Eveliina Kiiski, Kari Hyytiäinen

Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally

Introduction

Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally. Unlock crop cultivation potential in southern Finland by diversifying allocations. This study reveals how optimizing crop choices can simultaneously boost carbon balance and variable profit, offering strategies for sustainable farming and climate change mitigation.

Abstract

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.

Review

The submitted work, titled "Trade-offs between carbon conservation and profitability in crop cultivation: unlocking potential through diversifying crop allocations regionally," addresses a crucial challenge in modern agriculture: simultaneously achieving economic viability and environmental sustainability. The paper proposes that adjusting crop rotation and diversifying crop allocations at a regional scale can be a key strategy for enhancing both variable profit and carbon balance in cultivation systems. Utilizing a numerical optimization model applied to mineral soils in southern Finland, the study provides compelling evidence that a careful re-allocation of crops offers significant opportunities to improve these often conflicting objectives, moving beyond traditional trade-off paradigms. The research effectively demonstrates the tangible benefits of such diversification. Quantitatively, the findings indicate a potential increase in variable profit ranging from 75–207 € ha-1 year-1, coupled with a substantial improvement in carbon balance of 70–336 kg C ha-1 year-1, depending on the weighting of economic versus climate outcomes. A notable strength is the finding that these improvements can be realized without significantly increasing fixed cultivation costs, making the proposed changes highly practical for farmers. The study identifies specific crop strategies, recommending a reduction in spring crops and fodder grass, and an increase in nitrogen-fixing grasses, clover grass, green manure, potato, and sugar beet. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis correctly highlights the critical role of yield enhancement, particularly for forage grass, clover grass, and green manure to boost carbon balance, and for high-value crops like potato and sugar beet to maximize variable profit. The inclusion of the lifecycle carbon footprint of nitrogen fertilizers further strengthens the environmental analysis. While the abstract presents a strong case for the potential of regional crop diversification, a deeper understanding of the specific socio-economic and logistical barriers to widespread adoption would be beneficial for future work. The paper correctly points to the need for investments in infrastructure, marketing, and innovative food products to promote local crop diversity and incentivize farmers, which are critical for practical implementation. Overall, this paper makes a valuable contribution to agricultural science by providing a robust, regionally-specific model demonstrating that a "win-win" scenario for both environmental and economic outcomes is achievable through strategic crop management, offering clear policy and practical implications for sustainable agricultural development.

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