Determination of Energy Use Pattern and Greenhouse Gas Emission for Wheat Production in Mazandaran Province, Iran

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1 AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS, 2015, 3(3): Determination of Energy Use Pattern and Greenhouse Gas Emission for Wheat Production in Mazandaran Province, Iran HASSAN NABIPOUR AFROUZI 1, RASOUL LOGHMANPOUR ZARINI 1*, MOHAMMAD ALI RAMEZANI 1 AND REZA TABATABAEKOLOOR 2 1Sari Faculty of Agriculture, Technical and Vocational University, Tehran, Iran. 2Department of Biosystem and Mechanic Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Sari, Iran. *Corresponding Author: r_loghmanpoor@ut.ac.ir (Accepted: 12 May. 2015) ABSTRACT Wheat is one of the most important staple foods in the world and modern wheat productions mainly depend on fossil and other energy resources. This study therefore focuses on estimating energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of wheat production in Mazandaran province of Iran. For this purpose, the data on 85 wheat production farms in four cities of Mazandaran province (Sari, Behshahr, Babol and Neka) were collected and analysed. The results indicated that total energy input of ha 1 was consumed for wheat production in the mentioned regions. Electricity and total chemical fertilizers were amongst the highest input energies for wheat production. The lowest share of energy consumption belonged to human labour and biocide. The energy productivity was estimated to be The ratio of output energy to input energy was approximately In this research, the highest value of GHG emission belonged to diesel fuel with ( CO2 eq ha 1 ) of total emission and followed by Chemical fertilizer with (101.3 and 6.99 CO2 eq ha 1 for Nitrogen and Phosphate). The least amount of GHG emissions producer input in wheat production was pesticides with amount of CO2 eq ha 1 of total GHG emissions. Application of chemical fertilizer (especially nitrogen) more than the needed amount led to high amount of GHG emission. Moreover, soil and water pollution are the results of using high amounts of chemical fertilizers which consequently harms the environment and makes agriculture and cultivation a source of environmental pollution. Keywords: Chemical fertilizer, energy indexes, energy input, energy productivity, energy resources, GHG, Wheat. Abbreviations: GHG: Greenhouse Gas. INTRODUCTION In order to maximize the efficiency of modern agricultural technology to farms in a target region, the farming system of the region should be first characterized, especially to identify possible resource constraints and to capture the diversity of farming systems (Moore, 2010). Currently, agricultural operations have to adapt to a more competitive environment and consequently, use new intelligent technologies (Esengun et al., 2007). Hydroponics and greenhouse production are the way of obtaining profitable crops (Khoshnevisan et al., 2013). A sustainable crop production system requires keeping a high quality harvest, while keeping energy and raw material consumption low. The agricultural sector is an important energy consumer. Farmers have an option for reducing energy use by investing in intelligent systems (Mobtaker et al., 2010). Wheat is one of the top three most producing cereals in the world and it ranks the second place after corn and followed by rice. China leads world production of wheat, followed by India, Russia and United States. Iran has been ranked 14th in the world with 13.5 million tons of wheat production in 2011 that shows increasing trend compared to previous years (FAO, 2011). Energy is an essential element in agricultural production. Agricultural products require large quantities of energy directly and indirectly, in the form of machinery, diesel fuel, electricity, seeds, chemicals, fertilizer, manure, and water for irrigation (Esengun et al., 2007). Winter wheat is one of the most major crops that have been planted in Iran. Planted area has been 12.96

2 NABIPOUR AFROUZI ET AL. million ha in agricultural season. Cereal planted area has also been 9.37 (72.28%) million ha, which includes wheat (73.24%), barely (16.73%), paddy (6.73%) and corn (3.12%). Total harvested cereals in has been million tons of which wheat has recorded 65.47% followed by barely (13.20%), paddy (11.66%) and corn (9.67%) respectively (Anon., 2012). At least, 40% of Iran's wheat is dry with an average yield of only 0.8 tons ha 1. Even in irrigated farms the average yield of wheat rarely exceeds three tons ha 1, which is low in comparison to the world standards (Anon., 2012). Global warming is one of the most important issues in recent century. Global warming is the continuing rise in the average temperature of Earth s atmosphere and oceans and is caused by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, resulting from human activities such as deforestation and burning of fossil fuels. There is scientific agreement that global warming poses one of the major environmental challenges in the future. While the bulk of the so called greenhouse gases (GHG) originate from fossil fuel consumption. Burning fossil fuels results in the emission of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and methane (CH 4 ) that act as barriers to thermal radiation and prevent it from leaving the Earth s atmosphere, the so called greenhouse effect (Pomeranz, 1988). As a consequence, the global mean