Sustainable rice systems play a crucial role in achieving sustainable development goals, particularly in countries like Sri Lanka that heavily rely on paddy production. The study aims to examine the economic, social, and environmental sustainability gaps of a rice production system at various spatial scales using the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) framework v2.1 and identify interventions that can address these gaps. Data for the study was collected through a structured questionnaire, which incorporated the 12 performance indicators of the SRP framework, including profitability, labor productivity, grain yield, water productivity, nutrient use efficiency, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emission, food safety, health and safety, child labor and youth engagement, and women empowerment. The survey was conducted over two consecutive cropping seasons, in 2019 dry and 2019/2020 wet seasons, in selected paddy fields representing three topo-sequences within the Deduru Oya irrigation project in Sri Lanka. The study's findings revealed that the rice systems' profitability ranges from 475 ± 45 to 642 ± 59 USD/ha across seasons and topo-sequences, and a yield gap of approximately 33% was observed. Substantial exploitable gaps were observed in labor productivity (67%–77%) and water productivity (58%–68%). Additionally, there was significant variability in nutrient use efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions due to variations in water management practices. The social sustainability of rice systems has received lower scores, particularly for health safety and women empowerment. The study attributed most of the economic and environmental sustainability gaps in the agricultural practices of cultivators, while various socio-political and cultural factors influenced the social sustainability gaps. This study offers valuable insights to policymakers and practitioners in countries with extensive rice systems, aiding their efforts toward achieving sustainable development goals.

中文翻译：

---

斯里兰卡的稻米系统可持续吗？ - Deduru Oya水库灌溉方案案例


可持续水稻系统在实现可持续发展目标方面发挥着至关重要的作用，特别是在像斯里兰卡这样严重依赖水稻生产的国家。该研究旨在利用可持续稻米平台（SRP）框架 v2.1 研究不同空间尺度稻米生产系统的经济、社会和环境可持续性差距，并确定可以解决这些差距的干预措施。研究数据通过结构化问卷收集，纳入了SRP框架的12项绩效指标，包括盈利能力、劳动生产率、粮食产量、水生产率、养分利用效率、生物多样性、温室气体排放、食品安全、健康与安全、童工和青年参与以及妇女赋权。该调查是在连续两个农作季节（2019 年旱季和 2019/2020 年雨季）中进行的，调查对象是斯里兰卡 Deduru Oya 灌溉项目内代表三个地形序列的选定稻田。研究结果显示，不同季节和不同地形序列的水稻系统盈利能力范围为 475 ± 45 至 642 ± 59 美元/公顷，产量差距约为 33%。在劳动生产率（67%–77%）和水资源生产率（58%–68%）方面观察到了巨大的可利用差距。此外，由于水管理实践的变化，养分利用效率和温室气体排放也存在显着差异。稻米系统的社会可持续性得分较低，特别是在健康安全和妇女赋权方面。 该研究将大部分经济和环境可持续性差距归因于耕种者的农业实践，而各种社会政治和文化因素影响了社会可持续性差距。这项研究为拥有广泛稻米系统的国家的政策制定者和从业者提供了宝贵的见解，帮助他们努力实现可持续发展目标。