Ecological– Economic Efficiency for Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and Corn Silage (Zea mays L.) Production Systems: Maragheh– Bonab Plain, East Azerbaijan Province

Document Type : Scientific - Research

Authors

1 Department of Agroecology, Research Institute of Environmental Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Seed and Plant Improvement Research Department, Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Reseach and Education Center, AREEO, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
Agriculture development heavily relies on chemical inputs such as synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fossil fuels and other energy-intensive inputs. This development is having a serious impact on public health and the environment. Therefore, efficient use of resources is a primary and most vital implications for sustainable agriculture development. Sustainability indices are quantitative values that can be used to evaluate the efficiency and quality of agroecosystems and are useful tools for making suitable decisions in its management. These including energy flow indices, global warming potential (GWP), economic indices, environmental impact quotient (EIQ) of pesticides, efficiency of land, water and fertilizers use and etc. Alfalfa and corn silage as the main source of feed for livestock, have a notable area in the cropping pattern of Maragheh-Bonab plain. Therefore, evaluation of sustainability for these crops will help the sustainable management of agroecosystems in the study area. The present study was conducted to: (a) determine energy efficiency and global warming potential; (b) determine the environmental impacts of pesticides; (c) assess input use efficiency and; (d) economic analysis of alfalfa and corn silage production systems in East Azerbaijan province of Iran.
Materials and Methods
In the present study, the sustainability of alfalfa and corn silage production systems lies in the Maragheh-Bonab plain in southern East Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran were evaluated using quantitative indices such as energy efficiency and productivity, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission; economic indicators; pesticide risk (field environmental impact—FEIQ); tillage impact (TI); fertilizer, labour, land and water use efficiency, and the eco-efficiency index. For this purpose, data was collected from 110 farmers by survey to determine crop production in the region. Secondary data including climate characteristics and products sale price was obtained from previous studies and organizations such as the Agricultural Ministry of Iran.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that the values of input energy, output energy and net energy in alfalfa production system (48151, 432920 and 384768 Mj.ha-1, respectively) were higher than corn silage production system (35557, 217350 and 181792 Mj.ha-1, respectively). Also, it was observed that the values of energy use efficiency and specific energy of alfalfa (9 and 15.8 MJ.kg−1, respectively) were higher than that of corn silage (6.1 and 4.1 MJ.kg−1, respectively). In terms of economic indices, despite of lower total cost of production in corn silage (1089 $.ha-1), the highest values of gross production value (6447 $.ha-1) and net return (4193 $.ha-1) were related to alfalfa production system. In terms of GWP and EIQ, alfalfa production had the higher values with compared to corn silage production. However, eco-efficiency (ratio of economic value to the environmental impact) values based on of GWP and EIQ was significantly higher for alfalfa (1.75 $.kg -1 CO2eq-1 and 35.3 $.EIQ-1) than corn silage (1.5 $.kg-1 CO2eq-1 and 26 $.EIQ-1). Land production efficiency, economic land production efficiency, irrigation water productivity, economic irrigation water productivity, nitrogen use efficiency, phosphorous use efficiency and potassium use efficiency were 140 kg.ha-1.day-1, 21.5 $.ha-1.day-1, 4.1 kg.m-3, 0.63 $.m-3, 335 kg.kg-1, 1191 kg.kg-1 and 1826 kg.kg-1 in alfalfa production system and 583 kg.ha-1.day-1, 22.9 $.ha-1.day-1, 8 kg.m-3, 0.31 $.m-3, 656 kg.kg-1, 3553 kg.kg-1 and 65525 kg.kg-1 in corn silage production system, respectively.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that environmental impacts of pesticides and global warming effect per area in alfalfa production system were higher than corn silage production system. However, in terms of economic indices and energy use efficiency, alfalfa production system was superior to corn silage production system.

Keywords


Acaroglu, M. 1998. Energy from Biomass, and Applications. University of Selcuk, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Turkey.
Asgharipour, M.R., Mousavinik, S.M., and Enayat, F.F. 2016. Evaluation of energy input and greenhouse gases emissions from alfalfa production in the Sistan region, Iran. Energy Reports 2: 135-140.
