Assessment of Emergy, Environmental and Economic Sustainability of the Mango Orchard Production System in Hainan, China

Yali Lei, Xiaohui Zhou and Hanting Cheng ()
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Yali Lei: Department of Electronic Engineering, Hainan College of Software Technology, Qionghai 571400, China
Xiaohui Zhou: Environmental and Plant Protection Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, China
Hanting Cheng: Environmental and Plant Protection Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-15

Abstract: Mangoes are an important part of Hainan’s tropical characteristic agriculture. In response to the requirements of building an ecological civilization pilot demonstration zone in Hainan, China, green and sustainable development will be the future development trend of the mango planting system. However, the economic benefits and environmental impact during its planting and management process remain unclear. This paper combines emergy, life cycle assessment (LCA), and economic analysis to compare the system sustainability, environmental impact, and economic benefits of the traditional mango cultivation system (TM) in Dongfang City, Hainan Province, and the early-maturing mango cultivation system (EM) in Sanya City. The emergy evaluation results show that the total emergy input of EM (1.37 × 10 16 sej ha −1 ) was higher than that of TM (1.32 × 10 16 sej ha −1 ). From the perspective of the emergy index, compared with TM, EM exerted less pressure on the local environment and has better stability and sustainability. This was due to the higher input of renewable resources in EM. The LCA results showed that based on mass as the functional unit, the potential environmental impact of the EM is relatively high, and its total environmental impact index was 18.67–33.19% higher than that of the TM. Fertilizer input and On-Farm emissions were the main factors causing environmental consequences. Choosing alternative fertilizers that have a smaller impact on the environment may effectively reduce the environmental impact of the system. The economic analysis results showed that due to the higher selling price of early-maturing mango, the total profit and cost–benefit ratio of the EM have increased by 55.84% and 36.87%, respectively, compared with the TM. These results indicated that EM in Sanya City can enhance environmental sustainability and boost producers’ annual income, but attention should be paid to the negative environmental impact of excessive fertilizer input. These findings offer insights into optimizing agricultural inputs for Hainan mango production to mitigate multiple environmental impacts while enhancing economic benefits, aiming to provide theoretical support for promoting the sustainable development of the Hainan mango industry.

Keywords: emergy evaluation; life cycle assessment; economic analysis; mango orchard; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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