Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Organic and Low-Input Conventional Farms from Eastern Poland with the RISE Indicator System
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. The RISE Method
2.2. Study Design
2.3. RISE Assessments
2.4. Biodiversity Analyses
2.5. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
3.1. General Characteristics of the Farms
3.2. Assessment of Sustainable Performance of Organic and Conventional Farms
3.2.1. Sustainability Polygon
3.2.2. Soil Use
3.2.3. Animal Husbandry
3.2.4. Material Use & Environmental Protection
3.2.5. Water Use
3.2.6. Energy & Climate
3.2.7. Biodiversity
3.2.8. Working Conditions
3.2.9. Quality of Life
3.2.10. Economic Viability
3.2.11. Farm Management
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Theme | Indicators | Theme | Indicators |
---|---|---|---|
1. Soil use | 1.1. Soil management 1.2. Crop productivity 1.3. Soil organic matter 1.4. Soil reaction 1.5. Soil erosion 1.6. Soil compaction | 6. Biodiversity | 6.1. Biodiversity management 6.2. Ecological infrastructures 6.3. Distribution of ecological infrastructures 6.4. Intensity of agricultural production 6.5. Diversity of agricultural production |
2. Animal husbandry | 2.1. Herd management 2.2. Livestock productivity 2.3. Opportunity forspecies-appropriate behaviour 2.4. Living conditions 2.5. Animal health | 7. Working conditions | 7.1. Personnel management 7.2. Working times 7.3. Safety at work 7.4. Wage and income levels |
3. Material use & environmental protection | 3.1. Material flows 3.2. Fertilization 3.3. Plant protection 3.4. Air pollution 3.5. Soil and water pollution | 8. Quality of life | 8.1. Occupation and education 8.2. Financial situation 8.3. Social relations 8.4. Personal freedom and values 8.5. Health 8.6. Other aspects of life |
4. Water use | 4.1. Water management 4.2. Water supply 4.3. Water use intensity 4.4. Irrigation | 9. Economic viability | 9.1. Liquidity 9.2. Profitability 9.3. Stability 9.4. Indebtedness 9.5. Livelihood security |
5. Energy and climate | 5.1. Energy management 5.2. Energy intensity ofagricultural production 5.3. Greenhouse gas balance | 10. Farm management | 10.1. Business goals, strategy, implementation 10.2. Availability of information 10.3. Risk management 10.4. Resilient relationships |
6. Biodiversity | Valuation Scheme |
---|---|
6.1 Biodiversity management
|
|
6.2 Ecological Infrastructures Share of AA (optionally whole farm area) with high ecological value (planar, linear, and point structures). | 17% = 100 pts. 0% = 0 pts. Contribution of the farm to UN Nagoya biodiversity goal. |
6.3 Distribution of ecological infrastructures
|
|
6.4 Intensity of agricultural production
|
|
6.5 Diversity of agricultural production
| 100 pts. when
|
Item | Tested Farms (Mean Lublin Region) | |
---|---|---|
Organic | Conventional | |
Agricultural area (AA) (ha), including: | 27.2 (18.5) | 49.7 (38.8) |
arable lands | 20.3 (14.4) | 37.3 (32.5) |
grasslands | 7.2 (2.3) | 15.9 (4.1) |
permanent crops | 0.8 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
Cropping pattern (%), including: | ||
cereals | 59.0 | 73.3 |
mixture of cereals and legumes | 9.8 | 2.0 |
industrial crops (sugar beet, rape) | 0 | 7.8 |
fodder crops on arable lands | 3.9 | 8.1 |
remaining crops | 27.3 | 8.7 |
Catch crops (% AA of farm in winter) | 14.5 | 26.5 |
Livestock density (large unit per ha AA) (LU/ha) | 0.13 | 0.54 |
Item | Type of Farms | |
---|---|---|
Organic | Conventional | |
Livestock density for farms with livestock (LU/ha AA) | 0.21 | 1.10 |
N input (kg/ha AA): | 54.5 | 144.3 |
from mineral fertilizers | 1.0 | 59.5 |
from manure | 6.7 | 32.8 |
from legumes, N input from air | 46.9 | 52.0 |
P input kg/ha AA: | 2.1 | 15.8 |