Azizi, K., and Heidari, S. 2013. A comparative study on energy balance and economical indices in irrigated and dry land barley production systems. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 10: 1019-1028.
Bakhtiari, A.A., Hematian, A., and Sharifi, A. 2015. Energy analyses and greenhouse gas emissions assessment for saffron production cycle. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 22: 16184-16201.
Beheshti Tabar, I., Keyhani, A., and Rafiee, S. 2010. Energy balance in Iran's agronomy (1990–2006). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 14: 849-855.
Camargo, G.G., Ryan, M.R., and Richard, T.L. 2013. Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from crop production using the farm energy analysis tool. BioScience 63: 263-273.
Canakci, M., Topakci, M., Akinci, I., and Ozmerzi, A. 2005. Energy use pattern of some field crops and vegetable production: Case study for Antalya Region, Turkey. Energy Conversion and Management 46: 6-666-55.
Chien, S., Prochnow, L., and Cantarella, H. 2009. Recent developments of fertilizer production and use to improve nutrient efficiency and minimize environmental impacts. Advances in Agronomy 102: 267-322.
Cross, P., and Edwards‐Jones, G. 2006. Variation in pesticide hazard from vegetable production in Great Britain from 1991 to 2003. Pest Management Science 62: 1058-1064.
De, D., Singh, R., and Chandra, H. 2001. Technological impact on energy consumption in rainfed soybean cultivation in Madhya Pradesh. Applied Energy 70: 193-213.
De Jonge, A.M. 2004. Eco-efficiency improvement of a crop protection product: the perspective of the crop protection industry. Crop Protection 23: 1177-1186.
Deihimfard, R., Soufizadeh, S., Moinoddini, S., Kambouzia, J., Zand, E., Damghani, A.M., Mosleh, L., and Saberpour, L. 2014. Evaluating risk from insecticide use at the field and regional scales in Iran. Crop Protection 65: 29-36.
Deihimfard, R., Zand, E., Damghani, A.M., and Soufizadeh, S. 2007. Herbicide risk assessment during the Wheat Self‐sufficiency Project in Iran. Pest Management Science 63: 1036-1045.
Eshenaur, B., Grant, J., Kovach, J., Petzoldt, C., Degni, J., and Tette, J. 1992-2015. Environmental impact quotient: ‘‘a method to measure the environmental impact of pesticides. New York State Integrated Pest Management Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell University.
Fijani, E., Nadiri, A.A., Moghaddam, A.A., Tsai, F.T.C., and Dixon, B. 2013. Optimization of DRASTIC method by supervised committee machine artificial intelligence to assess groundwater vulnerability for Maragheh–Bonab plain aquifer, Iran. Journal of Hydrology 503: 89-100.
Ghaderpour, O., Rafiee, S., and Sharifi, M. 2016. Analysis and modeling of energy and the production cost of alfalfa using multi-layer adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system in Bukan city. The 2nd National Conference on Agricultural Mechanization and New Technologies, Ahvaz, Iran. (In Persian)
Ghasemi Mobtaker, H., Akram, A., and Keyhani, A. 2010a. Investigation of energy consumption of perennial Alfalfa production -Case study: Hamedan province. Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment 8: 379-381.
Ghasemi Mobtaker, H., Akram, A., and Keyhani, A. 2012. Energy use and sensitivity analysis of energy inputs for alfalfa production in Iran. Energy for Sustainable Development 16: 84-89.
Ghasemi Mobtaker, H., Keyhani, A., Mohammadi, A., Rafiee, S., and Akram, A. 2010b. Sensitivity analysis of energy inputs for barley production in Hamedan Province of Iran. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 137: 367-372.
Gholami, Z., Ebrahimian, H., and Noory, H. 2016. Investigation of Irrigation Water Productivity in Sprinkler and Surface Irrigation Systems (Case study: Qazvin Plain). Journal of Irrigation Science and Engineering 39: 135-146.
Ghorbani, R., Mondani, F., Amirmoradi, S., Feizi, H., Khorramdel, S., Teimouri, M., Sanjani, S., Anvarkhah, S., and Aghel, H. 2011. A case study of energy use and economical analysis of irrigated and dryland wheat production systems. Applied Energy 88: 283-288.
