title: Economic assessment of different mulches in conventional and water-saving rice production systems.
abstract: Water-saving rice production systems including alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and aerobic rice (AR) are being increasingly adopted by growers due to global water crises. Application of natural and artificial mulches may further improve water economy of water-saving rice production systems. Conventionally flooded rice (CFR) system has been rarely compared with AWD and AR in terms of economic returns. In this 2-year field study, we compared CFR with AWD and AR (with and without straw and plastic mulches) for the cost of production and economic benefits. Results indicated that CFR had a higher production cost than AWD and AR. However, application of mulches increased the cost of production of AWD and AR production systems where plastic mulch was expensive than straw mulch. Although the mulching increased the cost of production for AWD and AR, the gross income of these systems was also improved significantly. The gross income from mulched plots of AWD and AR was higher than non-mulched plots of the same systems. In conclusion, AWD and AR effectively reduce cost of production by economizing the water use. However, the use of natural and artificial mulches in such water-saving environments further increased the economic returns. The maximized economic returns by using straw mulch in water-saving rice production systems definitely have pragmatic implications for sustainable agriculture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.|Department of Plant Protection, Adnan Menderes University Aydin, Aydın, Turkey.
authors.forename: Khawar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jabran
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Mubshar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China. shah_fahad80@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Shah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fahad
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farooq
authors.affiliation: Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Toowoomba, 4350, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Ali Ahsan
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Bajwa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, 21589, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Hesham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alharrby
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Vehari, 61100, Pakistan. wajidnseem2001@gmail.com.|CIHEAM-Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier (IAMM), 3191 route de Mende, 34090, Montpellier, France. wajidnseem2001@gmail.com.|CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture, National Research Flagship, Toowoomba, Qld, 4350, Australia. wajidnseem2001@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Wajid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Nasim
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods; D004777:Environment; D005308:Fertilizers / Q000191:economics*; D012275:Oryza / Q000254:growth & development*; D010969:Plastics; D012987:Soil; D014867:Water; D062066:Water Resources / Q000600:supply & distribution*
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D010969:Plastics; D012987:Soil; D014867:Water
keywords: Cost of production; Economic analysis; Fixed cost; Mulch systems; Rice; Rice systems; Water-saving techniques
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