Abstract
Abstract Resource and energy use efficiency is one of the principal requirements of eco-efficient and sustainable agriculture. Seedy watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris; Joboni population) is irrigated by two methods including full and reduced irrigation systems in Iran. The objective of the present study was to compare seedy watermelon production in full (high input) and reduced (low input) irrigation systems in terms of irrigation water energy use efficiency (IWEUE), energy budget and economic analysis. Data were collected from 116 full irrigated and 93 reduced irrigated farms in northeast of Iran by using a face-to-face questionnaire in 2011–2012. The results showed that the total energy consumed under high input systems was 25625.94 MJ ha − 1 , whereas under low input was 3129.3 MJ ha − 1 . IWEUE and all of the energy indexes were improved in the reduced irrigation system compared to the full condition. The direct and renewable energies in the reduced irrigation system were higher than full irrigation. The economical analysis indicated that higher return was gained by the full irrigation system due to higher yield compared to the reduced irrigation system. Human labor had the highest impact on seedy watermelon among the other inputs based on the Cobb–Douglas production function.
Highlights
Irrigation water in many arid and semi-arid areas such as Iran is a vital resource to increase productivity and extend the crop growing season (Esmaeili and Vazirzadeh, 2009)
About 55.9% of total land in seedy watermelon production was full irrigated and 44.1% was used as the reduced irrigation system
The results showed that energy efficiency, energy productivity, net energy and the share of direct and renewable energies in the low input system were extremely higher than the high input system
Summary
Irrigation water in many arid and semi-arid areas such as Iran is a vital resource to increase productivity and extend the crop growing season (Esmaeili and Vazirzadeh, 2009). The potential and actual agricultural productivity are closely related to the level of water availability. Agriculture mostly depends on ground water in arid regions of Iran. The data show that about 85% of water used for irrigation in 2010 came from non-renewable ground water sources in the country (MAJ, 2012). The ground water level in Mashhad plains (are located in northeast of Iran) was declined about 22 m during 1985–2013 (Fig. 1). Water used for irrigation from ground water sources has to compete with industries and urban demands (Al-Sulaimi et al, 1996). Irrigation water contributes an important share of energy use in agricultural productions (Chizari and Ommani, 2009). Energy inputs can be reduced by sowing crops that require less water
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