Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2022
Synergistic Improvement of Production, Economic Return and Sustainability in the Tea Industry through Ecological Pest Management
Zheng, Rongrong; Ma, Yanli; Liu, Luxing; Jiang, Beiying; Ke, Runmei; Guo, Sisi; He, Dunchun; Zhan, JiasuiAbstract
The use of ecological principles to manage plant pests has attracted renewed attention, but our knowledge related to the contributions of ecological pest management to social and natural sustainability is fragmented. In this study, we compared the performance and resilience of tea production and the economic benefits of tea ecological management (TEM) and tea conventional management (TCM). We show that TEM significantly improved tea biomass and quality, nutritional efficiency, and beneficial insects, but reduced seasonal variation. As a result, economic return increased by $8045/ha in the TEM mode compared to $6064/ha in the TCM mode. These results confirm that TEM is a promising production mode that can reconcile the conflict between the immediate and long-term service of agriculture. However, environmental improvements associated with organic pest control benefit society, and the government should provide adequate financial support to promote the production system.Keywords
pest management; eco-economic analysis; tea production; ecological resilience; sustainable agriculturePublished in
Horticulturae2022, volume: 8, number: 12, article number: 1155
Publisher: MDPI
Authors' information
Zheng, Rongrong
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Ma, Yanli
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Ma, Yanli
Fujian Jiangxia University
Liu, Luxing
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Jiang, Beiying
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Ke, Runmei
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Guo, Sisi
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
He, Dunchun
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
He, Dunchun
Fujian Jiangxia University
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
UKÄ Subject classification
Agricultural Science
Ecology
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8121155
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/120752