layer for Shield Tunnels Using Seismic Fragility Curves

ABSTRACT For shield tunnels, seismic isolation layer is an effective countermeasure to reduce structural damage during earthquakes. In this paper, the physico-mechanical properties of asphalt-cement (A-C) materials applied to backfill grouting of shield tunnels were investigated by laboratory tests. Then, fragility curves were developed by analytical approach for shield tunnels before and after setting three typical A-C isolation layers (i.e. A-C Iso-layer1, 2, and 3), which were used to express the seismic vulnerability of tunnel lining and evaluate the seismic-reduction effectiveness under earthquakes. The results reveal that A-C isolation layers are effective in seismic-reduction under excitation of low input intensity (less than 0.5 g), while its effect is not significant at high-input intensity. The fragility curves for tunnel lining after setting A-C isolation layers show less vulnerability than not setting one at all seismic intensity levels. From the perspective of damage probability, the seismic-reduction effectiveness decreases with the increasing shear modulus of A-C isolation layer. The probability of minor damage of examined tunnel lining setting up with A-C Iso-layer1 decreased from 23% to 15% at most.

The role of defects on the transition from saturable absorption to nonlinear absorption of Bi12GeO20 single crystal under increasing laser excitation

This work reports defect and input intensity dependent nonlinear optical behaviors of Bi12GeO20 (BGO) single crystal. Open aperture (OA) Z-scan experiments were performed with 532 nm excitation wavelength under 4 ns and 100 fs pulsed laser irradiation. Obtained data were fitted with a theoretical model considering one-photon, two-photon and free carrier absorption contributions to nonlinear absorption due to longer lifetime of localized defect states than that of used laser pulse durations. At low input intensities, the BGO single crystal showed saturable absorption (SA) behavior and transition to nonlinear absorption (NA) behavior observed with further increase of the input intensities both of pulse durations. At low input intensity, the OPA mechanism is dominant and results in SA by filling of the defect states due to defect state at around one photon energy (2.32 eV). At higher input intensity, multi-photon, two-photon and free carrier absorption become dominant mechanisms, and nonlinear absorption behavior was observed. The lowest saturation threshold was found as 1.36 × 1010 W/cm2 with nanosecond pulses. We have revealed the mechanisms contributing both SA and NA, and determined saturation intensity threshold and effective nonlinear absorption coefficients. Our findings indicate that the tails of defect states overlap in the energy band gaps especially in sufficiently disordered crystal. With this way, the spectral range for saturable absorption and nonlinear absorption can be broadened.

Spatial heterogeneity in smallholder oil palm production

Oil palm production is an important income source for millions of smallholder farmers in the tropics. Oftentimes, yields in smallholder systems are low, entailing larger area requirements and higher than necessary rates of deforestation. Smallholder performance differs spatially, even within countries and provinces. A better understanding of this spatial variation can help to design more effective support programs to preserve forestland and foster sustainable economic development. Here, we use survey data from smallholder oil palm producers in Sumatra, Indonesia, to identify spatial variation in yields, input use, and output prices by employing structured additive regression models with nonlinear spatial effects, so-called geosplines. Our results confirm large spatial differences. Some of these differences can be explained. For instance, possession of land titles and proximity to urban centers are positively associated with oil palm productivity. However, much of the spatial variation cannot be explained by variables typically included in socioeconomic studies. The geosplines help to control for possible bias even when the identified spatial variation cannot be fully explained. From a policy perspective, knowing where regions with high and low yields and input intensities are located can help to geographically target suitable support programs. From a research perspective, more work on trying to explain spatial heterogeneity in smallholder production is needed, possibly combining quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Engineering Spiking Neurons Using Threshold Switching Devices for High-Efficient Neuromorphic Computing.

Inspired by the human brain, the spike-based neuromorphic system has attracted strong research enthusiasm because of the high energy efficiency and powerful computational capability, in which the spiking neurons and plastic synapses are two fundamental building blocks. Recently, two-terminal threshold switching (TS) devices have been regarded as promising candidates for building spiking neurons in hardware. However, how circuit parameters affect the spiking behavior of TS-based neurons is still an open question. Here, based on a leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neuron circuit, we systematically study the effect of both the extrinsic and intrinsic factors of NbOx -based TS neurons on their spiking behaviors. The extrinsic influence factors contain input intensities, connected synaptic weights, and parallel capacitances. To illustrate the effect of intrinsic factors, including the threshold voltage, holding voltage, and high/low resistance states of NbOx devices, we propose an empirical model of the fabricated NbOx devices, fitting well with the experimental results. The results indicate that with enhancing the input intensity, the spiking frequency increases first then decreases after reaching a peak value. Except for the connected synaptic weights, all other parameters can modulate the spiking peak frequency under high enough input intensity. Also, the relationship between energy consumption per spike and frequency of the neuron cell is further studied, leading guidance to design neuron circuits in a system to obtain the lowest energy consumption. At last, to demonstrate the practical applications of TS-based neurons, we construct a spiking neural network (SNN) to control the cart-pole using reinforcement learning, obtaining a reward score up to 450. This work provides valuable guidance on building compact LIF neurons based on TS devices and further bolsters the construction of high-efficiency neuromorphic systems.

