Implications of technological improvement and circular agriculture on environmental sustainability of sugarcane production

Abstract

The spatially differentiated environmental impacts and associated costs of technological improvement and circular agricultural practices in sugarcane production were assessed. Analysis of the cause-effect relationship between the key processes and substances each helped develop alternative scenarios for impact reduction. PM_2.5 emissions contributed to 92 % of the total human health impacts from open burning of field residues. Freshwater ecotoxicity, mainly due to ametryn emissions from pesticide application, contributed to 47 % of the total damage to the ecosystem. The environmental costs were 116 % higher than the value of sugarcane production, signifying the critical importance of adopting alternative pathways that provide economic benefits from environmental cost reduction compared to the production value. Scenarios considering green cane harvesting and waste management approaches demonstrated high potential for total impact reduction of 99 % and 97 %, respectively, and economic gains of 202 and 225 billion THB, respectively (5.76 and 6.42 billion USD, respectively). The economic benefits of waste utilization were 137 % higher than the value of sugarcane production, demonstrating the potential benefits of product substitution to help mitigate impacts. The core findings highlight the significance of the PM_2.5 impact-related external costs and underscore the benefits of adopting green cane harvesting in conjunction with on-field waste utilization to mitigate the impact of open burning and produce value-added products. Technological improvement and circular agricultural practices coupled with valuation of spatially differentiated impacts can provide useful and more accurate information to policymakers, to prioritize the implementation of mitigation strategies for enhancing the environmental sustainability of sugarcane production.