IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecomod/v306y2015icp121-129.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A long-term sustainability assessment of an Argentinian agricultural system based on emergy synthesis

Author

Listed:
  • Ferraro, D.O.
  • Benzi, P.

Abstract

By tracking the different flows of emergy (the total amount of solar energy that was directly or indirectly required in a production process) it is possible to account for all environmental work previously involved in generating a resource, product or service. This donor-side perspective for environmental assessment has the advantage over usual economic and energy analysis in the ability to value renewable and non-renewable environmental resource inputs both from the economy (purchased resources) and from nature (free resources) and compute their values on a common basis. On this basis, this paper presents the use of emergy synthesis on three cropping systems of the Pampa Region (Argentina) with the aim of evaluating the long-term trends (1984–2010) in emergy use and the effect of the adoption of new technologies in the study area. The cropping systems evaluated were wheat/soybean double cropping (W/S); maize (M), and spring soybean (S). Results form the emergy synthesis showed that the cropping systems studied were not only more productive but also more efficient over time. The range of the observed values for the emergy yield ratio (EYR) were 1.77–5.59, proving that the three cropping systems are considerably supported by renewable and locally available resources. The environmental load ratio (ELR) that represents the ratio between non-renewable and renewable resource inputs ranged between 0.3 and 1.43, a significant lower range compared to other extensive cropping systems. However, when inspecting the temporal dynamics of the emergy indicators, M and W/S showed a statistically significant optimum behavior, with the most favorable values just before the use of a more intensive cropping management represented by the use of genetically modified cultivars, the no-tillage adoption and the more frequent use of fertilizers at higher doses. By the time of these adoptions, both the EYR and ELR showed a breakpoint in their temporal dynamic, exhibiting a negative slope during the last years of the time series. Although the observed ranges of the emergy indicators can place these production systems among the most efficient and with the lower environmental impact, the negative trend in the emergy indicators shown in recent years constitutes a risky scenario in terms long-term sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferraro, D.O. & Benzi, P., 2015. "A long-term sustainability assessment of an Argentinian agricultural system based on emergy synthesis," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 306(C), pages 121-129.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:306:y:2015:i:c:p:121-129
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2014.06.016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380014002981
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2014.06.016?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Agostinho, Feni & Ambrósio, Luís Alberto & Ortega, Enrique, 2010. "Assessment of a large watershed in Brazil using Emergy Evaluation and Geographical Information System," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(8), pages 1209-1220.
    2. Ulgiati, Sergio & Zucaro, Amalia & Franzese, Pier Paolo, 2011. "Shared wealth or nobody's land? The worth of natural capital and ecosystem services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(4), pages 778-787, February.
    3. Dong, Xiaobin & Ulgiati, Sergio & Yan, Maochao & Zhang, Xinshi & Gao, Wangsheng, 2008. "Energy and eMergy evaluation of bioethanol production from wheat in Henan Province, China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3882-3892, October.
    4. Agostinho, Feni & Diniz, Guaraci & Siche, Raúl & Ortega, Enrique, 2008. "The use of emergy assessment and the Geographical Information System in the diagnosis of small family farms in Brazil," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 210(1), pages 37-57.
    5. David Manuel-Navarrete & Gilberto Gallopín & Mariela Blanco & Martín Díaz-Zorita & Diego Ferraro & Hilda Herzer & Pedro Laterra & María Murmis & Guillermo Podestá & Jorge Rabinovich & Emilio Satorre &, 2009. "Multi-causal and integrated assessment of sustainability: the case of agriculturization in the Argentine Pampas," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 621-638, June.
    6. Reed, Mark S. & Fraser, Evan D.G. & Dougill, Andrew J., 2006. "An adaptive learning process for developing and applying sustainability indicators with local communities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(4), pages 406-418, October.
    7. Viglizzo, Ernesto F. & Frank, Federico C., 2006. "Land-use options for Del Plata Basin in South America: Tradeoffs analysis based on ecosystem service provision," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 140-151, April.
    8. Zhang, L.X. & Yang, Z.F. & Chen, G.Q., 2007. "Emergy analysis of cropping-grazing system in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3843-3855, July.
    9. Pulselli, Federico M. & Coscieme, Luca & Bastianoni, Simone, 2011. "Ecosystem services as a counterpart of emergy flows to ecosystems," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(16), pages 2924-2928.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ajun Wan & Runqiu Tu & Weidong Yue & Yixuan Liu & Yunpeng Wu, 2021. "Construction and case study of rural environmental value-added evaluation system based on emergy theory," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 4715-4734, March.
    2. Diego Ferraro & Daniela Blanco & Sebasti'an Pessah & Rodrigo Castro, 2021. "Land use change in agricultural systems: an integrated ecological-social simulation model of farmer decisions and cropping system performance based on a cellular automata approach," Papers 2109.01031, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2021.
    3. Xiaocui Dong & Hongguang Liu, 2023. "Sustainable evaluation of agroecosystem in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China based on the Emergy Theory," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(11), pages 13471-13494, November.
