Technological impact on energy consumption in rainfed soybean cultivation in Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh is a state located in the central part of India, and grows 73% of soybean produced in India. In five villages located in various agro climatic regions of the state, 275 farmers cultivated soybean during 1997-1999, of which 239 farms had practiced rainfed cultivation. A total of 188 rainfed farms had used a combination of bullock and tractor power (mixed farming), constituting 67.6% of the farms surveyed. The energy consumption patterns of these farms were studied and a linear programming technique applied to determine optimal energy resource allocation for maximum yield obtainable under business-as-usual and improved cultivation practices. The results indicated that 40.2% additional yield over average yield (achieved by the farmers under study) of 1089 kg/ha can be obtained without major change in energy use pattern under business-as-usual cultivation practice. With the use of improved cultivation practices, a yield of 2274 kg/ha can be obtained through investment of 8118 MJ/ha. Adoption of the improved cultivation practice would improve energy productivity to 0.30 kg/MJ as compared to 0.179 kg/MJ presently achieved by the farmers. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.