Trade-Offs between Sustainability Indicators in Response to the Production Choices of Different Farm Household Types in Drylands

A lot of national and international effort has been made to promote sustainable agricultural production systems in drylands. However, success has been seriously limited due to lack of thorough characterization of the impact of the diversity of farm household types on productivity, resource-use efficiency and economic and nutritional status. This study applied hierarchical ascendant classification to a random sample of 286 cereal-producing farm households in Morocco and identified distinct household typologies. It also carried out an analysis of trade-offs between economic, nutritional and environmental factors induced by the production decisions of the different farm household typologies. Our analysis identified three dominant farm household typologies in the production system, namely: (i) intensive predominantly-vegetable farming households with high input intensities, (ii) semi-intensive cereal mono-crop farming households with moderate input intensities and (iii) extensive mixed cereal-legume farming households with low input intensities. Extensive mixed cereal-legume farming households exhibited the highest resource-use efficiency and high biodiversity. These benefits, however, came at the expense of a much lower farm income and limited food supplies relative to the other two systems. These results show that, as is the case for many dryland regions, all three farm types showed precarious conditions for one or more of the sustainability-related indicators.

Services Input Intensity and US Manufacturing Employment Responses to the China Shock

We present industry-level evidence that manufacturing sectors that make use of services as inputs more intensively are more robust to shocks from import competition. Specifically, the negative effect of the China shock on US manufacturing employment is lower for industries with high services input intensity. Furthermore, our analysis reveals significant heterogeneity in the impact of different types of services, which points towards a fruitful research agenda on the role of services as a determinant of firm competitiveness.

Enhancement of femtosecond surface nonlinear optical signals with spatiotemporal focusing.

Nonlinear optical reflection spectroscopies for surface studies often suffer from their relatively weak signals. To enhance the signal strength, femtosecond input pulses are generally preferred, but their intensity is usually limited by supercontinuum (SC) generation in a bulk medium. We show here that the problem can be largely resolved by means of spatiotemporal focusing (STF) of the input that effectively suppresses the SC, permits much higher input intensity on a medium, and greatly enhances the nonlinear output signal. We use second-harmonic generation (SHG) on oxide as examples and demonstrate that, with STF, the input intensity for the onset of the SC can be increased by ∼30 times in comparison with conventional focusing, and the reflected SHG can be increased by about three orders of magnitude.

Switching dynamics in parity-time symmetric coupler with nonlocal nonlinearity having transverse potentials

ABSTRACTIn this work, we study the switching dynamics in symmetric coupler with nonlocal nonlinearity having transverse periodic and aperiodic potentials. The nonlinear switching of the symmetric nonlocal coupler has been explored by varying the input power, the range of the nonlocal nonlinearity and the strength of the transverse potential. The power-dependent switching reveals that the power oscillates between the channels for low input intensity, whereas the power get trapped in the gain channel for high input intensity, in the case of weak nonlocality and low strength of the transverse potentials. The critical power increases with the range of the nonlocality, the strength of the transverse potential and the gain/loss coefficient. The switching from gain channel to lossy channel is possible for high input power by varying either the range of the nonlocality or the strength of the transverse periodic potential.

Intensity dependent spectral properties of long-period fiber grating for applications in lightwave communication

Using nonlinear coupled mode equations, the spectral properties of long-period fiber grating are studied analytically taking into account the Kerr type optical nonlinearity in the medium. The nonlinear coupled-mode equations were solved for co-propagating core and cladding mode amplitudes and expressions for transmittivity and phase factor at high excitation intensity are obtained. It is observed that the resonance wavelength of grating shifts towards higher wavelength side with increasing excitation intensity. Also, the minimum transmittivity of the grating shows oscillating behavior with increasing grating length, whereas the phase of the transmitted wave increases monotonically with length at high input intensities.

The potential for heavy metal pollution in crops from urban and peri urban horticultural farms in the Gaborone environs: a review

The introduction of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is usually characterized by high input intensity. This intensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, wastewater, sludges and industrial effluents may lead to accumulation of potentially toxic metals in the soil, increasing the geological background levels and exceeding the capacity to immobilize them. Besides being environmental pollutants of which the toxicity is a problem of increasing significance for ecological reasons, heavy metal accumulation in the food chain is highly dangerous for human health. The objective of this review was to highlight the potential problems that may arise as a consequence of irrigating crops with sewage water as well as using fertilizers and pesticides. A review of literature has shown that different types of fertilizers contain some quantities of heavy metals that may buildup in the soil as well as be taken up by crops. In addition to using fertilizers, the use of treated and sometimes partially treated and untreated water by UPA farmers around Gaborone may lead to heavy metal accumulation in soil as well as in crops, posing a danger to human beings. In Botswana there is limited information concerning heavy metal accumulation in soils even though there is a high use of agrochemicals in vegetable production in UPA land use systems. Lack of such information necessitates research on the impact of the application of fertilizer, sewage water (treated and untreated) and metal-based pesticides on the quality of the vegetable produce coming from UPA.