Gill, H.K., and Garg, H. 2014. Pesticides: environmental impacts and management strategies. Pesticides - Toxic Aspects. Dr. Sonia Soloneski (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-51-1217-4, InTech, 187-230.
Hatirli, S.A., Ozkan, B., and Fert, C. 2006. Energy inputs and crop yield relationship in greenhouse tomato production. Renewable Energy 31: 427-438.
Herrhz, J.L., Girth, V.S., and Cerisola, C. 1995. Long-term energy use and economic evaluation of three tillage systems for cereal and legume production in central Spain. Soil and Tillage Research 35: 183-198.
Heydari, N. 2011. Determination and evaluation of water use efficiency of some major crops under farmers management in Iran. Journal of Water and Irrigation Management 1: 43-57.
Houshyar, E., Zareifard, H.R., Grundmann, P., and Smith, P. 2015. Determining efficiency of energy input for silage corn production: An econometric approach. Energy 93: 2166-2174.
IPCC, 1995. Climate change, the science of climate change. In: Houghton, J.T., Meira Filho L.G., Callander B,A., Harris N., Kattenberg A., Maskell K. (Eds) Intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Katerji, N., Mastrorilli, M., and Rana, G. 2008. Water use efficiency of crops cultivated in the Mediterranean region: review and analysis. European Journal of Agronomy 28: 493-507.
Khoshnevisan, B., Rafiee, S., Omid, M., Yousefi, M., and Movahedi, M. 2013. Modeling of energy consumption and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in wheat production in Esfahan province of Iran using artificial neural networks. Energy 52: 333-338.
Kitani, O. 1999. CIGR Handbook of Agricultural Engineering. American Society of Agricultural Engineers, United States of America.
Koga, N., and Tajima, R. 2011. Assessing energy efficiencies and greenhouse gas emissions under bioethanol-oriented paddy rice production in northern Japan. Journal of Environmental Management 92: 967-973.
Kramer, K.J., Moll, H.C., Nonhebel, S., 1999. Total greenhouse gas emissions related to the Dutch crop production system. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 72: 9-16.
Lal, R. 2004. Carbon emission from farm operations. Environment International 30: 981-990.
Levitan, L. 2000. “How to” and “why”: assessing the enviro–social impacts of pesticides. Crop Protection 19: 629-636.
Mahdavi Damghani, A., Koocheki, A., Moghaddam, P.R., and Mahallati, M.N. 2006. Studying the sustainability of a wheat-cotton agroecosystem in Iran. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences.
Mandal, K., Saha, K., Ghosh, P., Hati, K., and Bandyopadhyay, K. 2002. Bioenergy and economic analysis of soybean-based crop production systems in central India. Biomass and Bioenergy 23: 337-345.
Mohammadi, A., Rafiee, S., Jafari, A., Keyhani, A., Mousavi-Avval, S.H., and Nonhebel, S. 2014. Energy use efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions of farming systems in north Iran. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 30: 724-733.
Molden, D., Bin, D., Loeve, R., Barker, R., and Tuong, T. 2007. Agricultural water productivity and savings: policy lessons from two diverse sites in China. Water Policy 9: 29-44.
Molden, D., Oweis, T., Steduto, P., Bindraban, P., Hanjra, M.A., and Kijne, J. 2010. Improving agricultural water productivity: between optimism and caution. Agricultural Water Management 97: 528-535.
Mondani, F., Khoramivafa, M., Aleagha, S., and Ghobadi, R. 2015. Assessment of energy flow in irrigated and dry-land wheat farms under different climatic conditions in Kermanshah province. Journal of Agroecology 5: 75-88 (In Persian with English Summary)
Mosier, A.R., Syers, J.K., and Freney, J.R. 2004. Agriculture and the nitrogen cycle: assessing the impacts of fertilizer use on food production and the environment. Island Press, London.
Mousavi-Avval, S.H., Rafiee, S., Jafari, A., and Mohammadi, A. 2011. Energy flow modeling and sensitivity analysis of inputs for canola production in Iran. Journal of Cleaner Production 19: 1464-1470.
