Social Life Cycle Assessment of Green and Burnt Manual Sugarcane Harvesting in the Northeastern Thailand
Despite green sugarcane harvesting being promoted in Thailand, with some limitations on the use of harvesting machines, green sugarcane harvesting is practiced manually in many sugarcane fields. Although the environmental benefit seems clear, this harvesting practice’s social implications are yet un...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Mahidol University
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Environment and Natural Resources Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://ph02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ennrj/article/view/246071/166966 |
| _version_ | 1818028335032172544 |
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| author | Thiwaporn Thuayjan Jittima Prasara-A Pornpimon Boonkum Shabbir H. Gheewala |
| author_facet | Thiwaporn Thuayjan Jittima Prasara-A Pornpimon Boonkum Shabbir H. Gheewala |
| author_sort | Thiwaporn Thuayjan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite green sugarcane harvesting being promoted in Thailand, with some limitations on the use of harvesting machines, green sugarcane harvesting is practiced manually in many sugarcane fields. Although the environmental benefit seems clear, this harvesting practice’s social implications are yet unknown. This study assessed social performances of green and burnt manual sugarcane harvesting in North-Eastern Thailand, the region hosting the largest sugarcane plantation area, using the Social Life Cycle Assessment technique. Data collection was undertaken by surveys. The performance reference points method was applied to assess the different stakeholder’s social performances. Key stakeholder groups examined were workers, local community, and farm owners. The main social issues included in this study are fair wages, working conditions, health and safety, local employment, economic development, social responsibility, and satisfaction of occupation. The results showed that the social performances of green and burnt sugarcane harvesting were generally similar except for the local community group. This is mainly due to the health impact of sugarcane burning on the local community. Different issues cause the farmers to harvest the burnt sugarcane; for example, labor shortage in the harvesting season and the difficult working conditions for green harvesting, causing the farm owners to bear higher costs. For these reasons, mechanized harvesting is suggested to help promote green harvesting to reduce local air pollution. However, technology development is in urgent need to make the harvesting machines more affordable and applicable to all geographical conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:02:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a8b13f98924c44e8b3d0a41220b270aa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1686-5456 2408-2384 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:02:09Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Mahidol University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environment and Natural Resources Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-a8b13f98924c44e8b3d0a41220b270aa2022-12-22T02:01:21ZengMahidol UniversityEnvironment and Natural Resources Journal1686-54562408-23842022-04-0120324625610.32526/ennrj/20/202100190Social Life Cycle Assessment of Green and Burnt Manual Sugarcane Harvesting in the Northeastern ThailandThiwaporn Thuayjan0Jittima Prasara-A1Pornpimon Boonkum2Shabbir H. Gheewala3Energy and Environment for Sustainable Development Research and Training Center, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham 44150, ThailandEnergy and Environment for Sustainable Development Research and Training Center, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham 44150, ThailandTechnology and Informatics Institute for Sustainability (TIIS), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 114 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Khlong Nueng, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, ThailandJoint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, ThailandDespite green sugarcane harvesting being promoted in Thailand, with some limitations on the use of harvesting machines, green sugarcane harvesting is practiced manually in many sugarcane fields. Although the environmental benefit seems clear, this harvesting practice’s social implications are yet unknown. This study assessed social performances of green and burnt manual sugarcane harvesting in North-Eastern Thailand, the region hosting the largest sugarcane plantation area, using the Social Life Cycle Assessment technique. Data collection was undertaken by surveys. The performance reference points method was applied to assess the different stakeholder’s social performances. Key stakeholder groups examined were workers, local community, and farm owners. The main social issues included in this study are fair wages, working conditions, health and safety, local employment, economic development, social responsibility, and satisfaction of occupation. The results showed that the social performances of green and burnt sugarcane harvesting were generally similar except for the local community group. This is mainly due to the health impact of sugarcane burning on the local community. Different issues cause the farmers to harvest the burnt sugarcane; for example, labor shortage in the harvesting season and the difficult working conditions for green harvesting, causing the farm owners to bear higher costs. For these reasons, mechanized harvesting is suggested to help promote green harvesting to reduce local air pollution. However, technology development is in urgent need to make the harvesting machines more affordable and applicable to all geographical conditions.https://ph02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ennrj/article/view/246071/166966social life cycle assessments-lcasocial performancesugarcanegreen and burnt sugarcane |
| spellingShingle | Thiwaporn Thuayjan Jittima Prasara-A Pornpimon Boonkum Shabbir H. Gheewala Social Life Cycle Assessment of Green and Burnt Manual Sugarcane Harvesting in the Northeastern Thailand Environment and Natural Resources Journal social life cycle assessment s-lca social performance sugarcane green and burnt sugarcane |
| title | Social Life Cycle Assessment of Green and Burnt Manual Sugarcane Harvesting in the Northeastern Thailand |
| title_full | Social Life Cycle Assessment of Green and Burnt Manual Sugarcane Harvesting in the Northeastern Thailand |
| title_fullStr | Social Life Cycle Assessment of Green and Burnt Manual Sugarcane Harvesting in the Northeastern Thailand |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social Life Cycle Assessment of Green and Burnt Manual Sugarcane Harvesting in the Northeastern Thailand |
| title_short | Social Life Cycle Assessment of Green and Burnt Manual Sugarcane Harvesting in the Northeastern Thailand |
| title_sort | social life cycle assessment of green and burnt manual sugarcane harvesting in the northeastern thailand |
| topic | social life cycle assessment s-lca social performance sugarcane green and burnt sugarcane |
| url | https://ph02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ennrj/article/view/246071/166966 |
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