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Comparative Economic and Environmental Analysis of Open Field (Rainfed and Irrigated) and Environmental Agriculture (Screenhouse) Leafy and Pulpy Vegetables Production Systems in North West Nigeria.

Comparative Economic and Environmental Analysis of Open Field (Rainfed and Irrigated) and Environmental Agriculture (Screenhouse) Leafy and Pulpy Vegetables Production Systems in North West Nigeria.

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Authors

Taiwo Bintu Ayinde , Charles F. Nicholson , Benjamin Ahmed

Abstract

Screenhouse farming demonstrates remarkable water-use efficiency, requiring only 7.00 liters per kg for cabbage, 3.58 liters/kg for lettuce, and 2.38 liters/kg for spinach, a significant contrast to rainfed cabbage at 10,625 liters/kg and rainfed pumpkin at 17,628 liters/kg. This means screenhouse farming uses just 0.066% of the water consumed by rainfed cabbage and 0.014% of the water used by rainfed pumpkin. While screenhouse farming involves higher investment costs at ₦5,342,973 per hectare, making it 764% more expensive than rainfed farming, it offers superior yield efficiency. In contrast, rainfed farming has a lower cost of ₦698,972 per hectare but suffers from reduced productivity and inefficient resource utilization. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are significantly lower in screenhouse farming, with lettuce producing only 3.24 kg CO2-eq/kg, just 2.74% of the emissions generated by rainfed lettuce, which releases 118.25 kg CO2-eq/kg. Similarly, screenhouse farming is more energy-efficient, with spinach requiring only 0.09 MJ/kg, amounting to 3.4% of the energy demand of irrigated pumpkin, which stands at 2.62 MJ/kg. These findings highlight the advantages of screenhouse farming in reducing water consumption, emissions, and energy demand, while irrigated farming ensures stable moisture levels but requires substantial water resources. Rainfed farming minimizes irrigation dependency but lacks productivity efficiency, underscoring the need for sustainable irrigation strategies such as drip irrigation, fertigation, and rainwater harvesting to enhance long-term resource conservation in vegetable production..

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31223/X5M14V

Subjects

Agriculture

Keywords

comparative analysis, Economic Efficiency, Environmental impact, Rainfed Farming, Irrigated Farming, Screenhouse Farming, Leafy Vegetables, Pulpy Vegetables, Water Use Efficiency, Greenhouse gas emissions, energy demand, Northwest Nigeria

Dates

Published: 2025-06-07 05:34

Last Updated: 2025-06-07 05:34

License

CC BY Attribution 4.0 International

Additional Metadata

Data Availability (Reason not available):
All data, materials, and software applications used for the study conformed to standard practice.

Conflict of interest statement:
The authors declare no competing interests