Evaluation of the sustainability of wheat production systems in the Sistan using emergy analysis

Kohkan, Shirali; Ghanbari, Seyed Ahmad; Asgharipour, Mohammad Reza; Fakheri, Barat Ali

doi:10.22034/aes.2022.346800.1039

Evaluation of the sustainability of wheat production systems in the Sistan using emergy analysis

Document Type : Original research article

Authors

Shirali Kohkan ¹

Seyed Ahmad Ghanbari ²

Mohammad Reza Asgharipour ²

Barat Ali Fakheri ³

¹ Department of Sistan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Zabol, Iran

² Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran

³ Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, College of Agriculture, Zabol, Zabol, Iran

10.22034/aes.2022.346800.1039

Abstract

This study was conducted using the emergy analysis approach in wheat production systems in order to plan and manage the major challenges facing the Sistan region's wheat production. All inputs for wheat production, the most important crop in the region, were assessed in this study. These inputs include renewable inputs, such as sunlight, wind, and rain; nonrenewable inputs, such as soil erosion; and purchased inputs and services, such as machinery, fossil fuels, electricity, labor, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and chemical fertilizers. According to the results of the study, the total emergy production of wheat was 1.061016 sej ha^-1. The irrigation water consumed the most energy at 28.96%, followed by nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers at 20.75 and 16.5%, respectively. The emergy yield ratio index was 1.41, the emergy investment ratio index was 2.4, the environmental loading ratio was 2.41, and the emergy sustainability index was 0.585, which indicates the average sustainability and environmental load of this system relative to other researchers' reports. By increasing input efficiency by optimizing the consumption of irrigation water, nitrogen fertilizer, and phosphorus fertilizer, this production system can be made more sustainable and less taxing on the environment.

Highlights

This study used emergy analysis to manage Sistan's wheat production challenges.
Irrigation water consumed 28.96% of the emergy, followed by nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers.
The EYR was 1.41, the EIR was 2.4, the ELR was 2.41, and the ESI was 0.585, indicating the system's average sustainability and environmental load.
By optimizing irrigation water, nitrogen fertilizer, and phosphorus fertilizer use, this production system can be made more environmentally friendly.

Keywords

Emergy analysis

Environmental pressure

Sustainability index

Wheat emergy

Amiri, Z., Asgharipour, M. R., Campbell, D. E., Azizi, K., Kakolvand, E., & Moghadam, E. H. (2021). Conservation agriculture, a selective model based on emergy analysis for sustainable production of shallot as a medicinal-industrial plant. Journal of Cleaner Production, 292, 126000. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126000

Amiri, Z., Maghsoudi, A., Asgharipour, M. R., Nejati-Javaremi, A., & Campbell, D. E. (2022). The semi-intensive production model: A strategy based on emergy and economic analyses to realize sustainability in the ecosystem of Sistani beef cattle raising in Iran. Journal of Cleaner Production, 362, 132304. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132304

Asgharipour, M. R., Amiri, Z., & Campbell, D. E. (2020). Evaluation of the sustainability of four greenhouse vegetable production ecosystems based on an analysis of emergy and social characteristics. Ecological Modelling, 424, 109021. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2020.109021

Asgharipour, M. R., Mondani, F., & Riahinia, S. (2012). Energy use efficiency and economic analysis of sugar beet production system in Iran: A case study in Khorasan Razavi province. Energy, 44, 1078–1084. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2012.04.023

Beheshti Tabar, I., Keyhani, A., & Rafiee, S. H. (2010). Energy balance in Iran's agronomy (1990-2006). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14, 849–855. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.10.024

Brandt-Williams, S. (2002). Handbook of emergy evaluation: A compendium of data for emergy computation issued in a series of folios. Folio 4. Emergy of Florida agriculture. Gainesville, Florida, USA: Center for Environmental Policy. University of Florida.

Brown, M. T., & Ulgiati, S. (2004). Energy quality, emergy, and transformity: H. T. Odum’s contributions to quantifying and understanding systems. Ecological Modelling, 178, 201–213. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-15479-9_5

Buenfil, A. A. (2001). Emergy evaluation of water (Doctoral dissertation). University of Florida.

Cavalett, O., & Ortega, E. (2009). Emergy, nutrients balance, and economic assessment of soybean production and industrialization in Brazil. Journal of Cleaner Production, 17, 762–771. doi:10.1111/hex.12487/965-23

Fallahinejad, S., & Armin, M. (2022). Role of mechanization on the sustainability of sugar beet production using emergy approach. Journal of Emergy, Life Cycle and System Analysis in Agriculture, 2(1), 15-24. doi:10.22034/aes.2022.327793.1019

Feng, J., Lu, S., Fu, Z., & Tian, D. (2013). Emergy analysis of protected grape production system in China. Advanced Materials Research, 726-731, 3938–3942. doi:10.1080/02626667.2018.1560449

Ghaley, B., & Porter, J. R. (2013). Emergy synthesis of a combined food and energy production system compared to conventional wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production system. Ecological Indicators, 24, 534–542. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.11.014

Haden, A. (2002). Emergy analysis of food production at S&S Homestead Farm. S&S Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

Higgins, J. B. (2003). Emergy analysis of the Oak Openings region. Ecological Engineering, 21, 75–109. doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2003.09.007

La Rosa, A. D., Siracusa, G., & Cavallaro, R. (2008). Emergy evaluation of Sicilian red orange production. A comparison between organic and conventional farming. Journal of Cleaner Production, 16, 1907–1914. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.005

Lu, H. F., Bai, Y., Ren, H., & Campbell, D. (2010). Integrated emergy, energy and economic evaluation of rice and vegetable production systems in alluvial paddy fields: Implications for agricultural policy in China. Journal of Environmental Management, 91, 2727–2735. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.07.025

Martin, J. F., Diemont, S. A. W., Powel, A., Stanton, M., Levy-Tacher, S. (2006). Emergy evaluation of the performance and sustainability of three agricultural systems with different scales and management. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 115, 128–140. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2005.12.016

Odum, H. T., & Odum, E. C. (1983). Energy analysis overview of nations: Concepts and methods. Working Paper. International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria.

Odum, H. (2007). Environment, power, and society for the twenty-first century. The hierarchy of energy. Columbia University Press.

Odum, H., Brown, M. T., & Williams, S. B. (2000). Handbook of emergy evaluation. Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville.

Shahhoseini, H. R., & Kazemi, H., (2022). Evaluation of sustainability of rainfed rapeseed production in Gorgan County using Emergy analysis. Journal of Emergy, Life Cycle and System Analysis in Agriculture, 2(1), 61-70. doi: 10.22034/aes.2022.337172.1031

Ulgiati, S., Odum, H. T., Bastianoni, S. (1994). Emergy use, environmental loading and sustainability. An emergy analysis of Italy. Ecological Modelling, 73, 215–268. doi:10.1016/0304-3800(94)90064-7

Wang, X., Chen, Y., Gao, W., Qin, J., Zhang, F., & Wu, X. (2014). Emergy analysis of grain production systems on large-scale farms in the North China Plain based on LCA. Agricultural Systems, 128, 66–78. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2014.03.005

Zhang, L. X., Song, B., & Chen, B. (2012). Emergy-based analysis of four farming systems: Insight into agricultural diversification in rural China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 28, 33-44. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.10.042