Organic Vegetable Cultivation Reduces Resource and Environmental Costs While Increasing Farmers’ Income in the North China Plain

Abstract

Organic cultivation has been promoted in recent years as a possible alternative to conventional cultivation in order to reduce environmental burdens and nonrenewable resource use. However, a comprehensive assessment of the sustainability of different vegetable cultivation modes is currently lacking. In this study, a combined use of economic analysis (ECA), emergy analysis (EMA), and lifecycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to evaluate the economic performance, resource use, and environmental impacts of three greenhouse eggplant production modes, namely conventional (CON), low-input (LOW), and organic (ORG) cultivation. ECA results showed that the economic profit and value to cost ratio of ORG increased by 14%–17% and 36%–41% compared with CON and LOW, respectively. EMA results showed that ORG had higher resource use efficiency. The unit emergy value and emergy sustainability index of ORG increased by 37%–49% and 45%–65% than those of CON and LOW, respectively. LCA results revealed lower potential environmental impacts for ORG, and its total potential environment impact index was 80%–91% lower than that of CON and LOW. These results showed that organic vegetable cultivation reduced resource and environmental costs while increasing farmers’ income, which is the most sustainable vegetable production mode in the North China Plain.