Hybrid Graphene-Plasmonic Gratings to Achieve Enhanced Nonlinear Effects at Terahertz Frequencies

High input intensities are usually required to efficiently excite optical nonlinear effects in ultrathin structures. This problem is particularly critical at terahertz (THz) frequencies because high input power THz sources are not available. The demonstration of enhanced nonlinear effects at THz frequencies is particularly important since these nonlinear mechanisms promise to play a significant role in the development and design of new reconfigurable planar THz nonlinear devices. In this work, we present a novel class of ultrathin nonlinear hybrid planar THz devices based on graphene-covered plasmonic gratings exhibiting very large nonlinear response. The robust localization and enhancement of the electric field along the graphene monolayer, combined with the large nonlinear conductivity of graphene, can lead to boosted third harmonic generation (THG) and four-wave mixing (FWM) nonlinear processes at THz frequencies. These interesting nonlinear effects exhibit very high nonlinear conversion efficiencies and are triggered by realistic input intensities with relative low values. In addition, the THG and FWM processes can be significantly tuned by the dimensions of the proposed hybrid structures, the doping level of graphene, or the input intensity values, whereas the nonlinear radiated power remains relatively insensitive to the incident angle of the excitation source. The presented nonlinear hybrid graphene-covered plasmonic gratings have a relative simple geometry and can be used to realize efficient third-order THz effects with a limited fabrication complexity. Several new nonlinear THz devices are envisioned based on the proposed hybrid nonlinear structures, such as frequency generators, all-optical signal processors, and wave mixers. These devices are expected to be useful for nonlinear THz spectroscopy, noninvasive THz subwavelength imaging, and THz communication applications.

Zatrudnienie a intensywność rolnictwa państw Unii Europejskiej

Celem artykułu jest omówienie zatrudnienia w kontekście intensywności w rolnictwie państw Unii Europejskiej na podstawie wybranych cech. Analizę przeprowadzono dla 2016 roku. Badanie przeprowadzono za pomocą analizy skupień. Do analizy przyjęto następujące cechy diagnostyczne: udział ludności czynnej zawodowo w rolnictwie z niskim poziomem wykształcenia w całkowitej liczbie ludności czynnej zawodowo (%), udział ludności zatrudnionej w rolnictwie w ludności zatrudnionej ogółem (%), produktywność pracy w rolnictwie (EUR/AWU), udział wartości dodanej dostarczanej przez sektor rolniczy (%), udział użytków rolnych zarządzanych przez gospodarstwa o dużej intensywności w użytkach rolnych ogółem (%) oraz średnia ekonomiczna wielkość gospodarstw (SO/gospodarstwo w EUR). W wyniku zastosowania analizy skupień podzielono badane państwa na cztery grupy. Zgodnie z wynikami w państwach o wysokim poziomie zatrudnienia w rolnictwie zwykle mniejszy jest udział wartości dodanej dostarczanej przez sektor rolniczy. Natomiast w państwach o niższym udziale zatrudnionych w rolnictwie intensywność rolnictwa jest z reguły większa.

Impact of different water and nitrogen inputs on the eco-efficiency of durum wheat cultivation in Mediterranean environments

Abstract The present study addresses the eco-efficiency (environmental and economic trade-offs) of durum wheat cultivation practices adopted at field level under typical Mediterranean conditions of Southern Italy. This study is based on three years of experimental data of durum wheat cultivation under three water supply regimes (full irrigation, 50% of full irrigation and rainfed) coupled with two nitrogen (N) fertilizer levels (high N, HN: 120 kg/ha, and low N, LN: not fertilized). The environmental impact assessment was based on a novel life cycle impact assessment method which quantifies seventeen midpoints (problems-oriented) and three endpoints (damage-oriented) indicators using ReCiPe 2016 model. The economic performance was evaluated using the total value added to the system’s final products due to water and N use and applied management practices. Eco-efficiency was assessed as a ratio of the total value added to the environmental impact categories. The water consumption impacts were estimated in addition to the typical environmental impact categories. The high input (irrigation and fertilization) intensity systems resulted in higher agricultural production, however, produced greater impacts on water consumption, global warming, and energy-related indicators. In turn, these impact categories generated the damages to human health, ecosystem quality, and resource scarcity. The analysis demonstrated that eco-efficiency cannot be always compensated by higher yield and corresponding economic total value added. The eco-efficiency assessment indicated that agronomic practices with the low use of resources (e.g., deficit irrigation with low N) tend to have higher eco-efficiency than more intensive cultivation strategies. Hence, the sustainable crop production strategies should evolve towards the adoption of precision agriculture and optimization of water and fertilization inputs (in space, timing, and quantities) that can improve yield response to resources, environmental and economic performance. In this sense, life cycle thinking and assessment considering multiple impact categories are essential to support decision-making processes towards sustainability.