Study of Energy Consumption and Economical Analysis of Canola Production in Tehran Province

Agriculture is known not only energy consumer but also as the main energy supplier in the form of bioenergy. The aims of this study are to compare energy use pattern and to analyze mechanization indices for canola production in Tehran province. Data used in this study were obtained from producers using a face to face questionnaire method. For sampling a simple random sampling method was used; so the sample size was calculated as 90 canola productions. The inputs were human labor, machinery, diesel fuel, chemicals, chemical fertilizer, farmyard manure, electricity, water for irrigation and seed. Energy equivalent of inputs was computed by multiplying the amount of inputs with corresponding energy coefficients. The results of this study showed that, total energy input for canola was about 21.89 GJ ha-1 and chemical fertilizers, diesel fuel and electricity were the main energy consuming inputs. Also, energy output to input ratio was found to be 2.37, and most of energy used derived from nonrenewable energy sources. In this research, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique was also subjected to data of canola producers in the region and the results showed that the technical efficiency of canola producers was 0.85, and from total farmers about 32% of canola producers were found to be efficient. Also, the relationship between energy inputs and output and the sensitivity of input consumption was investigated using the Cobb-Douglas production function and marginal physical productivity level. The results showed that, in canola production, energy consumption by machinery and human labor had the highest impact on output. The results of economical analysis also revealed that the benefit-cost ratio and economical productivity was obtained 1.53 and 2.42 kg $-1 respectively