Energy Efficiency Analysis of Wheat Crop under Different Climate- and Soil-Based Irrigation Schedules

Abstract

Use of energy in the agriculture sector has directly or indirectly been intensified to increase crop production to fulfill the food demand of the growing population. Considering the energy and water scarcity in Pakistan, the present study was carried out to assess wheat production efficiency with regard to energy consumption. For this purpose, a field experiment was conducted at the Water Management Research Centre (WMRC), University of Agriculture Faisalabad, to compare two irrigation scheduling techniques (climatic-and soil moisture-based) and farmers' practice. All the inputs, except volume of irrigation water, were the same for all treatments. Energy equivalents (extracted from a scientific source) were used to calculate the energy balance and indices (energy use efficiency, energy productivity (kg MJ −1 ), specific energy (MJ kg −1 ), net energy (MJ ha −1 ) and water productivity (kg m −3 )). The results show that soil moisture-based treatment (at 30% management allowable depletion (MAD)) gave 7.94% and 27.94% more yield compared to climatebased treatments (20 mm cumulative pan evaporation (CPE)) and farmers' practice respectively. Pumping water for irrigation was the highest energy consumption input for wheat production after chemical fertilizers. T1 = 30% MAD and T4 = 20 mm CPE treatments saved 33.71% and 35.72% energy, respectively, compared to farmers' practice, due to water being saved. T1 and T4 treatments increased energy output by 11.40% and 6.38%, respectively, compared to farmers' practice, in terms of grain yield and biological yield. The highest net energy (155,557.95 MJ ha −1 ), energy use efficiency (7.478), energy productivity (0.181 kg MJ −1 ) and water productivity (1.875 kg m −3 ) were achieved with T1 (30% MAD); however, the highest specific energy (8.148 MJ kg −1 ) was achieved with farmers' practice. The results thus obtained help the farmers, stakeholder agencies and researchers to make informed decisions when choosing different treatments.

Energy Efficiency of Nitrogen Fertilization in Durum Wheat and Sorghum Grains

“…The nitrogen energy input varied from 5208 MJ at the low N60 to 20832 MJ.ha -1 at N240. Ansari et al (2018) indicate that the average energy consumption in wheat production for nitrogen is 6878 MJ.ha -1 , which is lower than the received our results. The energy efficiency of nitrogen fertilization in durum wheat and sorghum varied depending on the amount of incorporated nitrogen and the energy produced in the additional grain yield (Table 3).…”

Sustainable Agriculture – Energy and Emergy Aspects of Agricultural Production

“…It is often characteristic of this type of production, which limits the excessive interference of machines and agricultural chemicals into the soil. Sławiński et al, 2009;3 Sławiński, 2011;4 Kuczuk (a), 2016; 5 Ansari et al, 2018;6 Pimentel, 2006) Similar relations of cumulative energy consumption results apply to animal production. Ecological livestock production usually requires lower energy inputs than its conventional equivalent (Table 2).…”

“…the type of soil, layout of a farm and shape of fields, plant structure, type of applied machinery, and finally the type of the production system: intensive or one that is focused on limiting the effect on the natural environment. The inputs incurred on production in a given farm may also differ in subsequent years due to varying weather conditions, changes in the irrigation system (Ansari et al, 2018), as well as the use of the technologies (e.g. advancements in the machinery park, reduction of chemical use).…”

Carbon Footprint of Electrostatic Sprayer in Comparison with Air Compression Sprayer and Mistblower

“…The energy use efficiency is the direct indicator of greenhouse gas emission [37,38]. The quantification of energy use efficiency [39,40,31,34] of electrostatic sprayer in comparison with the knapsack powered mist blower and air compression sprayers in application of agricultural pesticides is need of the hour [41,42,14,43,44].…”