Soil Sustainability Assessment for Rice Cropping Recommendations: A Case Study in An Giang Province, Vietnam

Abstract

Background: The study aimed to identify the sustainability of soil fertility and social-economic factors for major rice cropping and offer suggestions for sustainable rice cropping. Methods: The kite sustainability assessment is a multi-objective assessment method based on standardized scoring formulas built on land assessment criteria with limiting factors. It used the AHP method to determine how different critical factors affect whether a place is good for growing rice. Therefore, determining soil fertility, economy and society has essential implications for rice cultivation in the study area. Result: The soil fertility status of the two main rice crops in the study area has a low pH, high organic matter content, high cation exchange capacity and high clay content. Besides, the soil has a good water-holding capacity, a high total N content and an average total P content. Utilizing the AHP method, it was determined that soil fertility, economic and social factors were the second-most significant factors in determining the suitability of land for agriculture as well as the possibility and performance of rice. While the double-rice cropping model is only sustainable regarding fertility, the triple-rice cropping model achieves the sustainability goal of economic, social and soil fertility indicators. Two rice cropping seasons, lWS-mSA (double rice) and mWS-eSA-eAW (triple rice) achieve a balanced level in all indicators of level 2 of soil fertility. Therefore, in both models, a system that reaches a sustainable level exists. Even so, the lWS-mSA cropping season could be less environmentally harmful than the mWS-eSA-eAW season regarding the environmental group.