temperature has increased during the past 100 years and raised concerns over global warming and uncertainty over future impacts on the climate (FAO, 2011). Among the various sectors contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, agricultural sector has a significant share. Agriculture is responsible for 10 12% of global GHG emissions (Khoshnevisan et al., 2014). A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by minimizing the quantity of fossil fuels burnt is therefore essential to arrest global warming. Although the increased use of agricultural inputs in modern farming has resulted in an increase in the energy inputs for fertilizer and crop protection chemicals, higher yields have increased the energy output per unit area and per unit of input (Khoshnevisan et al., 2013). Energy efficiency improvement is the key factor for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. One way to reach more efficient use of energy in agricultural productions is to determine the precise amount of energy consumption. Several researchers have investigated energy use in the production of different crops such as barley (Mobtaker et al., 2010), corn silage (Pishgar Komleh et al., 2011), apple (Rafiee et al., 2010) and wheat (Khoshroo, 2014). In a study, Ghorbani et al. (2011) investigated energy use of irrigated and dryland wheat production systems. The results showed less energy consumption and higher energy ratio of dry land production in comparison with irrigated production system. In another study, energy consumption and GHG emission of wheat production in Esfahan province of Iran was determined. Electricity, chemical fertilizers and water for irrigation were the most influential factors in energy consumption. Also, electricity, nitrogen and diesel fuel had highest contribution on total GHG emission (Khoshnevisan et al., 2013). A three years study conducted to investigate energy use pattern in Abyek town of Ghazvin, Iran. The results revealed an increasing trend for energy ratio and energy productivity from 2008 to 2010 (Naderloo et al., 2013). In a study to investigate the energy efficiency in grape production, a two step estimation technique (Data Envelopment Analysis and Tobit regression) was used. The farmer's education was identified as a factor that had positive influence on technical efficiency of grape production (Khoshroo et al., 2013). Loghmanpour et al. Zarini (2013) studied the energy consumption and economic analysis of Strawberry production in Iran. In recent years, Data Envelopment Analysis as a non parametric method has become a central technique in productivity and efficiency analysis applied in different aspects of economics and management sciences. In recent years, the government plans to reduce the rapidly growing energy demand in all sectors of the Iranian economy has received the attention of researchers in agricultural sector (Beheshti Tabar et al., 2010). An important issue for researchers is how efficiently farmers are using farm limited energy resources. Hence, this study estimates the energy efficiency of wheat production in Mazandaran province of Iran. Besides that greenhouse gas emission of wheat production is assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS The research was done in Sari, Behshahr, Babol and Neka cities, Mazandaran province which is located in the north of Iran. The data used in this study, has been collected from 85 wheat farms in study regions in A simple random sampling method was used to determine survey volume and the farms were chosen randomly from study regions. The data included amount of inputs used in wheat production such as human labour, machinery, diesel fuel, fertilizers, biocide, electricity (for irrigation) and seeds, and the yield as an output. The inputs and output were transformed to energy term by multiply their Quantity per unit area by the coefficient of energy equivalent. For this propose the energy coefficient of previous study was used (as seen in Table 1). 21

3 AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS Table 1. Energy equivalent of inputs and output in agricultural production. Unit Energy equivalent ( Unit 1 ) A. Inputs Human labour Machinery Biocides a. Insecticides b. Fungicides c. Herbicides Chemical fertilizers a. Nitrogen b. Phosphate Farmyard manure Diesel fuel Seed B. Output Wheat Grain h h L Based on the energy equivalents of the inputs and output (Table 1), the energy ratio (energy use efficiency), energy productivity, specific energy and net energy gain were calculated (Khakbazan et al., 2009): The energy use efficiency is one of the indices that show the energy efficiency of agriculture. In particular, this ratio, which is calculated by the ratio of input fossil fuel energy and output food energy, has been used to express the ineffectiveness of crop production in developed countries (Samavatean et al., 2011). An increase in the ratio indicates improvement in energy efficiency, and vice versa. Changes in efficiency can be both short and long term, and will often reflect changes in technology, government policies, weather patterns, or farm management practices. By carefully evaluating the ratios, it is possible to determine trends in the energy efficiency of agricultural production, and to explain these trends by attributing each change to various occurrences within the industry (Singh et al., 1999). Production, storage and distribution of agricultural inputs and their application with agricultural machines resulted in combustion of fossil fuel that emits CO2 and other greenhouse gases into atmosphere. Then, an understanding of the emission expressed in CO2 equivalent for different agricultural practices is a necessary step toward identifying environmentally efficient alternative such as biofuel and renewable energy sources. CO2 equivalent emission coefficients of agricultural inputs were used to determine GHG emission of wheat production. GHG emission was calculated by multiplying the application rate of inputs (diesel fuel, chemical fertilizer, chemicals and Machinery) by its corresponding emission coefficient that is presented in table 2. Table 2. