An analysis of energy use and input costs for cotton production in Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine direct input energy and indirect energy in per hectare in cotton production and compare with input costs. The study also sought to analyse the effect of farm size. Data were collected from sixty five farmers using a face to face questionnaire. The sample farms were selected through a stratified random sampling technique. The results revealed that cotton production consumed a total of 49.73 GJha(-1) of which diesel energy consumption was 31.1% followed by fertilizer and machinery energy. Output-input energy ratio and energy productivity were 0.74 and 0.06 kg of cotton MJ(-1), respectively. Cost analysis showed that net return per kilogram of seed cotton was insufficient to cover costs of production in the research area. The most important cost items were labour, machinery costs, land rent and pesticide costs. Large farms were more successful in energy productivity, use efficiency and economic performance. It was concluded that energy management at farm level could be improved to give more efficient and economic use of energy. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.