An Input–Output Energy and Economical Analysis of Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) Production Systems in County of Zarand, Kerman Province

Document Type : Scientific - Research

Authors

• S.R Amiri Deh Ahmadi ¹
• p rezvani moghaddam ²

¹ Higher Educational Complex of Saravan, Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agriculture

² ferdowsi university of mashhad

10.22067/jag.v8i3.51325

Abstract

Introduction
Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is one of the most important export crops of Iran which has an important role in non-petroleum exports and has over $800 million benefit per year. However, production of this crop faces many problems in main production centers, especially in energy efficiency and productivity. The pistachio is a native crop of Iran and Syria. The major producers of pistachio are Iran 55%, America 20%, Turkey 10%, Syria 9% and the other countries with 6%. Iran is the major producer of pistachio in the world with more than 60 % of global exports. Kerman Province with more than 270,000 ha under cultivation produces 77 percent of this crop. Moreover, Zarand county with more than 45,000 ha under cultivation plays a major role in the production of pistachio.
Energy flow is one of the topics of agro-ecology in the world and energy output to input ratio is calculated in various agro-ecosystems. One of the indicators of agricultural development is energy flow. So, different studies in the world have been done to evaluate the energy efficiency in the agro-ecosystems. Studies on apricot (Armeniaca vulgris Lam.) showed that energy efficiency can increase with appropriate management practices with minimum dependence on non-renewable energies.
Energy consumption is divided into two parts in agriculture: direct and indirect energy. Direct energy is the fuel, machinery, electricity, energy required for cooling, heating, and lighting. Indirect energy includes the energy used in the production of fertilizers, seed production, machinery, and pesticides. Energy efficiency is an important factor in increasing productivity, especially in agricultural economy of developing countries. Although, many studies have been carried out on energy consumption in the agricultural systems, the analysis of the energy input required to produce pistachio is very low.
Therefore, the objectives of the present study were to determine the input and output energy rates, energy use efficiency, and other energy-related factors in the production of pistachio in Zarand county of Kerman province.
Materials and methods
This research was conducted in the spring of 2011 in the county of Zarand. Zarand is located in the northwestern province of Kerman. In this study, some producers were selected and primary information was collected using questionnaire directly. All data (input and output) were converted to energy equivalent quantities and then energy efficiency was calculated. Random sampling was done in gardens within whole population and sample size was determined by Ozkan et al. (2004):


Where n is the required sample size, N is the number of holdings in target population, s: standard deviation, t is the reliability coefficient (1.96 which represents the 95% reliability) and d is permissible error (5%).
Basic information on energy inputs and pistachio production were transferred into Excel spreadsheets, and analyzed. Based on the energy equivalents of the inputs and output (Table 1), the energy ratio or energy use efficiency, energy productivity and net energy were calculated:
Energy efficiency= Energy input (MJ. ha-1) / energy output (MJ. ha-1)
Energy productivity= Energy input (MJ. ha-1) / pistachio production (kg. ha-1)
Net energy= Energy input (MJ. ha-1) - Power output (MJ. ha-1)
Results and discussion
The results showed that total input energy for Pistacia vera L. production was 119423 MJ. ha-1, whereas total output energy was 40950 MJ. ha-1. Energy efficiency, energy productivity, and net energy were 0.34, 0.012 kg.MJ-1 and -78474 MJ.ha-1, respectively. The highest input energies were related to electricity (45%) and fossil fuels (20%) which had the highest effect on decreasing energy efficiency. Economically, the total cost of Pistacia vera L. production per hectare was 57469600 and the net benefit was 6253040 Rials.
Conclusion
It was concluded that extending proper agricultural management and sustainable exploration of natural resources can enhance energy consumption efficiency in Pistacia vera L. production. Moreover, due to the shortage water and the critical situation of the aquifers in this region, city regional water management should consider measures to reduce water consumption and improve the distribution of water between the farmers to help the sustainability of the aquifers and more efficient production.

Keywords

• Energy Efficiency
• Input
• Net energy
• productivity
• Renewable Energy

---

References

Abrishami, M. 1994. Pistacia vera of Iran. Center of Academic Publication, Iran 672 pp. (In Persian)

Acaroglu, M. 1998. Energy from biomass, and applications. University of Selc-UK, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences. Textbook (Unpublished- Turkish).

