Conventional and organic rice production in Northern Italy: What is the (environmentally) best?

Italy is the most important European rice producer with about 230000 ha. Over the years the area dedicated to organic rice production is rapidaly growing. In this study, using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, the environmental performances of rice production in Italy considering both conventional rice production (CRP) than organic rice production (ORP) was evaluated. Inventory data were collected by means of surveys in 69 farms located in Northern Italy, 20 for ORP and 49 for CRP. The paddy rice yield ranges from 3 to 4.6 t/ha for organic production and from 6 to 9 t/ha for the conventional one. The achieved results highlighted how the best cultivation practice depends on the evaluated impact category and by the specific cultivation practices. On average the impact for ORP are higher than for CRP but, above all for ORP, there is a wide variability of the environmental performances. CRP usually performs better than ORP mainly due to higher average yield (+50/+300% respect to ORP), fertilization with mineral fertilizers instead of organic ones (such as compost or green manure), lower seed rate at sowing, and higher possibility to control pests and diseases thanks to the use of pesticides (herbicides and fungicides).