Energy Utilization Pattern in Dryland Production Systems of Cotton and Maize

Abstract

The energy use pattern for unit operations of crop production varies under different agro climatic zones and across various farm categories. This study was conducted to determine the energy utilization pattern for cotton and maize crops for different farm size holdings under dryland conditions. Medium size farm holdings were observed as highest energy utilization for crop production i.e. 1723 MJ ha-1, for cotton and in case of maize 1673 MJ ha-1 and lowest utilization of energy was observed in small farm holdings i.e. 1142 MJ ha-1, 1213 MJ ha-1 for cotton and maize, respectively, due to more use of power sources and inputs. Among field operations, land preparation consumed maximum energy across all categories of farmers and fertilizer was observed as the dominant source of input-energy for cotton (55.1 to 64.1%) and maize (48.7 to 58.8%). Lowest machinery energy ratio and mechanization index values were observed in small farmers when compared with the medium and large farmers. From the study it was observed that crop productivity increases as the energy input increases and energy input increases with increase in farm size. The farmers in the selected clusters still depends on the traditional power sources and implements for majority of operations except few selected operations, which has less capacity to do operations.