Effects of integrated rice-animals co-culture on paddy soil and water properties and rice yield: a meta-analysis

Integrated rice-animal co-culture can provide a sustainable alternative to limited arable land and freshwater resources, ensuring a sustainable global food supply in a complementary form. Although most studies have focused on the effect of co-culture systems on soil and water properties and rice yield, the results usually differ from various case studies. The high variability of the results requires a thorough assessment of the different rice-animal co-culture modes. In this meta-analysis, 191 pairs of observations from 80 studies were collected to explore the potential effects of six rice-animal co-culture modes on paddy nutrient supplements and rice yield (RY). The results showed that rice-animal co-culture systems could optimize paddy ecosystem and increase RY by 7.77%. Rice-frog and rice-crayfish systems were better co-culture modes for nutrient retention in soil. Compared with soil, the response of ammonia-nitrogen (NH4+-N) in water is more positive to the response of RY. Our study further confirmed that rice-animal co-culture is environmentally friendly and sustainable agriculture to increase both rice yield and animal protein products by enhancing the concentration of available nutrients and efficient use of the limited water and land resources.