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission coefficients of agricultural inputs. Emission ( CO2 Unit eq Unit 1 ) Inputs Machinery Biocides a. Insecticides b. Fungicides c. Herbicides Chemical fertilizers a. Nitrogen b. Phosphate Farmyard manure Diesel fuel RESULTS AND DISCUSSION As it can be seen in the Table 3, nitrogen, Phosphate, 9.99 Calcium, of farm fertilizer, litter diesel fuel, 2.25 Biocides, seed, h human labour, h machinery, Kwh electrical energy per hectare is used for the production of wheat in Mazandaran province in Iran. The average wheat output were found to be 7325 ha 1 in the enterprises that were analysed. The energy equivalent of this is calculated as ha 1. The highest energy input is provided by electrical. In the same study the total input energy used in farm operations was , and ha 1, while output energy were , and ha 1 in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively (Khoshroo, 2014). Some results have been reported in the literature that the energy input of chemical fertilizers has the biggest share of the total energy input in agricultural production (Yilmaz et al., 2005; Safa et al., 2011 and Loghmanpour Zarini et al., 2013). The share of each input can be seen in Fig. 1. It can be seen in table 4 that the ratio of direct and indirect energy and also the ratios of renewable and non renewable energy are fairly different from each other in wheat production. Loghmanpour Zarini et al. (2013) investigated the energy inputs used in strawberry production under field conditions in Mazandaran province of Iran. They reported that among the total energy used, 57.12% was in the form of direct energy and 77.54% was in the form of non renewable energy. 22

4 NABIPOUR AFROUZI ET AL. Table 3. Average amounts of energy inputs and output () for wheat production. Quantity Energy use (unit) per ha ( ha 1 ) A. Inputs 1. Human labour (h) 2. Machinery (h) 3. Diesel fuel (l) 4. Total fertilizers () a. Nitrogen () b. Phosphate () c. Calcium () d. Farmyard manure () 5. Biocides () 6. Electricity (m 3 ) 7. Seed () Total B. Output 1. Wheat Grain () 2. Straw () Total Fig. 1. Energy input Share of wheat production in Mazandaran Province. Table 4. Application of different energy forms during wheat production in Mazandaran province. Quantity ha 1 Direct energy a Indirect energy b Renewable energy c Non renewable energy d a Includes human labour, diesel fuel and electricity; b Includes machinery, fertilizers, biocides and seed; c Includes human labour, farmyard manure and seed; d Includes machinery, diesel fuel, chemical fertilizers, biocides and electricity. The energy use efficiency, energy productivity, specific energy and net energy gain of wheat production in Mazandaran province of Iran are listed in Table 5. The energy use efficiency in this production was found to be The energy ratio is often used as an index to examine the energy efficiency in crop production (Rafiee et al., 2010). The energy ratio for some crops are reported as 2.8 for wheat, 3.8 for pea, 4.8 for cotton and 1.5 for sesame (Khakbazan et al., 2009 and Yilmaz et al., 2005) and 1.25 for apricot (Esengun et al., 2007). The energy productivity and specific energy of wheat production was calculated as and respectively. The net energy of wheat production was found to be ha 1. It indicates that in this crop production energy is gained (net energy is greater than zero). In literature, similar results have been reported (Khoshnevisan et al., 2013 and 2014). Table 5. Energy input output ratio for wheat production in Mazandaran province of Iran. Unit Quantity ha 1 Energy use efficiency Energy productivity Specific energy Net energy gain Kg 1 1 ha The results of greenhouse gas emission wheat production are shown in Table 6. The highest value of GHG emission belonged to diesel fuel with ( CO2 eq ha 1 ) of total emission and followed by Chemical fertilizer with (101.3 and 6.99 CO2 eq ha 1 for Nitrogen and Phosphate). Using chemical fertilizer (especially nitrogen) more than need has led to high amount of GHG emission. Moreover, soil and water pollutions are the results of using high amounts of chemical fertilizer which makes agriculture environment unfriendly. The least amount of GHG emissions producer input in wheat production was Pesticides with amount of CO2 eq ha 1 of total GHG emissions (Table 5). Results are in agreement with the finding that chemical fertilizers had significant contribution in total emission of wheat production in Esfahan province, Iran (Khoshnevisan et al., 2013). Table 6. GHG emission of inputs in wheat production. GHG ( Inputs Unit ( CO2eq ha 1 ) CO2eq ha 1 ) Machinery Diesel fuel Chemical fertilizer Pesticides Total L In a similar study, it is found that depending on location, total emission in wheat production was CO2 eq ha 1 (Khoshroo, 2014). Some of the investigations that have been done in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on wheat and other crops as follows: Khakbazan et al (2009) calculated the greenhouse gas emissions from wheat production and found that it can be ranged from 410 CO2 eq ha 1 to 1130 CO2 eq ha 1 depending on fertilizer rate, location and seeding system. Emrouznejad and Cabanda 23

