Energy efficiency of the mineral fertilizer application in crop production

Abstract

The efficiency of primary agricultural production is under constant analysis relative to energy, economy and ecology. Notwithstanding technological innovations in agricultural production, engineers and researchers are still seeking to create a production system that would render the primary agricultural production more energy efficient and ecologically sustainable. The purpose of this paper is to examine the energy consumption and efficiency of crop production with an emphasis on the importance of mineral fertilizers and their influence on the overall energy consumption. The results obtained indicate that mineral fertilizers claim a share of the total energy consumption in crop production ranging from 40.53 % in sunflowers to 55.19 % in maize. A statistically significant correlation was found between the energy inputs for fertilizers and crop yields. The regression analysis performed showed a positive correlation between the energy inputs for fertilizers and yields in all the crops considered, with the exception of wheat.

Keywords

• mineral fertilizers
• crop production
• energy consumption
• energy efficiency