Arian, T., and Zolfeghari, S. 1994. Instruments economic-financial in service policies water management. In First EWRS Workshop on Regional Resource Water Management. Isfahan, Iran, 10-11 September, 175-185. (In Persian)

Central Bank of Iran (CBI). 2011. Economic Time Series Database. Available at web site: http://tsd.cbi.ir/Display/Content.aspx (verified: 7 July 2011)

Cordi, R. 1997. Historic Geographical Zarand and Kohbanan. Kermanology Central, Iran 253 pp. (In Persian)

Dick, W.A., and Doven, D.M.V. 1985. Continuous tillage and rotation, combination effects on corn, soybean and oat yield. Agronomy Journal 77: 459-465.

Erdal, G., Esengun, K., Erdal, H., and Gunduz, O. 2007. Energy use and economical analysis of sugar beet production in Tokat province of Turkey. Energy 32: 35-41.

Goswami, D.Y. 1986. Alternative Energy in Agriculture. CRC Press 407 pp.

Hetz, E. 1998. Energy utilization in fruit production in Chile. Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa, and Latin America 29(2): 17-20.

Javanshah, A. 1999. The study of flowering Pistacia vera and methods for its suspension to prevention of spring cold. PhD Horticultural, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modarres of Tehran, Iran. (In Persian with English Summary)

Kazemi, H., Alizadeh, P., and Nehbandani, A. 2016. Assessing energy flow in rainfed and irrigated wheat fields of Shahrekourd Township under two tillage systems. Journaa\l of Agroecology 8(2): 281-295. (In Persian with English Summary)

Kemal, E., Orhan, G., and Gulistan, E. 2007. Input–output energy analysis in dry apricot production of Turkey. Energy Conversion and Management 48: 592-598.

Kizilaslan, H. 2009. Input–output energy analysis of cherries production in Tokat province of Turkey. Applied Energy 86: 1354-1358.

Kuesters, J., and Lammel, J. 1999. Investigations of the energy efficiency of the production of winter wheat and sugar beet in Europe. European Journal of Agronomy 11: 35-43.

Mirzaei, H. 2010. Modelling energy input- output in production of Pistacia vera. In First International Workshop of Modelling Plant, Soil and Air, Rafsanjan, Iran, 14-15 November p. 29-45. (In Persian)

Mohammadi, A., Rafiee, S., Mohtasebi, S.S., and Rafiee, H. 2010. Energy inputs–yield relationship and cost analysis of kiwifruit production in Iran. Renewable Energy 35: 1071-1075.

Mohammadi, A., Tabatabaeefar, A., Shahin, S., Rafiee, S., and Keyhani, A. 2008. Energy use and economical analysis of potato production in Iran a case study: Ardabil province. Energy Conversion and Management 49: 66-70.

Ozkan, B., Cemal, F., and Feyza, K. 2007. Energy and cost analysis for greenhouse and open-field grape production. Energy 32: 1500-1504.

Ozkan, B., Cemal, F., and Feyza, K. 2004. Energy requirement and economic analysis of citrus production in Turkey. Energy Conversion and Management 45: 1821-1830.

Ozkan, B., Kurklu, A., and Akcaoz, H. 2004. An input–output energy analysis in greenhouse vegetable production: A case study for Antalya region of Turkey. Biomass Bioenergy 26: 189-95.

Panahi, B. 2002. Handbook of Pistacia vera. Publication of Agricultural Instruction, Jihad- e-Keshavarzi 73 pp. (In Persian)

Rasmusson, D.C. 1985. Barley. American society of Agronomy. 677 South segoe road Madison, Wisconsin 53711. USA.

Sadatmoazeni, S., and Karbasi, A. 2009. Measurement of energy types by use of meta analysis method, study of producers Pistacia vera in Zarand, Iran. Agricultural Economic and Development 16(61): 1-16. (In Persian)

Sartori, L., Basso, B., Bertocco, M., and Oliviero, G. 2005. Energy use and economic evaluationof a three year crop rotation for conservation and organic farming in Neitaly. Biosystems Engineering 91: 245-256.

Singh, J.M. 2002. On farm energy use pattern in different cropping systems in Haryana, India. Master of Science. Germany: International Institute of Management, University of Flensburg.

Tahamipour, M. 2009. The study of effective factors on production risk Pistacia vera in Zarand, Iran. Agricultural Economic and Development 16(63): 1-19. (In Persian)

Uhlin, H. 1998. Why energy productivity is increasing: An I–O analysis of Swedish agriculture. Agricultural Systems 56: 443-465.

Vecdi, D., Kamil, E., Harold, M.K., Davut, A., and Caglar, E. 2006. Energy and economic analysis of sweet cherry production in Turkey: A case study from Isparta province. Energy Conversion and Management 47: 1761-1769.

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.