    4. Virginia, Aparicio & Zamora, Martín & Barbera, Agustín & Castro-Franco, Mauricio & Domenech, Marisa & De Gerónimo, Eduardo & Costa, José Luis, 2018. "Industrial agriculture and agroecological transition systems: A comparative analysis of productivity results, organic matter and glyphosate in soil," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 103-112.
    5. Nimmanterdwong, Prathana & Chalermsinsuwan, Benjapon & Piumsomboon, Pornpote, 2017. "Emergy analysis of three alternative carbon dioxide capture processes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 101-108.
    6. Chen, Wei & Liu, Wenjing & Geng, Yong & Brown, Mark T. & Gao, Cuixia & Wu, Rui, 2017. "Recent progress on emergy research: A bibliometric analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1051-1060.
    7. Ajun Wan & Xiaolei Qi & Weidong Yue & Runqiu Tu, 2022. "Construction and case verification of rural environmental value-added evaluation system," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 1781-1797, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giannetti, B.F. & Ogura, Y. & Bonilla, S.H. & Almeida, C.M.V.B., 2011. "Emergy assessment of a coffee farm in Brazilian Cerrado considering in a broad form the environmental services, negative externalities and fair price," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 104(9), pages 679-688.
    2. Giannetti, B.F. & Ogura, Y. & Bonilla, S.H. & Almeida, C.M.V.B., 2011. "Accounting emergy flows to determine the best production model of a coffee plantation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7399-7407.
    3. Agostinho, Feni & Almeida, Cecília M.V.B. & Bonilla, Silvia H. & Sacomano, José B. & Giannetti, Biagio F., 2013. "Urban solid waste plant treatment in Brazil: Is there a net emergy yield on the recovered materials?," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 143-155.
    4. Gasparatos, Alexandros, 2011. "Resource consumption in Japanese agriculture and its link to food security," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1101-1112, March.
    5. Wu, Zhilong & Dai, Xuhuan & Li, Bo & Hou, Ying, 2021. "Livelihood consequences of the Grain for Green Programme across regional and household scales: A case study in the Loess Plateau," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Agostinho, F. & Oliveira, M.W. & Pulselli, F.M. & Almeida, C.M.V.B. & Giannetti, B.F., 2019. "Emergy accounting as a support for a strategic planning towards a regional sustainable milk production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    7. Baral, Nawa Raj & Wituszynski, David M. & Martin, Jay F. & Shah, Ajay, 2016. "Sustainability assessment of cellulosic biorefinery stillage utilization methods using emergy analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 13-28.
    8. Wu, Xihui & Wu, Faqi & Tong, Xiaogang & Wu, Jia & Sun, Lu & Peng, Xiaoyu, 2015. "Emergy and greenhouse gas assessment of a sustainable, integrated agricultural model (SIAM) for plant, animal and biogas production: Analysis of the ecological recycle of wastes," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 40-50.
    9. Giannetti, B.F. & Almeida, C.M.V.B. & Bonilla, S.H., 2010. "Comparing emergy accounting with well-known sustainability metrics: The case of Southern Cone Common Market, Mercosur," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3518-3526, July.
    10. Mellino, Salvatore & Ripa, Maddalena & Zucaro, Amalia & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2014. "An emergy–GIS approach to the evaluation of renewable resource flows: A case study of Campania Region, Italy," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 271(C), pages 103-112.
    11. Xiumei Xu & Chao Feng & Yongshan Du & Qimeng Wang & Gaige Zhang & Yicheng Huang, 2022. "Evaluating the sustainability of a tourism system based on emergy accounting and emergetic ternary diagrams: a case study of the Xinjiang Kanas tourism area," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 6731-6787, May.
    12. Yang, Jin & Chen, Bin, 2014. "Emergy analysis of a biogas-linked agricultural system in rural China – A case study in Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 173-182.
    13. Buonocore, Elvira & Appolloni, Luca & Russo, Giovanni F. & Franzese, Pier Paolo, 2020. "Assessing natural capital value in marine ecosystems through an environmental accounting model: A case study in Southern Italy," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 419(C).
    14. Almeida, C.M.V.B. & Mariano, M.V. & Agostinho, F. & Liu, G.Y. & Yang, Z.F. & Coscieme, L. & Giannetti, B.F., 2018. "Comparing costs and supply of supporting and regulating services provided by urban parks at different spatial scales," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 30(PB), pages 236-247.
    15. Xiaobin Dong & Yufang Zhang & Weijia Cui & Bin Xun & Baohua Yu & Sergio Ulgiati & Xinshi Zhang, 2011. "Emergy-Based Adjustment of the Agricultural Structure in a Low-Carbon Economy in Manas County of China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 4(9), pages 1-15, September.
    16. Asgharipour, Mohammad Reza & Amiri, Zahra & Campbell, Daniel E., 2020. "Evaluation of the sustainability of four greenhouse vegetable production ecosystems based on an analysis of emergy and social characteristics”," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 424(C).
    17. Scarpelin, Juliano & Agostinho, Feni Dalano Roosevelt & de Almeida, Cecília Maria Villas Bôas & Giannetti, Biagio Fernando & Dias, Lívia Cristina Pinto, 2022. "Valuation of losses and damages resulting from the Fundão's dam failure: An emergy perspective," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 471(C).
    18. Agostinho, Feni & Ortega, Enrique, 2012. "Integrated food, energy and environmental services production as an alternative for small rural properties in Brazil," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 103-114.
    19. Diego Ferraro & Daniela Blanco & Sebasti'an Pessah & Rodrigo Castro, 2021. "Land use change in agricultural systems: an integrated ecological-social simulation model of farmer decisions and cropping system performance based on a cellular automata approach," Papers 2109.01031, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2021.
    20. Pulselli, Federico M. & Patrizi, Nicoletta & Focardi, Silvia, 2011. "Calculation of the unit emergy value of water in an Italian watershed," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(16), pages 2929-2938.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:306:y:2015:i:c:p:121-129. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.