Energy Consumption Pattern for Corn Production in Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Biosystems Engineering, Agricultural faculty, University of Tabriz

Abstract

Abstract
Agricultural sector has a considerable and increasing share from total energy consumption of societies. The growth in population and living standards increase the demands for agricultural products. The limitations in cultivatable land area forces the need for increase in yield per area unit. It emphasis on the importance of energy and resources analysis in agriculture. Several researches in the world have been conducted around the energy consumption in agricultural farms, as well in Iran. However, there is a need for comprehensive studies analyzing the results of these researches. The aim of this study was the analysis of the consumed and produced energy for one of maize corn in Iran. The energy indices, obtained from related published studies were analyzed. The energy indices were determined as the energy output-input ratio (OIR), energy productivity (EP), energy intensity (EI) and net energy yield (NEY). The results indicated that, the average yield of maize corn in different provinces of Iran is around 6167 kg ha-1, requires an average energy input of 55 GJ ha-1. The largest share from total energy input was related to nitrogen fertilizer 29%, followed by electricity and diesel fuel with 28% and 16%, respectively. The average OIR was 2.92 MJ/MJ where the highest and lowest values were for Fars (5.8) and Khuzestan (0.8) provinces. The average EI was 9.47 MJ/kg, where it was the highest with 21.02 MJ/kg for Alborz and the lowest with 4.61 MJ/kg for Gholston.
 

Keywords


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