Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Economic valuation associated with nitrogen losses from wetland rice-duck and rice-fish ecological system

Author(s):

Weiling Yuan ^{1, 2}, Cougui Cao ¹*, Danying Xing ³, Chengfang Li ¹, Jianping Chen ⁴

Recieved Date: 2012-06-10, Accepted Date: 2012-10-02

Abstract:

To evaluate the potential effect of stocking ducks and fish on nitrogen (N) losses and economic value from paddy fields, an experiment was conducted on the experimental farm of Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, China. The experimental field was equally divided into nine plots for three different treatments: (1) rice-duck ecosystem (RD), (2) rice-fish ecosystem (RF) and (3) rice only (R). N losses via N₂O emission, NH₃ volatilization and N leaching were investigated during rice growth stage. N₂O emissions were measured by a static chambers technique, NH₃ volatilization by a closed acid trap method, and N leaching by a field lysimeter. Compared with R and RF, RD significantly (p<0.05) increased N₂O emissions during ducks and fish introduced into the paddy fields. The economic value of N losses via N₂O emissions from RD, RF and R were 139.74, 121.19 and 123.77 yuan·ha^-1 (Chinese currency; 1 euro = 8.28 yuan, April 19, 2012), respectively. N losses via NH₃volatilization from RD were 43.09 kg·ha^-1, significantly lower than 44.89 and 46.30 kg·ha^-1 in RF and R, with the economic value of 2808.71, 2926.04 and 3017.94 yuan·ha^-1, respectively. The economic value of N losses via total N leaching from RD and RF were 473.70 and 463.64 yuan·ha^-1, respectively, which were lower than that from R (503.40 yuan·ha^-1). Besides the output value and input cost, the economic value from RD and RF were 9495.21 and 7211.54 yuan·ha^-1, respectively, which were higher than that from R (4297.69 yuan·ha^-1). These results suggest the presence of ducks and fish in paddy fields could decrease N losses and contribute to the development of economy and environmental sustainability.

Keywords:

Economic value, N losses, rice-duck ecosystem, rice-fish ecosystem

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2012
Volume: 10
Issue: 3&4
Category: Environment
Pages: 1271-1278

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