Evaluating energy balance and energy indices of wheat production in rain-fed farming in northern Iran

Abstract

One way to evaluate the sustainable development of agriculture is the use of energy flow method. This method, in an agricultural production system, refers to the energy consumed during production operations and energy saved when crops have been produced. In this article, an evaluation of energy balance and energy indices in rain-fed cultivation of wheat in northern Iran (Guilan province) was carried out. The data were collected in 2011 from 72 farms in Guilan province by using a face to face questionnaire method. By using consumed data as input and total production as output, their respective equivalent energy, energy balance and energy indices were calculated. Energy efficiency (energy output to input energy ratio) for seed and straw in this study were found to be 1.609 and 1.614 respectively, showing the effective usage of energy in agro ecosystems wheat production. Energy balance efficiency (production energy to consumption energy ratio) for seed and straw in this study were found to be 0.92 and 0.79 respectively, showing the effective usage of energy in agro ecosystems wheat production. Key words: Iran, energy indices, energy balance indices, wheat.