Can agricultural heritage systems keep clean production in the context of modernization? A case study of Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System of China based on carbon footprint

Agricultural heritage systems have great advantages in clean production, because they well maintain productivity while having low environmental impacts. However, as they are increasingly challenged by modernization, whether they can keep clean production in a modern society has become a general concern. In this study, we first put forward a theoretical framework for the environmental impact assessment of agricultural heritage systems. Then, we apply it to Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System (QRFCS), the first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems in China. We focus on its environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and analyze the changes in its capacity for reducing GHG emissions under dual impacts of modernization and conservation measures with the carbon footprint model. Results show that the rice-fish culture has obvious advantages in GHG emission reduction over the rice monoculture in the study area, but it is in face of environmental risks brought by the increased inputs of fertilizers and feed. The environmental impact of QRFCS in terms of GHG emissions has decreased these years, but the risk of the rice-fish industry shrinking has increased due to the negative feedback formed by the low input and low output status. However, the positive aspect is that the moderate land scale management has increased the capacity of QRFCS for reducing GHG emissions and promoted its conservation as an agricultural heritage system. We propose that this theoretical framework and its application results will not only provide suggestions for giving full play to the clean production capacity of agricultural heritage systems, but also provide countermeasures for their conservation in the context of modernization.