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@ARTICLE{QuirsVargas:888878,
      author       = {Quirós-Vargas, Juan and Romanelli, Thiago Libório and
                      Rascher, Uwe and Agüero, José},
      title        = {{S}ustainability {P}erformance through {T}echnology
                      {A}doption: {A} {C}ase {S}tudy of {L}and {L}eveling in a
                      {P}addy {F}ield},
      journal      = {Agronomy},
      volume       = {10},
      number       = {11},
      issn         = {2073-4395},
      address      = {Basel},
      publisher    = {MDPI},
      reportid     = {FZJ-2020-05283},
      pages        = {1681 -},
      year         = {2020},
      abstract     = {Energy is required in all agricultural activities.
                      Diagramming material flows needed by crop production systems
                      supports the proper analysis of energy flows interactions
                      within a system’s boundaries. The latter complemented with
                      an economic analysis gives a clear view of how beneficial a
                      new practice within a crop cycle is—in this case, the
                      variable slope (VS) land leveling (LL) operation. VS is a
                      global navigation satellite system (GNSS, with real time
                      kinematics—RTK—accuracy) LL technique used to create a
                      smooth continuous surface with a constant slope, by cutting
                      and filling topsoil layers only in those points presenting
                      “anomalies” of micro-relief which make the movement of
                      water difficult. This operation is important for paddy
                      production since: (i) it enables to crop during dry seasons
                      by harnessing the water of rivers and wells, and (ii)
                      improves the production during rainy seasons, by allowing
                      the farmer to manage the drainage timely and homogeneously.
                      The present study aims to analyze, from the energy
                      perspective, the effects of the VS leveling implementation
                      in a paddy field (located in the Costa Rican Pacific),
                      throughout input (labor, gas oil, etc.) and output (yield
                      and price) data of five consecutive years (2011–2015). A
                      material flow diagram was created representing two
                      scenarios: before and after leveling the land. The materials
                      were converted into energy (MJ ha−1) data, used for the
                      estimation of EROI (energy return on investment), EP (energy
                      productivity) and EB (energy balance) indices, while looking
                      for a clearer understanding of the LL impact on the use of
                      energy within the agroecosystem. Moreover, in order to
                      complement the energy perspective, an economic point of view
                      was considered as well through a profitability analysis
                      where the total gain obtained over the years with LL was
                      compared with that obtained without LL. Results showed that
                      the increase in energy consumed by incorporating VS leveling
                      is compensated by the gradual increase of energy embodied in
                      yield, increasing energy balance (EB) from 26,192 MJ ha−1
                      up to 91,166 MJ ha−1. Similarly, EROI and EP were
                      duplicated with LL. Economic total gain after incorporating
                      the VS increased from less than 500 USD ha−1 up to 1800
                      USD ha−1 in the third year after leveling. Yield is more
                      affected under adverse weather conditions with irregular
                      water supply, either limited or excessive; and effects are
                      less pronounced when the yield limiting factor is associated
                      with biotic stress unrelated to irrigation and drainage
                      facts. An environmental positive impact should also be
                      noted, since VS allowed the production benefits of having
                      highly-efficient irrigation and drainage systems, while
                      avoiding major damage to topsoil layers.},
      cin          = {IBG-2},
      ddc          = {640},
      cid          = {I:(DE-Juel1)IBG-2-20101118},
      pnm          = {582 - Plant Science (POF3-582)},
      pid          = {G:(DE-HGF)POF3-582},
      typ          = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
      UT           = {WOS:000592717100001},
      doi          = {10.3390/agronomy10111681},
      url          = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/888878},
}