Mitigating the environmental impacts of rice cultivation through improved water management and variable rate fertilization
Cleaner Environmental Systems, cilt.23, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 23
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.cesys.2026.100515
- Dergi Adı: Cleaner Environmental Systems
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Impact assessment, Life cycle assessment, Methane emissions, Mitigation, Variable rate application
- Erciyes Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study evaluates the environmental performance of rice cultivation comparing a baseline cultivation system (BS) with three alternative scenarios (AS) that modify key agronomic practices, including variable rate fertilization (AS1), an additional aeration (AS2) and both these practices (AS3).Environmental impacts were assessed per 1 ton of paddy rice at 14% commercial moisture content. Primary data were collected in different farms during a single growing season. Secondary data were used about the emissions of methane (estimated using the IPCC methodology).Alternative practices generally reduce environmental impacts compared with the baseline system, although the magnitude of improvement varies among farms and impact categories due to differences in yields and management conditions. AS2 showed the best environmental performance across most farms and impact categories. In particular, additional aeration leads to improvements in the climate change impact thanks to a reduction of methane emissions. AS1 also reduced several environmental impacts, particularly those associated with nitrogen-related emissions. In contrast, the performance of AS3 was more variable across farms. Although the combination of the two practices reduced impacts in some cases, yield reductions observed in certain farms offset part of the environmental benefits, resulting in impacts comparable to or, occasionally, higher than those of BS.