Energy
S. N. Mosavian; H. Eskandari
Abstract
This research, conducted in Gotvand, southwest Iran, evaluated the energy balance of a field system which watermelon produced in it. In the current research, energy inputs of watermelon planting were measured. To reach this goal, questionnaires were given to the farmers to record the amount of energy ...
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This research, conducted in Gotvand, southwest Iran, evaluated the energy balance of a field system which watermelon produced in it. In the current research, energy inputs of watermelon planting were measured. To reach this goal, questionnaires were given to the farmers to record the amount of energy input to their watermelon planting field. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that nitrogen was the input with the highest consumption of energy (4175 MJ.ha-1) followed by diesel fuel. About 90% of the consumed energy of watermelon planting system was seen for energies which cannot be renewed. The results showed that the efficiency of energy consumption was positive, indicating that the amount of output energy was higher than that of input energy. With each unit of energy was consumed, 4.86 units of energy were produced, which indicates high energy efficiency. For improving the efficiency of energy usage in the watermelon planting system, nitrogen application to the system should be reduced and it can be reached by suitable rotation which diminish the nitrogen needs.
Energy
H. Eskandari
Abstract
Increasing demand for agricultural products and production of resource constraints- especially the limitation of cultivable areas - have made the highest yield per unit area the main goal of agricultural producers. Agriculture is a system exhibiting high energy consumption and production. Since energy ...
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Increasing demand for agricultural products and production of resource constraints- especially the limitation of cultivable areas - have made the highest yield per unit area the main goal of agricultural producers. Agriculture is a system exhibiting high energy consumption and production. Since energy has a direct impact on the efficiency of crop production, a sustainable agricultural system needs to be analyzed in terms of its input and output energy to determine the total consumed energy of production per unit area. The difference between input and output energy determines energy efficiency of an agronomical system. Input energy requires being well analyzed to reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency. This paper reviews energy efficiency indices based on energy consumption during planting and harvesting. To enhance energy efficiency of agronomical systems, some strategies are discussed in detail, including using high quality seeds, minimum tillage systems, direct seeded rice, weeds control especially in irrigation canals and plant nutrition through agronomical management. Although some agronomical strategies -like complementary irrigation in dry land farming systems- increase input energy, they increase crop yield. However, when output energy, resulting from the rise in crop yield, is higher than input energy, the system energy efficiency improves. Still, some inputs cannot be altered according to regional conditions which are often related to harvest stages operations.
Energy
H. Eskandari; S. N. Mosavian
Abstract
This research, conducted in Gotvand, southwest of Iran, compared the energy consumption of two cucumber production systems: field and greenhouse production systems. In this study, energy inputs of two production systems of cucumber (including seed, pesticide, human labor, machinery, diesel fuel, electricity, ...
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This research, conducted in Gotvand, southwest of Iran, compared the energy consumption of two cucumber production systems: field and greenhouse production systems. In this study, energy inputs of two production systems of cucumber (including seed, pesticide, human labor, machinery, diesel fuel, electricity, organic manure, chemical fertilizer) were determined from questionnaires completed by farmers. The results of the experiment indicated that the energy input of the two cultivation systems was not significantly different in input energies. In both cucumber production systems, the most input energy was allocated to nitrogen fertilizer (57% and 53% for field and greenhouse, respectively) followed by diesel fuel (21% in both production systems). Non-renewable energies accounted for 90 and 88% of the total energy input to the farm and greenhouse systems, respectively. Total output energy of field and greenhouse cucumber production system was 33000 and 34000 MJ, respectively. Reducing the consumption of nitrogen fertilizer through the use of appropriate crop rotation is a suitable solution to improve energy efficiency in the cucumber production system.
