Assessing the Economic–Environmental Trade-off of Crop Rotations: A Case Study of Mung Bean Production

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article- En

Authors

F. Nadi ¹

M. H. Movahednejad ²

¹ Department of Biosystems Engineering, Agriculture Faculty, Az.C, Islamic Azad University, Azadshahr, Iran

² Department of Biosystems Engineering, Agriculture Faculty, Shahrood University of Technology, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/jam.2026.97894.1475

Abstract

The ecological footprint reflects human pressure on natural resources and environmental biocapacity and is widely used to assess agricultural sustainability. This study examined the effect of preceding crops (wheat, barley, and canola) on the environmental and economic performance of mung bean production. Data were collected via farmer questionnaires and interviews. Environmental indicators [ecological footprint (EF), biocapacity (BC), ecological balance (EB)] and economic indicators [gross margin, benefit–cost ratio (BCR)] were calculated. Results showed that the preceding crop significantly affected most indicators (p < 0.05); canola differed from wheat and barley, while wheat and barley did not differ significantly. Environmentally, mung bean after canola had the lowest total EF (1.055 gha ha⁻¹) and highest relative ecological efficiency (0.315), but the lowest BC (1.541 gha ha⁻¹). Mung bean after wheat exhibited the highest EF (1.777 gha ha⁻¹) and the highest BC (2.277 gha ha⁻¹). Although EB was positive for all rotations (0.482–0.500 gha ha⁻¹), the Ecological Footprint Index (EFI) fell within the 'weak sustainability' category (0.216–0.315), and the ratio of overexploitation footprint to input footprint (EF_ovp/EF_inp) ranged from 4.30 to 8.59, indicating that overexploitation pressure overwhelmingly dominates input‑driven pressure. Economically, wheat achieved the highest gross margin ($ 1,887 ha⁻¹) and BCR (2.844), while canola gave the lowest ($ 1,032 ha⁻¹; 1.479). A composite index with adjustable ecological‑economic weights revealed a trade‑off threshold at w≈0.55: canola is superior under ecological priority, wheat under economic priority. Given local biocapacity, selecting wheat as the preceding crop offers the most balanced combination of EF management and profitability for mung bean production in this region.

Keywords

Agricultural cost-benefit analysis

Biocapacity

Ecological footprint

Economic efficiency

Preceding crop

Subjects

• Sustainability and Circular Bioeconomy, and Environmental Resilience

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