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. 2023 Mar 29;12(7):1490. doi: 10.3390/plants12071490

Table 1.

Average costs and benefits (USD ha−1) of summer maize production system under five N treatments during 2008 to 2019 of the experiment.

Items CK Opt. N*50–70% Opt. N Opt. N*130–150% Con. N
Grain yield benefit 1942 c 3195 b 3294 a 3281 ab 3267 ab
N cost 0 e 66 d 99 c 132 b 155 a
Other costs 1157 a 1157 a 1157 a 1157 a 1157 a
Private profitability 786 b 1956 a 2038 a 1992 a 1956 a
Social cost 74 e 175 d 227 c 285 b 336 a
Ecosystem economic benefit (EEB) 712 d 1797 ab 1811 a 1706 bc 1620 c
Human Capital Losses (HCL) 18 e 45 d 56 c 68 b 82 a
Integrated compensation benefit (ICB) 699 d 1754 a 1747 a 1632 b 1537 c
Social cost-private profitability ratio (%) 11.0 c 9.4 c 12.0 bc 15.5 ab 18.6 a

CK, no N; Opt. N*50–70%, 50–70% of optimal N rate; Opt. N, optimal N rate; Opt. N*130–150%, 130–150% of optimal N rate; Con. N, conventional N rate. Means followed by the same lowercase letter are not significantly different among the five N treatments at p < 0.05 according to LSD.