Energy Efficiency and Economic Analysis of Winter Caltivation (Lettuce, Bersim Clover, Broad bean) in Mazandaran Province of Iran

ABSTRACT: Energy consumption in the world and Iran has increased in recent years. Recently, farmers apply more energy to produce food. To achieve the best performance, review and analyze the energy and economic of food production is very important. In this study, the energy equivalences of input-output used in the winter cultivation (Lettuce, Bersim Clover, Broad bean)have been investigated in Mazandaran province of Iran. The required information has been achieved from the questionnaire with the help of 58 farmers from 6 villages in Amol city, Mazandaran province. The result illustrated that maximum value of energy consumed in the fall planting, are related to fertilizers and pesticides. Bean has higher energy efficiency compared to others, due to high yield per hectare and the energy content of the bean. Lettuce with a performance almost equal to the clover, due to lower energy content of it, has the lower ranking on this assessment. According to the results, lettuce as the best option from an economic perspective and then beans and clover as the next options are introduced.

Lettuce, Bersim Clover, Broad bean, Energy analysis, Direct energy, Renewable energy.