5 AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS (2004) calculated the total greenhouse gas emissions related to the Dutch crop production system (potato, grain and vegetable) and found that the agricultural products produce 1100 CO2 eq ha 1, 3000 N2O eq ha 1 and 700 CH4 eq ha 1. CONCLUSION The main objectives of this research were to investigate the energy use patterns, examine the greenhouse gas emission and analyze the energy input output in wheat cultivation in Mazandaran province of Iran. The total energy consumption for wheat production was ha 1. Highest energy consumption related to electricity and chemical fertilizers. The lowest share of energy consumption belonged to human labour and biocide. The energy use efficiency, energy productivity, specific energy and net energy for wheat production were 2.27, , and ha 1, respectively. In this research, the highest value of GHG emission belonged to diesel fuel with ( CO2 eq ha 1 ) of total emission and followed by Chemical fertilizer with (101.3 and 6.99 CO2 eq ha 1 for Nitrogen and Phosphate). The least amount of GHG emissions producer input in wheat production was Pesticides with amount of CO2 eq ha 1 of total GHG emissions. Nitrogen fertilizer, diesel fuel and phosphate fertilizer had the highest contribution in producing GHG emission. Then management of chemical fertilizers and diesel fuel consumption are possible pathways to decrease total emission in wheat production. Anonymous Annual agricultural statistics. Iranian Ministry of Agriculture. Tehran, Iran. ( Beheshti Tabar, I., A. Keyhani and S. Rafiee Energy balance in Iran's agronomy ( ). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 14: Emrouznejad, A. and E. Cabanda Carbon emission from farm operations. Environment International. 30: Esengun, K., O. Gunduz and G. Erdal Input output energy analysis in dry apricot production of Turkey. Energy Conversion and Management. 48: FAO Food and agricultural organization. ( Ghorbani, R., F. Mondani, S. Amirmoradi, H. Feizi, S. Khorramdel, M. Teimouri, S. Sanjani, S. Anvarkhah and H. Aghel A case study of energy use and economic analysis of irrigated and dryland wheat production systems. Applied Energy. 88: Khakbazan, M., R. Mohr, D. Derksen, M. Monreal, C. Grant, R. Zentner, A. Moulin, D. McLaren, R. Irvine and C. Nagy Effects of alternative management practices on the economics, energy and GHG emissions of a wheat pea cropping system in the Canadian prairies. Soil and Tillage Research. 104: Khoshnevisan, B., S. Rafiee, M. Omid, H. Mousazadeh and M.A. Rajaeifar Application of artificial neural networks for prediction of output energy and GHG emissions in potato production in Iran. Agricultural Systems. 123: Khoshnevisan, B., S. Rafiee, M. Omid, M. Yousefi and M. Movahedi Modelling of energy consumption and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in wheat production in Esfahan province of Iran using artificial neural networks. Energy. 52: Khoshroo, A., A. Arefi, A. Masoumiasl and G.H. Jowkar Classification of wheat cultivars using image processing and artificial neural networks. Agricultural Communications. 2(1): REFERENCES 24 Loghmanpour Zarini, R., R. Tabatabaekoloor and A. Akram Input Output Energy and Economic Analysis of Strawberry Production in Iran. American Journal of Engineering Research. 2(5): Mobtaker, H.G., A. Keyhani, A. Mohammadi, S. Rafiee and A. Akram Sensitivity analysis of energy inputs for barley production in Hamedan Province of Iran. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 137: Moore, S.R Energy efficiency in small scale biointensive organic onion production in Pennsylvania, USA. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 25: Naderloo, L., R. Alimardani, M. Omid, F. Sarmadian, P. Javadikia and M.Y. Torabi Modelling of wheat yield and sensitivity analysis based on energy inputs for three years in Abyek town, Ghazvin, Iran. Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal. 15: Pishgar Komleh, S., A. Keyhani, S. Rafiee and P. Sefeedpary Energy use and economic analysis of corn silage production under three cultivated area levels in Tehran province of Iran. Energy. 36: Pomeranz, Y Wheat: chemistry and technology. American Association of Cereal Chemists. AACC International Publication, USA. 514 p. Rafiee, S., S.H. Mousavi Avval and A. Mohammadi Modelling and sensitivity analysis of energy inputs for apple production in Iran. Energy. 35: Ramedani, Z., S. Rafiee and M. Heidari An investigation on energy consumption and sensitivity analysis of soybean production farms. Energy. 36: Safa, M., S. Samarasinghe and M. Mohssen A field study of energy consumption in wheat production in Canterbury, New Zealand. Energy Conversion and Management. 52: Samavatean, N., S. Rafiee, H. Mobli and A. Mohammadi An analysis of energy use and relation between energy inputs and yield, costs and income

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