Application of a non-parametric method to analyze energy consumption for orange production

Abstract

Due to good climate condition and large cultivation area in Mazandaran province of Iran, orchard commodities products, especially orange production is widely improved in this region.  In this study, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique was used to analyze the efficiency of farmers, discriminate efficient orchards from inefficient ones and to identify wasteful uses of energy for orange producers in Sari region.  Data were collected using face-to-face surveys from 86 orange orchardists and included the human power, machinery, diesel fuel, chemicals, fertilizer, farmyard manure, water for irrigation and electricity input sources used per hectare of orange production.  The data was organized and analyzed by DEA Techniques.  The results revealed that the total input and output energy were 54.2 and 59.2 GJ/ha, respectively.  Diesel fuel, fertilizer and water for irrigation energies had the highest energy values per hectare respectively.  Pure technical and scale efficiencies were calculated using CCR (Charnes–Cooper–Rhodes) and BCC (Banker-Charnes-Cooper) models.  The technical, pure technical and scale efficiencies were calculated as 0.92, 0.96 and 0.97, respectively.  The highest contribution to the total saving energy was provided by diesel fuel followed by fertilizer and water for irrigation energy input.

Keywords: technical efficiency, energy saving, data envelopment Analysis, orange production, Sari