Energy efficiency and ecological sustainability in conventional and integrated potato production system

Sustainable development in potato production is an issue of growing concern. An energy flow analysis is proposed for providing parameters for estimating ecological sustainability. Calculations include energy output (contents of energy in potato tuber) and energy inputs (consumption of fertilizers, pesticides, labor, machines, fuel and electricity). The ratio of output of the production to inputs is called the energy outputs/inputs ratio or energy efficiency. One way to quantify essential parts of agricultural development is the energy flow method. The output/input energy ratio is proposed as the most comprehensive single factor in pursuing the objective of sustainability. Potato is one of the most important field crops in Iran and has effective role to supply foods for growing population. The objective of this investigation was to find out energy flow in potato field and for this reason, 6 main potato production area of Iran were selected. These provinces were: Firoozkouh, Khorasan, Ardabil and Hamadan. Results of this study showed that in one hectare of potato average energy inputs was 18747183.2 Kcal. Mean potato yield was about 25817 kg/ha and by its energetic values, the total output energy calculated 18510789 Kcal. According to these information, the energy output/input ratio was 0.98.