The Impact of Using Co-Compost on Resource Management and Resilience of Smallholder Agriculture in South India
, Claudia Maurer 1, Gabriela Garcés-Sánchez 1, Jingjing Huang 1 and Girija Ramakrishna 2
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper is of interest, also in the face of the pandemic situation and is a good example of circular economy. The work could be implemented by inserting chemical data of the composition of the co-compost in comparison with the traditional fertilizers used by the interviewees, also to understand the yield of crops. In other words a statistical analysis of scientific parameters could be of great interest for a wider audience.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript environments-1899166 deals with “the impact of using co-compost on resource management and resilience of smallholder agriculture in south India”.
The language is fluent. However:
The economic and in general numerical analysis (besides the statistical analysis of the farmers answers) is missing. Cost analysis should cover all steps of both the farmers production and their participation in co-composting so that the net profit for them could be calculated.
This includes:
- What is the environmental impact of farmers that do not use co-composting? What quantities of green wastes do they produce annually? How do they handle them? What are the related costs for those who do not participate in co-composting?
- Which are the costs for:
- middle men?
- going to the closest supermarket?
- irrigation?
- co-composting (transferring the wastes, the process, taking the compost back if any)
- Table 1: income should appear is US dollars.
- Will the farmers take any compost for themselves? How much? How much money will they expect to earn e.g., by using the compost instead of traditional fertilizers?
- What is the net profit for every farmer? This can be given as percentage of their annual income.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
A very lucid article, which will at once be appreciated and valued by readers. It follows a standardized approach which survey-based scientific papers follow, and it is very relevant to a country like India, where circular bio-economy must entrench itself quickly. Especially where it concerns farmers, agriculture, food, and the 'must-be-stopped-disposal-of-human-waste' and thereby phosphorus which is slowly being depleted....the focus on communication and awareness in the article, is very much noteworthy.
The paper is supported by relevant illustrations and I have recommended the addition of a few more to consolidate the paper a little bit. I have annotated the enclosed PDF file, and hope the authors will find those 'in-place' comments easy and quick to address...
Else, I would recommend it for publication, after some of those changes I have suggested in the PDF...
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript environments-1899166 deals with “the impact of using co-compost on resource management and resilience of smallholder agriculture in south India”.
- What is the environmental impact of farmers that do not use co-composting? What quantities of green wastes do they produce annually? How do they handle them? What are the related costs for those who do not participate in co-composting? Not answered.
- Which are the costs for:
- middle men?
- going to the closest supermarket?
- irrigation?
- co-composting (transferring the wastes, the process, taking the compost back if any) Indicative numbers were given.
- Table 1: income should appear is US dollars. Not done.
- Will the farmers take any compost for themselves? How much? How much money will they expect to earn e.g., by using the compost instead of traditional fertilizers? Not answered.
- What is the net profit for every farmer? This can be given as percentage of their annual income. Not answered.
Additionally, it is written that “In terms of cost, co-compost costs 5-7 rupees (~ 0.07-0.09 $) per kilogram, while fertilizer No. 5 in Devanahalli and fertilizer in Nilgiris (using potash-mutriate MOP) cost about three times more [25]. For further comparison, farmyard fertilizer costs about 3-5 rupees/kg (~0.04 - 0.07 $) [25].” This means that co-compost with 5-7 rupees/kg costs more than farmyard fertilizer with about 3-5 rupees/kg and can explain why farmers are reluctant to adopt co-composting. Not to mention that we do not know the exact effect of this compost on plants compared with the traditional fertilizer applied, i.e., how much compost is equivalent to 1 kg of the traditional fertilizer.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
