Optimizing energy consumption efficiency for greenhouse cucumber production using the data envelopment analysis technique in Lorestan Province of Iran
Journal Title: International journal of Advanced Biological and Biomedical Research - Year 2014, Vol 2, Issue 3
Abstract
This paper applied a non-parametric (Data Envelopment Analysis) method to analyze the efficiency of farmers, discriminate efficient farmers from inefficient ones and to identify wasteful uses of energy in order to optimize the energy inputs for greenhouse cucumber production in Lorestan province of Iran. Data were collected from 27 cucumber producers by using a face-to-face questionnaire.DEA creates a best-practice production frontier based on the growers that produce their level of greenhouse cucumber yield with the least amount of input energy. The results revealed that total operational energy of 521.37 GJ ha-1 is consumed in greenhouses. Most shares of this energy are allocated to fuel and chemicals by the shares of 56.66% and 12.19% respectively. Two basic DEA models, Constant Return to Scale (CRS) and Variable Return to Scale (VRS) were used to measure the technical efficiency (TE) of the greenhouses based on eight energy inputs and one output. The CRS and VRS models indicated that 10 and 19 greenhouses were efficient, respectively. The average values of TE, pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) of greenhouses were found to be 0.89, 0.99 and 0.89 separately. Moreover, energysaving target ratio (ESTR%) for greenhouse cucumber production was calculated as 26.85%, indicating that by following the recommendations resulted from this study,140 GJ ha-1 of total input energy could be saved while holding the constant level of greenhouse cucumber yield.
Authors and Affiliations
Sajjad Firoozi| Department of Agricultural biosystem Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran, E-mail: firoozi.sajjad@yahoo.com, Mohammad Javad Sheikhdavoodi| Department of Agricultural biosystem Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran, Saeedeh Mohammadi Farani| Department of Agricultural biosystem Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP13050
- DOI -
- Views 306
- Downloads 15
Effect of K Nano-Fertilizer and N Bio-Fertilizer on Yield and Yield Components of Tomato (Lycopersicon Esculentum L.)
Objective: This field experiment was laid out in order to study on effect of Nano and Bio fertilizers on yield and yield components of tomato (Lycopersicone sculentum L.) during the growing seasons 2013- 2014. Methods:...
The Influence of the PipeÃs Material and the Mass Flow Rate on the Pressure Drop and Velocity Variation During Pneumatic Conveying of Wheat Using Computational Fluid Dynamics
According to flexibility of pneumatic conveying systems with respect to other types of transmission systems, this system has wide application in industry and agriculture processes. One important application of this sys...
Assessment the effect of kidney internal structure on gamma absorbed dose of radiopharmaceutical 111In-DTPA
Large quantities of radiopharmaceuticals prescribed for treatment and diagnosis are excreted through kidney. Therefore, radiation unwanted dose is created in kidney. As a result, exact calculation of prescribed radioph...
Effect of Oleo-Gum Resin of Ferula Assafoetida on Growth of Some Food and Crop Contaminating Microbes
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal or bactericidal concentration (MFC, MBC) of oleo-gum resin of Ferula assafoetida on the growth of food...
Municipal Solid Waste Management in Coastal line of Gilan Province
Sea shores of Gilan Province is one off the biggest tourist attractions in Iran. This area have valuable forests and grasslands. In addition it provides significant amount of corps like rice, tea, olive. Considering th...