Nagy, C.N. 1999. Energy coefficients for agriculture inputs in western Canada. Canadian Agricultural Energy End-Use Data Analysis Centre (CAEEDAC). University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Pimentel, D. 1980. Handbook of Energy Utilization in Agriculture. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Pimentel, D., Hepperly, P., Hanson, J., Douds, D., and Seidel, R. 2005. Environmental, energetic, and economic comparisons of organic and conventional farming systems. BioScience 55: 573-582.
Pishgar Komleh, S., Keyhani, A., Rafiee, S., and Sefeedpary, P. 2011. Energy use and economic analysis of corn silage production under three cultivated area levels in Tehran province of Iran. Energy 36: 333-3341-5.
Prasad, R. 2009. Efficient fertilizer use: The key to food security and better environment. Journal Tropical Agricalture 47: 1-17.
Rodrigues, G.C., and Pereira, L.S. 2009. Assessing economic impacts of deficit irrigation as related to water productivity and water costs. Biosystems Engineering 103: 536-551.
Sahabi, H., Feizi, H., and Amirmoradi, S. 2013. Which crop production system is more efficient in energy use: wheat or barley? Environment, Development and Sustainability 15: 711-721.
Sahabi, H., Feizi, H., and Karbasi, A. 2016. Is saffron more energy and economic efficient than wheat in crop rotation systems in northeast Iran? Sustainable Production and Consumption 5: 29-35.
Sefeedpari, P., Rafiee, S., Komleh, S.H.P., and Ghahderijani, M. 2012. A source-wise and operation-wise energy use analysis for corn silage production, a case study of Tehran province, Iran. International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1: 158-166.
Sharma, R., Peshin, R., Shankar, U., Kaul, V., and Sharma, S. 2015. Impact evaluation indicators of an Integrated Pest Management program in vegetable crops in the subtropical region of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Crop Protection 67: 191-199.
Singh, S., Sah, A., Singh, R., Singh, V., and Hasan, S. 2010. Diversification of rice (Oryza sativa L.)-based crop sequences for higher production potentials and economic returns in India's central Uttar Pradesh. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 34: 141-152.
Snyder, C., Bruulsema, T., Jensen, T., and Fixen, P. 2009. Review of greenhouse gas emissions from crop production systems and fertilizer management effects. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 133: 247-266.
Tsatsarelis, C., and Koundouras, D. 1994. Energetics of baled alfalfa hay production in northern Greece. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 49: 123-130.
Tzilivakis, J., Warner, D., May, M., Lewis, K., and Jaggard, K. 2005. An assessment of the energy inputs and greenhouse gas emissions in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) production in the UK. Agricultural Systems 85: 101-119.
Vaezi, A.R., Homaee, M., and Malakoti, M. 2002. Effect of fertigation on fertilizer use efficiency and water use efficiency on forage corn. Journal of Water and Soil Science 16: 152-160.
Yilmaz, I., Akcaoz, H., and Ozkan, B. 2005. An analysis of energy use and input costs for cotton production in Turkey. Renewable Energy 30: 145-155.
Yousefi, M., Damghani, A.M., and Khoramivafa, M. 2016. Comparison greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global warming potential (GWP) effect of energy use in different wheat agroecosystems in Iran. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 23: 7390-7397.
Yousefi, M., and Mohammadi, A. 2011. Economical analysis and energy use efficiency in alfalfa production systems in Iran. Scientific Research and Essays 6: 2332-2336.
Zangeneh, M., Omid, M., and Akram, A. 2010. A comparative study on energy use and cost analysis of potato production under different farming technologies in Hamadan province of Iran. Energy 35: 2927-2933.
Zhu, X.K., Li, C.Y., Jiang, Z.Q., Huang, L.L., Feng, C.n., Guo, W.S., and Peng, Y.X. 2012. Responses of phosphorus use efficiency, grain yield, and quality to phosphorus application amount of weak-gluten wheat. Journal of Integrative Agriculture 11: 1103-1110.
CAPTCHA Image