Abstract
Background
Rice is a major cereal crop and staple food of eastern India, and most farmers depend solely on rice for their livelihood. Rice farming provides both tangible and non-tangible benefits to ecosystems which need to be maintained and enhanced. These benefits are provided through ecosystem services (ES) that include both marketable and non-marketable.
Methods
In this study, the rice farms in eastern India were valued by quantifying the economic value of the services under conventional method of rice cultivation and the gap of ecosystem services value and farm income per unit area were assessed. A stratified random sampling technique was used in this study for selection of agro-climatic zones, districts, blocks, gram panchayat, and study units (households). Soil sampling was also performed for assessing the regulating services (biocontrol of pests, carbon flow, soil erosion, nitrogen fixation), provisioning services (food and by-products), and supporting services (soil fertility, hydrological flow, nutrient cycling, and soil formation).
Results
The results indicated that the total economic value of ecosystem services ranged from US$ 1238 to 1688 ha−1 year−1. The marketed (primary production) and non-marketed ecosystem services values ranged from 66–89 to 11–34% of the total, respectively. Valuation of some of the ecosystem services such as cultural services, biodiversity, and gas regulation, which may play a significant role in total ecosystem services, has not been made due to non-availability of data and appropriate methodology for rice ecosystem. Different values of parameters can explain the variability in ecosystem services among the agro-climatic zones in eastern India. Clustering of locations based on variability of ecosystem services helps in identifying intervention points for sustaining and improving ecosystem services, while permitting sustainable agro-ecological intensification. The highest total economic gap between ES value and farm income was found in the north central plateau zone (US$ 1063 ha−1 year−1) and the lowest in the north western plateau zone (US$ 670 ha−1 year−1).
Conclusion
We suggest various measures to reduce the economic gap, including payments for ecosystem services for rice farming for sustainability of the ecosystem and agricultural development, while ensuring reliable farm income.
Rice is a major cereal crop and staple food of eastern India, and most farmers depend solely on rice for their livelihood. Rice farming provides both tangible and non-tangible benefits to ecosystems which need to be maintained and enhanced. These benefits are provided through ecosystem services (ES) that include both marketable and non-marketable.
Methods
In this study, the rice farms in eastern India were valued by quantifying the economic value of the services under conventional method of rice cultivation and the gap of ecosystem services value and farm income per unit area were assessed. A stratified random sampling technique was used in this study for selection of agro-climatic zones, districts, blocks, gram panchayat, and study units (households). Soil sampling was also performed for assessing the regulating services (biocontrol of pests, carbon flow, soil erosion, nitrogen fixation), provisioning services (food and by-products), and supporting services (soil fertility, hydrological flow, nutrient cycling, and soil formation).
Results
The results indicated that the total economic value of ecosystem services ranged from US$ 1238 to 1688 ha−1 year−1. The marketed (primary production) and non-marketed ecosystem services values ranged from 66–89 to 11–34% of the total, respectively. Valuation of some of the ecosystem services such as cultural services, biodiversity, and gas regulation, which may play a significant role in total ecosystem services, has not been made due to non-availability of data and appropriate methodology for rice ecosystem. Different values of parameters can explain the variability in ecosystem services among the agro-climatic zones in eastern India. Clustering of locations based on variability of ecosystem services helps in identifying intervention points for sustaining and improving ecosystem services, while permitting sustainable agro-ecological intensification. The highest total economic gap between ES value and farm income was found in the north central plateau zone (US$ 1063 ha−1 year−1) and the lowest in the north western plateau zone (US$ 670 ha−1 year−1).
Conclusion
We suggest various measures to reduce the economic gap, including payments for ecosystem services for rice farming for sustainability of the ecosystem and agricultural development, while ensuring reliable farm income.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 35 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Ecological Processes |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Sept 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Authors acknowledge the financial help provided by Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India and also thank Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Director, ICAR-National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) for giving all the necessary help in executing the work. The help provided by Odisha state officials in carrying out the survey work is gratefully acknowledged. This study is a part of the project entitled “Delivering food security on limited land (DEVIL; Belmont Forum / FACCE-JPI via NERC: NE/M021327/1).Keywords
- ecosystem services
- rice farming
- economic gap
- payment for ecosystem services (PES)
- Economic gap
- Ecosystem services
- Payment for ecosystem services (PES)
- Rice farming
- com
- in
- correspondence
- ak
- nayak
- payment for ecosystem services
- gov
- aknayak20
- yahoo
- icar
- pes
- BIODIVERSITY
- ENVIRONMENTAL-SERVICES
- LAND
- GANGETIC PLAINS
- MAINLAND CHINA
- CROP RESIDUES
- SUSTAINABILITY
- AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
- ORGANIC-CARBON
- PADDY FIELDS
Access to Document
- Nyak_et_al_EP_Assessment_of_ecosystem_VOR
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