Trade-offs between economic benefits and environmental impacts of vegetable greenhouses expansion in East China

Greenhouse vegetable cultivation (GVC) has become a global issue in agricultural land use in recent years. While the use of GVC brings considerable economic profits, it has significant environmental impacts, with a risk of threat to sustainability. To make sound development and management strategies, it is necessary to characterize the trade-offs between the benefits and costs of GVC expansion. This study focuses on the expansion of GVC in East China, taking Xiaoshan County as a case study. Remote sensing techniques are used to detect the spatial patterns of GVC expansion from 2005 to 2015; then, field surveys and empirical models are employed to assess the environmental impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and plastic waste. Lastly, monetary analysis is used to evaluate the trade-offs between the environmental costs and economic gains caused by GVC expansion. The results show that GVC has expanded rapidly from 2005 to 2015 in Xiaoshan County. The GVC expansion has significantly increased GHG emissions and plastic waste from cultivated land. Both the economic benefits and environmental costs of GVC expansion show an increasing tendency throughout the study period. It denotes that economic benefits can compensate for environmental costs of GHG emissions and plastic waste brought by GVC, but the long-term damage to the quality and environmental conditions of cultivated land is still underestimated. We finally propose four major policy implications to achieve a win-win scenario between economic profitability and cultivated land protection associated with GVC.