Beijing Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Organic Farming, College of Resources and Environmental Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, P.O. Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Beijing Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Organic Farming, College of Resources and Environmental Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jun 15;877:162698. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162698. Epub 2023 Mar 11.
Lack of experience concerning the organic conversion period and its associated challenges have made it difficult for conventional farmers to convert to organic farming. In this study, using a combined life cycle assessment (LCA) with data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, we investigated farming management strategies, and environmental, economic, and efficiency impacts of organic conversion tea farms (OCTF, N = 15) compared to conventional (CTF, N = 13) and organic (OTF, N = 14) tea farms in Wuyi County, China for a year-round (2019). We found that the OCTF reduced agricultural inputs (environmental impacts) and applied more manual harvesting (increased added value) to pull through the conversion period. According to the LCA results, OCTF showed a similar integrated environmental impact index compared with OTF but significantly (P < 0.05) lower than CTF at both midpoint and endpoint levels. In terms of economic assessment, OTF showed the significantly highest total revenue (18.7 thousand $ ha yr) and profit (13.7 thousand $ ha yr) (P < 0.05) among the farm types. In contrast, OCTF and CTF did not show significant differences in relation to these economic indicators (P > 0.05). The total cost and cost-profit ratio did not show significant differences among the three farm types. Considering the DEA analysis, there were no significant differences in the technical efficiency of all farm types. However, the eco-efficiency of OCTF and OTF was significantly higher than that of CTF. Therefore, conventional tea farms can survive the conversion period with competitive economic and environmental benefits. In this regard, policies should promote organic tea cultivation and agroecological practices to enhance the sustainable transformation of tea production systems.
缺乏对有机转换期及其相关挑战的经验，使得传统农民难以转向有机农业。在这项研究中，我们采用了生命周期评价（LCA）与数据包络分析（DEA）相结合的方法，研究了福建省武夷山市有机转换茶园（OCTF，N=15）与传统茶园（CTF，N=13）和有机茶园（OTF，N=14）的农事管理策略以及环境、经济和效率影响，时间跨度为一年（2019 年）。我们发现，OCTF 减少了农业投入（环境影响），并增加了手工采摘（增加附加值），以度过转换期。根据 LCA 结果，OCTF 在中点和端点水平上与 OTF 的综合环境影响指数相似，但明显（P<0.05）低于 CTF。在经济评估方面，OTF 在三种茶园类型中表现出明显最高的总收入（18.7 千美元公顷年）和利润（13.7 千美元公顷年）（P<0.05）。相比之下，OCTF 和 CTF 在这些经济指标上没有显著差异（P>0.05）。三种茶园类型的总成本和成本利润率没有显著差异。考虑到 DEA 分析，所有茶园类型的技术效率均无显著差异。然而，OCTF 和 OTF 的生态效率明显高于 CTF。因此，传统茶园可以在具有竞争力的经济和环境效益的情况下度过转换期。在这方面，政策应促进有机茶种植和农业生态实践，以加强茶叶生产系统的可持续转型。
