Life Cycle of Energy-economic Analysis for Different Cultivation Scenarios of Paddy Production (Case study: Khuzestan Province)
Subject Areas : Environmental policy and management
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Abstract :
In this study, energy and economic analyses of paddy production in Khuzestan province, Iran, were conducted. Paddy production was examined under three cultivation systems: Paddy-Transplanting System (PTS), Paddy Direct Seeding Flooding System (PDSFS), and Paddy-Upland Cultivation System (PUCS). PTS had the highest total input (87,993.14 MJ ha⁻¹) and output (105,400 MJ ha⁻¹) energies. Diesel fuel and nitrogen fertilizer had the largest shares of energy use. In PUCS, human labor accounted for a significant share of energy use. The energy ratio of the PUCS method (1.34) indicates that output energy greatly exceeds input energy. The productivity energy index showed no significant difference between the three methods in terms of paddy yield relative to input energy. The specific energy of the PTS method (14.19 MJ kg⁻¹) indicates high input energy relative to paddy yield. Despite this, the PTS method demonstrated a favorable benefit-to-cost ratio due to high revenue and low costs. The productivity of the PUCS method was reported at 212.65 kg $⁻¹, reflecting high paddy production and the lowest costs among the methods.