Abstract

The aim of this study is to consider the energy consuming process and factors influencing rice production in semi-mechanized and traditional systems in Mazandaran Province of Iran. Data used in this study were obtained from farmers using a face to face questionnaire method. Results showed that the total energy used for semi-mechanized and traditional rice production system was 67217.95 and 67356.28 MJ/ha, respectively. Based on the results, irrigation and fertilizer in both systems with 50232 and 7610.32 MJ/ha was the most input energy. Total energy output of the traditional method was 127.5 GJ/ha and that of the semi-mechanized was 132.26 GJ/ha. Parallel to the mechanization level of operations that increased, consumption of fuel and machinery energy increased similarly, but the labor and seed energy consumption dropped. The renewable energy in the traditional and semi-mechanized systems was 3168.3 (4.70% total energy) and 2312.1 MJ/ha (3.44%), respectively. Energy ratio and energy productivity in traditional and semi-mechanized systems was 3 and 3.08, and 0.111 and 0.116 kg/MJ 116.0, respectively. Nonetheless, net energy gain and specific energy showed that energy efficiency of semi-mechanized systems was more than the traditional system.

Key words: Energy ratio, rice, net energy gain, energy productivity, mechanization.