BACKGROUND: The nutrient balance in Korea during 1985-2006 had continually increased and maintained the highest levels among OECD countries. The use of green manure crops such as barley and hairy vetch is common practice for reducing chemical fertilizer application and maintaining soil fertility. However, green manure crops can also be used as a livestock feeding material which may reduce nutrient balance in the national scale. We calculated nitrogen and phosphate balance under green manure-rice cultivating system where all green manure was removed and used for feeding livestock. METHODS AND RESULTS: The barley and hairy vetch grown in pure stands or in mixtures with different sowing rates were tested for rice cultivation without chemical fertilization. The conventional fertilization (NPK) for rice cultivation was selected to compare nutrient balance with green manure-rice cultivation. Nitrogen and phosphate balance were calculated according to the surface balance method of the PARCOM guidelines. Total aboveground biomass of mixture (barley and hairy vetch) was higher compared to that of pure barley or hairy vetch. Among the mixture with barley and hairy vetch, the highest aboveground biomass was observed in B75H25 (barley 75%+hairy vetch 25%). The nitrogen and phosphate balance in the B75H25 mixture was-104 kg N/ha and-50.3 kg P/ha, respectively. CONCLUSION(S): The barley and hairy vetch mixture proved to be a very effective strategy for biomass production of green manure. The amount of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer to be applied is estimated to be 104 kg N/ha and 50.3 kg P/ha in order to maintain soil fertility if all green manure and rice straw were removed from rice field for livestock feeding.