Agro-ecosystem Performance Index (API) -- A Quantitative Approach to Evaluate the Sustainability of Rice Production Systems

Shifts in agricultural development paradigms to those that incorporate efficiency and sustainability have warranted the need for a comprehensive methodology for evaluating agro-ecosystem performance in terms of its sustainability. The paper describes the Agro-ecosystem Performance Index (API) as a quantitative measure based on the participatory methodological paradigm in the development of sustainability indicators. It was developed by integrating the three major sustainability dimensions of economics of production, social capital endowments, and conservation of ecology. Approaches followed a combination of principal component analysis with indexing approach in estimating the impact of sustainable management practices on the multiple agro-ecosystem functions of rice production systems of Kerala, India. Productivity, profitability, stability, diversity, equitability, human resource endowments, and group effectiveness were the agro-ecosystem functions delineated using farmer perceptions, based on which the API was conceptualized and indicators to measure each of these functions was defined. Accuracy and reliability of the indicators was tested using participatory action research involving farmers organized in groups in the two types of input use systems in rice, i.e., low input use and high input use in the selected study area. API values calculated for the group members of both the selected systems recorded higher values on all the three dimensions of sustainability compared to non group members which validated the index. The index provided a basis for classifying rice production systems on the basis of sustainability of performance so that different interventions can be designed to match the system requirements. Community involvement used in the selection of indicators and the development of an index also facilitated reciprocal learning and setting of development priorities to match local needs.