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Background: Rice is a major cereal crop and staple food of eastern India, and most farmers depend solely on rice for their livelihood. Rice farming provides both tangible and non-tangible benefits to ecosystems which need to be maintained and enhanced. These benefits are provided through ecosystem services (ES) that include both marketable and non-marketable. Methods: In this study, the rice farms in eastern India were valued by quantifying the economic value of the services under conventional method of rice cultivation and the gap of ecosystem services value and farm income per unit area were assessed. A stratified random sampling technique was used in this study for selection of agro-climatic zones, districts, blocks, gram panchayat, and study units (households). Soil sampling was also performed for assessing the regulating services (biocontrol of pests, carbon flow, soil erosion, nitrogen fixation), provisioning services (food and by-products), and supporting services (soil fertility, hydrological flow, nutrient cycling, and soil formation). Results: The results indicated that the total economic value of ecosystem services ranged from US$ 1238 to 1688 ha −1 year −1. The marketed (primary production) and non-marketed ecosystem services values ranged from 66-89 to 11-34% of the total, respectively. Valuation of some of the ecosystem services such as cultural services, biodiversity, and gas regulation, which may play a significant role in total ecosystem services, has not been made due to non-availability of data and appropriate methodology for rice ecosystem. Different values of parameters can explain the variability in ecosystem services among the agro-climatic zones in eastern India. Clustering of locations based on variability of ecosystem services helps in identifying intervention points for sustaining and improving ecosystem services, while permitting sustainable agro-ecological intensification. The highest total economic gap between ES value and farm income was found in the north central plateau zone (US$ 1063 ha −1 year −1) and the lowest in the north western plateau zone (US$ 670 ha −1 year −1). Conclusion: We suggest various measures to reduce the economic gap, including payments for ecosystem services for rice farming for sustainability of the ecosystem and agricultural development, while ensuring reliable farm income.

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Understanding the spatial spreading patterns of plant-available sulphur (S) (AS) and plant-available micronutrients (available zinc (AZn), available iron (AFe), available copper (ACu), available manganese (AMn) and available boron (AB)) in soils, especially in coastal agricultural soils subjected to various natural and anthropogenic activities, is vital for sustainable crop production by adopting site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) strategies. We studied the spatial distribution patterns of AS, AZn, AFe, ACu, AMn, and AB in cultivated soils of coastal districts of India using geostatistical approaches. Altogether 39,097 soil samples from surface (0 to 15 cm depth) layers were gathered from farm lands of 68 coastal districts. The analysis of soil samples was carried out for soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil organic carbon (SOC) and AS, AZn, AFe, ACu, AMn, and AB. Soil pH, EC and SOC varied from 3.70 to 9.90, 0.01 to 7.45 dS m-1 and 0.02 to 3.74%, respectively. The concentrations of AS, AZn, AFe, ACu, AMn, and AB varied widely in the study area with their corresponding mean values were 37.4±29.4, 1.50±1.53, 27.9±35.1, 2.14±1.74, 16.9±18.4 and 1.34±1.52 mg kg-1, respectively. The coefficient of variation values of analyzed soil parameters varied from 14.6 to 126%. The concentrations of AS, AZn, AFe, ACu, AMn, and AB were negatively and significantly correlated with soil pH and positively and significantly correlated with SOC. The geostatistical analysis indicated stable, Gaussian and exponential best-fit semivariogram models with moderate to strong spatial dependence for available nutrients. The generated spatial spreading maps revealed different distribution patterns for AS, AZn, AFe, ACu, AMn, and AB. There were variations in spatial spreading patterns of AS, AZn, AFe, ACu, AMn, and AB in east- and west-coastal area. About 62, 35, 12, 0.4, 23 and 45% of the study area had deficiency of AS, AZn, AFe, ACu, AMn, and AB, respectively. The spatial spreading maps will be highly useful for SSNM in the cultivated coastal soils of the country. This study could also be used as a base for assessing spatial spreading patterns of soil parameters in cultivated coastal areas of other parts of the world.

IntroductionConventional rice production techniques are less economical and more vulnerable to sustainable utilization of farm resources as well as significantly contributed GHGs to atmosphere.MethodsIn order to assess the best rice production system for coastal areas, six rice production techniques were evaluated, including SRI-AWD (system of rice intensification with alternate wetting and drying (AWD)), DSR-CF (direct seeded rice with continuous flooding (CF)), DSR-AWD (direct seeded rice with AWD), TPR-CF (transplanted rice with CF), TPR-AWD (transplanted rice with AWD), and FPR-CF (farmer practice with CF). The performance of these technologies was assessed using indicators such as rice productivity, energy balance, GWP (global warming potential), soil health indicators, and profitability. Finally, using these indicators, a climate smartness index (CSI) was calculated.Results and discussionRice grown with SRI-AWD method had 54.8 % higher CSI over FPR-CF, and also give 24.5 to 28.3% higher CSI for DSR and TPR as well. There evaluations based on the climate smartness index can provide cleaner and more sustainable rice production and can be used as guiding principle for policy makers.