Balancing Economic and Environmental Performance for Small-Scale Rice Farmers in Peru

Abstract

Integrated research efforts are needed to provide insights for simultaneously achieving food production and environmental goals in rice production systems. In this study we evaluated eight Sustainable Rice Platform performance indicators (net profit, labor productivity, grain yield, water use efficiency, nitrogen use efficiency, phosphorus use efficiency, pesticide use efficiency, and greenhouse gas emissions) for 65 rice farmers in Peru. The aim was to (1) identify the major management factors influencing profitability, (2) evaluate potential tradeoffs between economic and environmental sustainability, and (3) understand farmer perceptions and decision-making processes related to profitability. For data analysis, farmers were grouped into profitability categories based on net profit: top (top 20%), middle (middle 60%), and bottom (bottom 20%). Our results indicate that rice yields, grain sale price, and total spending drive profitability in this region of Peru. An important finding is that the top profitability group achieved higher yields while using lower inputs of labor, pesticides, elemental P, and irrigation hours, resulting in improved environmental performance (e.g., higher nutrient and water use efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions). Results from focus group discussions highlighted that rice production has changed in recent decades, and there is a need for improved extension support to cope with increasing pests, disease, and water scarcity. Moreover, farmers indicated they are vulnerable to exploitation from vendors along the rice supply chain, with limited access to credit facilities and market channels and little negotiating power over the cost of inputs and rice sale price. Our results suggest that rice productivity and profitability can be improved in this region without negatively influencing environmental footprint per unit production, yet this is unlikely to occur unless key agronomic and socio-economic challenges are addressed, such as improved access to crop management recommendations, alternative financing and credit options, and technologies that decrease the costs of production.

Drivers linking farmers’ decision-making with farm performance: A systematic review and future research agenda

“… • Organic agriculture seems to be slightly more technically efficient than conventional farming. [ 44 ] [ 62 ] [ 61 ] [ 29 ] [ 12 ] [ 64 ] [ 65 ] [ 63 ] [ 66 ] [ 67 ] [ 68 ] The role of farm recordkeeping This research topic targets the role of farm recordkeeping, including information management and farm benchmarking, in the process of decision-making. • Farmers who engaged in some form of comparative recordkeeping activity were more open to farm management changes to improve farm performance.…”

Impact of cropping system diversification on productivity and resource use efficiencies of smallholder farmers in south-central Bangladesh: a multi-criteria analysis

“…Here, P fy = potential cropping system performance obtained by the mean of the top twentieth percentile of farmers and A FY = household cropping system performance. Calculating the difference between individual and top-performing farmers is increasingly used to understand opportunities for closing yield and resource use efficiency gaps in rice systems (Stuart et al 2016 ; Saito et al 2021 ; White et al, 2020 ).…”

“…However, we are not aware of research in Bangladesh quantifying how alternative crop sequences impact system performance in terms of agronomic, economic, and environmental indicators. Such holistic approaches are increasingly used to evaluate the sustainability of rice-based systems in other countries (Devkota et al 2019 ; White et al 2020 ). Optimizing outcomes across indicators is often challenging due to conflicts between food production and environmental goals, highlighting the need to explicitly assess trade-offs (Klapwijk et al 2014 ).…”

A survey of irrigation water and soil quality that likely impacts paddy rice yields in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

“…Therefore, good on-site fertilizer application and management is important to avoid economic and environmental repercussions. Unchecked overuse of inorganic fertilizers is not uncommon in most developing countries, including Tanzania, because such inputs represent substantial financial outlays for smallholder farmers [27,28]. Furthermore, remnants of excessive fertilizers used in irrigation schemes usually end up in the receiving water bodies downstream causing eutrophication [29].…”

“…In 2020 a local newspaper article (printed in Swahili) pointed out that the farmers in the surveyed area mentioned to researchers that they were using high amount of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs but rice production was not improving [43]. Poor on-farm practices related to agricultural inputs such as synthetic fertilizers, organic fertilizers, and pesticides may contribute to the observed variations [27]. Furthermore, such practices are known to cause economic and environmental problem in the agricultural sector [28].…”