from mineral fertilizers | 0 | 6.7 |
from manure | 1.9 | 9.1 |
from imported organic fertilizers | 0.2 | 0 |
N balance (%) | 134 | 143 |
P balance (%) | 27 | 66 |
N balance (kg/ha AA) | 12 | 49 |
P balance (kg/ha AA) | −8 | −3 |
Number of chemical plant protection measures in cereals | 0 | 0.9 |
Yields of cereals and their mixture (t/ha AA) | 2.0 | 3.1 |
GHG emissions (t/ha/year CO2-eq.) | 0.9 | 2.7 |
Number of family members employed (full-employment person according to RISE method) | 1.8 | 1.6 |
Number of employees | 0 | 0.5 |
Total employment per ha | 0.06 | 0.04 |
Theme and Indicators | Organic | Conventional | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
1. Soil use | 70 (64–77) | 73 (58–84) | 0.165 |
1.1. Soil management | 67 (50–100) | 84 (50–100) | 0.393 |
1.2. Crop productivity | 54 (16–94) | 77 (42–100) | 0.123 |
1.3. Soil organic matter | 84 (50–98) | 81 (56–90) | 0.436 |
1.4. Soil reaction | 3 (0–50) | 3 (0–70) | 0.912 |
1.5. Soil erosion | 100 (84–100) | 100 (100–100) | 0.739 |
1.6. Soil compaction | 100 (70–100) | 100 (30–100) | 0.280 |
Theme and Indicators | Organic | Conventional | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
2. Animal husbandry | 73 (61–84) | 77 (53–94) | 0.613 |
2.1. Herd management | 50 (33–100) | 67 (33–100) | 0.867 |
2.2. Livestock productivity | 43 (18–56) | 72 (22–100) | 0.072 |
2.3. Opportunity for species-appropriate behavior | 74 (45–100) | 67 (53–100) | 0.189 |
2.4. Living conditions | 97 (83–100) | 89 (69–100) | 0.397 |
2.5. Animal health | 92 (83–100) | 90 (67–95) | 0.152 |
Theme and Indicators | Organic | Conventional | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
3. Materials use & environmental protection | 75 (55–87) | 73 (69–81) | 0.796 |
3.1. Material flows | 81 (63–88) | 77 (50–93) | 0.190 |
3.2. Fertilization | 43 (0–79) | 64 (48–69) | 0.089 |
3.3. Plant protection | 75 (25–100) | 50 (25–100) | 0.218 |
3.4. Air pollution | 77 (56–88) | 77 (65–85) | 1.000 |
3.5. Soil and water pollution | 97 (94–100) | 97 (86–99) | 0.190 |
Theme and Indicators | Organic | Conventional | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
4. Water use | 76 (70–87) | 74 (66–93) | 0.393 |
4.1. Water management | 37 (21–67) | 37 (10–91) | 1.000 |
4.2. Water supply | 100 (100–100) | 100 (100–100) | 1.000 |
4.3. Water use intensity | 91 (76–97) | 87 (78–97) | 0.481 |
4.4. Irrigation | 94 (88–100) | No irrigation |
Theme and Indicators | Organic | Conventional | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
5. Energy & Climate | 81 (57–91) | 77 (44–91) | 0.481 |
5.1. Energy management | 64 (18–77) | 58 (25–100) | 0.684 |
5.2. Energy intensity of agricultural production | 94 (7–100) | 94 (78–100) | 0.912 |
5.3. Greenhouse gas balance | 100 (67–100) * | 89 (11–100) * | 0.043 |
Theme and Indicators | Organic | Conventional | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
6. Biodiversity | 67 (46–76) * | 56 (24–70) * | 0.043 |
6.1. Biodiversity management | 72 (37–83) | 56 (33–73) | 0.123 |
6.2. Ecological infrastructures | 88 (29–100) | 74 (0–100) | 0.481 |
6.3. Distribution of ecological infrastructures | 33 (15–80) | 18 (5–70) | 0.089 |
6.4. Intensity of agricultural production | 99 (92–100) * | 76 (47–97) * | <0.001 |
6.5. Diversity of agricultural production | 31 (25–72) | 29 (13–48) | 0.165 |
On-Farm Biodiversity Indices | RISE Biodiversity Theme and Indicators | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Biodiversity | Biodiversity Management | Ecological Infrastructu-Res | Distribution of Ecological Infrastructu-Res | Intensity of Agricultural Production | Diversity of Agricultural Production | ||
Orthoptera | N ** | 0.31 | 0.25 | 0.33 | 0.32 | 0.45 * | −0.11 |
N | 0.21 | 0.32 | 0.34 | 0.12 | 0.38 | 0.03 | |
