Environmental Management https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-020-01365-7 An LCA-Based Environmental Performance of Rice Production for Developing a Sustainable Agri-Food System in Malaysia Siti Norliyana Harun 1 ● Marlia M. Hanafiah 1,2 ● Nur Izzah Hamna Abd. Aziz 1 Received: 10 April 2020 / Accepted: 15 September 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract This study aims to assess the environmental impacts of conventional and organic rice cultivations and proposes a sustainable conceptual framework of rice farming based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. A cradle-to-gate LCA was performed by using the ReCiPe 2016 method and SimaPro 8.5 software. The functional unit was one ton of rice grains harvested. Primary data were obtained from the farmer, while secondary data were collected from Ecoinvent 3.0, the Agri Footprint 3.0 database and the literature. The total characterization factors for global warming potential (GWP), water consumption potential (WCP) and fossil fuel depletion potential (FFP) were 457.89 kg CO 2 -eq, 98.18 m 3 and 84.56 kg oil- eq, respectively, at the midpoint level for conventional rice, while the impacts for organic rice were 140.55 kg CO 2 -eq, 29.45 m 3 and 22.25 kg oil-eq, respectively. At the endpoint level, the total characterization factors for human health damage (HH), ecosystem damage (ED) and resource availability (RA) for conventional rice were 9.63 × 10 -4 DALY, 5.54 × 10 -6 species.year and 30.98 Dollar, respectively, while for organic rice, the impacts were 2.60 × 10 -4 DALY, 2.28 × 10 -6 species. year and 8.44 Dollar, respectively. Rice cultivation impacted the environment, particularly in relation to three impact categories: GWP, WCP and FFP. The cultivation phase of rice production was the main contributor to environmental impacts due to the production and application of fertilizer and pesticides. It can be concluded that the application of LCA in agricultural sector is able to provide information and responses for policy makers in understanding the potential environmental impacts at various spatial levels. Keywords Life cycle assessment ● Rice production ● Organic farming ● Conventional farming ● Sustainability Introduction Rice is the most widely consumed staple food for more than 3 billion people in Asia (FAO 2016; Khoshnevisan et al. 2014; Pishgar-Komleh et al. 2011). Rice production in Malaysia provides the primary food source, as the average Malaysian citizen consumes 82.3 kg of rice per year, and an average of 3.7 metric tons (MT) of rice is produced per hectare of paddy field (Yusoff and Panchakaran). According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) (2018), the rice cultivation area in Malaysia increased from 2014 to 2017, with the rice cultivation area recorded in 2016 being 688,770 ha. However, the production of rice has decreased due to factors such as bad weather, pests, and diseases (USDA 2018). According to Dasar Agromakanan Negara (DAN) (MOA 2018), rice consumption is expected to increase by 2.30 million tons by 2020, which represents a 1.6% growth per annum, and paddy production is expected to increase from 2.55 million tons in 2010 to 2.91 million tons in 2020, representing a growth of 1.3% per annum due to population growth. To increase rice production, more research and develop- ment should be expended to advance technology. Advanced materials and techniques such as machinery, fertilizers, and pesticides that have been applied to increase the production of rice can cause adverse environmental impacts that some believe to be unacceptably high (Blengini and Busto 2009; Habibi et al. 2019; Khoramdel et al. 2017; Ramsden et al. 2017; Yodkhum et al. 2017). Apart from soil and water pollution as well as energy and raw material consumption, * Marlia M. Hanafiah mhmarlia@ukm.edu.my 1 Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Centre for Tropical Climate Change System, Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia 1234567890();,: 1234567890();,: