The carbon emission caused by various factors during the crop production process can be roundly evaluated using carbon footprint of farmland

which is an important indicator that can provide a guidance for energy saving and emission reduction in agricultural industry. In order to find out the carbon footprint of crop production

the carbon footprint of Pingluo County in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is calculated based on the investigated data of farmland production in the county by using basic theories and research ap-proaches of carbon footprint.Results show that the carbon footprints of rice

corn and wheat are 1 487.56±164.59

913.03±142.99 and 809.75±144.99kg Ce/(hm2·a) and the carbon costs

0.17±0.05

0.08±0.02and 0.12±0.03kg Ce/kg

respectively. The application rate of chemical fertilizer is a main influence factor for the carbon footprint.Additionally

irrigation water and seedling production are the key causes of high-carbon footprint during rice production. To improve the benefits of fixing carbon

reducing emissions and adding carbon sinks of farmland

rice planting area should be reduced and corn and wheat planting areas should be expanded.Meanwhile

the construction of fertilizer-saving

low-carbon and efficient agricultural cropping patterns is an effective way to realize energy saving and emission reduction of the farmlands in Pingluo County