This study examines the economics of three rice cropping systems: furrow-irrigation with winter cover crops (FRCC), furrow-irrigation without cover crops (FRNCC), and multiple-inlet rice irrigation (MIRI) serving as the rice control, followed by soybeans with (SBCC) and without cover crops (SBNCC) for two locations in Arkansas during 2019-2020 (Burdette) and 2020-2021(Walcott). Net returns at Burdette were higher in FRNCC, 2019 and SBNCC, 2020. Net returns were higher at Walcott in MIRI, 2020 and SBCC, 2021. The cost-benefit ratio was higher for soybean than rice. Partial budgets revealed positive net effects for changing from MIRI to FRNCC at Burdette, and for changing from FRNCC to FRCC at Walcott. Sensitivity analysis of the total seed, cover crop seed, herbicide, and fertilizer costs revealed that profit margins for both rice and soybeans were stable with few minor exceptions at one location.
Kandanool et al. (Sat,) studied this question.