Analysis of Energy Input–Output of Farms and Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Case Study of Cotton Growers

Abstract

The concept of agricultural and environmental sustainability refers to minimizing the degradation of natural resources while increasing crop productions; assessment of inflow and outflow energy resources is helpful in highlighting the resilience of the system and maintaining its productivity. In this regard, the current study evaluated the amount of energy input–output of cotton productions and their environmental interventions. Data are randomly collected from 400 cotton farmers through face-to-face interview. Results suggested that the major energy is consumed by three culprits, i.e., chemical fertilizer, diesel fuel, and irrigation water (11,532.60, 11,121.54, and 4,531.97 MJ ha−1, respectively). