A systems framework for analyzing sustainability impacts of agricultural
policies in India
Abstract
Interventions to mitigate air pollution have impacts on multiple facets
of human and environmental well-being. We apply a systems framework for
analyzing the overall sustainability impacts of interventions to a case
of the rice-wheat cropping system of Punjab (India), where agricultural
practices lead to air pollution-related health impacts,
over-exploitation of groundwater, over-use of fertilizers and reduced
local crop diversity. We use this case to characterize varying degrees
of change in interventions and quantify sustainability impacts using an
inclusive wealth-based approach. We show that both small and large
changes, in this case either improving the existing cropping system or
fundamental changes to the cropping system, can lead to substantial and
wide-ranging sustainability benefits. We also show that interventions
that improve human health show the largest quantitative benefit due to
the assumed high marginal value of human life. Accurate localized
estimates of marginal values of stocks are needed for estimating overall
sustainability impacts.