Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally
Adjusting crop rotation is a key agricultural strategy to boost variable profit, enhance soil fertility, adapt to climate change, and mitigate farming risks. The aim of this paper is to assess the opportunities for simultaneously enhancing carbon balance and variable profit of crop cultivation thro...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Scientific Agricultural Society of Finland
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | Agricultural and Food Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.fi/afs/article/view/145642 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841560032528826368 |
|---|---|
| author | Eveliina Kiiaki Kari Hyytiäinen |
| author_facet | Eveliina Kiiaki Kari Hyytiäinen |
| author_sort | Eveliina Kiiaki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Adjusting crop rotation is a key agricultural strategy to boost variable profit, enhance soil fertility, adapt to climate change, and mitigate farming risks. The aim of this paper is to assess the opportunities for simultaneously enhancing carbon balance and variable profit of crop cultivation through altering the allocation of crop use in a regional scale. Using a numerical optimization model for mineral soils in southern Finland, results show that careful diversifying of crop cultivation can enhance both carbon balance and profit compared to the current allocation. Including the lifecycle carbon footprint of nitrogen fertilizers further increases potential gains. Variable profit can rise by 75–207 € ha-1 year-1, while carbon balance improves by 70–336 kg C ha-1 year-1, depending on the weighting of economic and climate outcomes. Changes can be made without significantly increasing fixed costs of cultivation. Optimal strategies include reducing spring crops and fodder grass while increasing nitrogen-fixing grasses and high-profit crops like clover grass, green manure, potato, and sugar beet. Sensitivity analysis highlighted the importance of higher yields for enhanced outcomes, emphasizing the need to enhance forage grass, clover grass, and green manure yields for carbon balance and forage grass, potato, sugar beet, and spring crop yields for increased variable profit. Investments in infrastructure, marketing, and innovative food products are essential to promote local crop diversity and incentivize farmers to utilize and test new crops on a farm.
|
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-51d740bc1b1a43278e053e0f21cc048f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1459-6067 1795-1895 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Scientific Agricultural Society of Finland |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agricultural and Food Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-51d740bc1b1a43278e053e0f21cc048f2025-01-05T04:52:03ZengScientific Agricultural Society of FinlandAgricultural and Food Science1459-60671795-18952024-12-0133410.23986/afsci.145642Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionallyEveliina Kiiaki0Kari Hyytiäinen1Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Department of Economics and Management, University of HelsinkiFaculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Department of Economics and Management, University of Helsinki Adjusting crop rotation is a key agricultural strategy to boost variable profit, enhance soil fertility, adapt to climate change, and mitigate farming risks. The aim of this paper is to assess the opportunities for simultaneously enhancing carbon balance and variable profit of crop cultivation through altering the allocation of crop use in a regional scale. Using a numerical optimization model for mineral soils in southern Finland, results show that careful diversifying of crop cultivation can enhance both carbon balance and profit compared to the current allocation. Including the lifecycle carbon footprint of nitrogen fertilizers further increases potential gains. Variable profit can rise by 75–207 € ha-1 year-1, while carbon balance improves by 70–336 kg C ha-1 year-1, depending on the weighting of economic and climate outcomes. Changes can be made without significantly increasing fixed costs of cultivation. Optimal strategies include reducing spring crops and fodder grass while increasing nitrogen-fixing grasses and high-profit crops like clover grass, green manure, potato, and sugar beet. Sensitivity analysis highlighted the importance of higher yields for enhanced outcomes, emphasizing the need to enhance forage grass, clover grass, and green manure yields for carbon balance and forage grass, potato, sugar beet, and spring crop yields for increased variable profit. Investments in infrastructure, marketing, and innovative food products are essential to promote local crop diversity and incentivize farmers to utilize and test new crops on a farm. https://journal.fi/afs/article/view/145642diversifying crop production, crop rotations, linear programming, optimization, regional analysis |
| spellingShingle | Eveliina Kiiaki Kari Hyytiäinen Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally Agricultural and Food Science diversifying crop production, crop rotations, linear programming, optimization, regional analysis |
| title | Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally |
| title_full | Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally |
| title_fullStr | Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally |
| title_short | Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally |
| title_sort | trade offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally |
| topic | diversifying crop production, crop rotations, linear programming, optimization, regional analysis |
| url | https://journal.fi/afs/article/view/145642 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT eveliinakiiaki tradeoffsbetweencarbonconservationandprofitabilityincropcultivationunlockingpotentialthroughdiversifyingcropallocationsregionally AT karihyytiainen tradeoffsbetweencarbonconservationandprofitabilityincropcultivationunlockingpotentialthroughdiversifyingcropallocationsregionally |