Energy Consumption in Wheat-Rice Cropping System in Punjab

Energy consumption for crop production depends on the availability of energy sources and the capacity of the farmers. This study analyzed energy sources used by farmers for wheat and rice production and identified agricultural operations where energy consumption can be reduced so that operational costs in wheat-rice production system can be lowered. Data on energy use in wheat and rice cropping system was collected by interviewing the farmers using specially designed questionnaire. Relevant information pertaining to human labour use, sources of irrigation, number of irrigations to each crop, quantity of farm inputs, utilization of mechanical power sources and grain yield etc. were collected. The average output energy of grain, input energy, energy ratio and specific energy for wheat crop in the state of Punjab were 68347 MJ ha-1, 15644 MJ ha-1, 8.4 and 3.08 MJ kg-1, respectively. The average output energy of grain, input energy, energy ratio and specific energy for rice were 115888 MJ ha-1, 16438 MJ ha-1, 14.8 and 2.09 MJ kg-1, respectively. For wheat-rice cropping system, the average output energy of grain, input energy, energy ratio and specific energy were 184234.4 MJ ha-1, 32081.4 MJ ha-1, 11.7 and 2.48 MJ kg-1, respectively. Energy ratio (output energy to input energy ratio) of rice is higher than the wheat, indicating rice efficiently utilized energy resources to convert into output of the harvested crop. Similarly, lower specific energy (input energy to yield ratio) of rice as compared to wheat also indicates lower energy consumption to produce per unit of rice. This analysis clearly indicates that rice production is more energy efficient than wheat production in rice-wheat production system. Further, the energy ratio, specific energy and energy productivity of wheat-rice cropping system were estimated as 11.6 to 11.9, 2.44 to 2.51 MJ kg-1 and 0.40 to 0.41kg MJ-1, respectively. This study will be helpful to identify the agricultural operations and implementing suitable interventions for improving energy use efficiency.