H′ | 0.31 | 0.03 | 0.26 | 0.45 * | 0.48 * | 0.01 | |
Weeds | N | 0.66 * | 0.28 | 0.42 | 0.71 * | 0.69 * | 0.22 |
n | 0.41 | 0.24 | 0.30 | 0.58 * | 0.35 | 0.03 | |
H′ | 0.63 * | 0.12 | 0.48 * | 0.70 * | 0.56 * | 0.33 | |
Soil seed bank | N | 0.66 * | 0.14 | 0.41 | 0.61 * | 0.67 * | 0.46 * |
n | 0.63 * | 0.23 | 0.40 | 0.65 * | 0.66 * | 0.39 | |
H′ | 0.63 * | 0.12 | 0.41 | 0.59 * | 0.57 * | 0.45 * |
Theme and Indicators | Organic | Conventional | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
7. Working conditions | 66 (53–77) | 69 (55–77) | 0.853 |
7.1. Personnel management | 83 (56–89) | 80 (67–89) | 0.684 |
7.2. Working hours | 50 (13–79) | 59 (38–83) | 0.353 |
7.3. Safety at work | 80 (75–100) | 80 (62–92) | 0.529 |
7.4. Wage and income levels | 53 (13–75) | 50 (19–72) | 1.000 |
Theme and Indicators | Organic | Conventional | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
8. Quality of life | 67 (54–84) | 73 (31–85) | 0.481 |
8.1. Occupation & training | 75 (50–92) | 83 (25–100) | 0.315 |
8.2. Financial situation | 57 (38–100) | 63 (13–100) | 0.684 |
8.3. Social relations | 88 (63–100) | 82 (63–100) | 0.796 |
8.4. Personal freedom & values | 58 (25–75) | 50 (0–83) | 0.796 |
8.5. Health | 69 (38–88) | 69 (25–88) | 0.853 |
Theme and Indicators | Organic | Conventional | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
9. Economic viability | 64 (40–100) | 79 (34–99) | 0.481 |
9.1. Liquidity | 50 (0–100) | 63 (25–100) | 0.912 |
9.2. Profitability | 88 (50–100) | 94 (38–100) | 0.579 |
9.3. Stability | 66 (44–100) | 72 (25–100) | 0.631 |
9.4. Indebtedness | 79 (0–100) | 96 (33–100) | 0.315 |
9.5. Livelihood security | 69 (38–100) | 75 (38–100) | 0.481 |
Theme and Indicators | Organic | Conventional | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
10. Farm management | 83 (58–97) | 86 (58–94) | 0.631 |
10.1. Business goals, strategy, implementation | 82 (65–100) | 86 (54–92) | 0.739 |
10.2. Availability of information | 77 (43–89) | 76 (33–85) | 0.796 |
10.3. Risk management | 100 (50–100) | 100 (11–100) | 0.315 |
10.4. Resilient relationships | 75 (63–100) * | 100 (92–100) * | <0.001 |
Indicator | Organic Farms | Conventional Farms | Examples from Literature |
---|---|---|---|
1. Soil use |
| [48,49] | |
2. Animal husbandry |
| [49] | |
3. Material use & environmental protection |
|
| [50,51,52,53,54,55] |
| |||
4. Water use |
| [56] | |
5. Energy & Climate |
| [57] | |
6. Biodiversity |
|
| [43,58,59] |
| [43] | ||
7. Working conditions |
| [60] | |
8. Quality of life |
|
| [41] |
| |||
9. Economic viability |
|
| [61] |
| |||
10. Farm management |
|
| [62] |
| [63] |
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Berbeć, A.K.; Feledyn-Szewczyk, B.; Thalmann, C.; Wyss, R.; Grenz, J.; Kopiński, J.; Stalenga, J.; Radzikowski, P. Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Organic and Low-Input Conventional Farms from Eastern Poland with the RISE Indicator System. Sustainability 2018, 10, 1792. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061792
Berbeć AK, Feledyn-Szewczyk B, Thalmann C, Wyss R, Grenz J, Kopiński J, Stalenga J, Radzikowski P. Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Organic and Low-Input Conventional Farms from Eastern Poland with the RISE Indicator System. Sustainability. 2018; 10(6):1792. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061792
Chicago/Turabian StyleBerbeć, Adam Kleofas, Beata Feledyn-Szewczyk, Christian Thalmann, Rebekka Wyss, Jan Grenz, Jerzy Kopiński, Jarosław Stalenga, and Paweł Radzikowski. 2018. "Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Organic and Low-Input Conventional Farms from Eastern Poland with the RISE Indicator System" Sustainability 10, no. 6: 1792. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061792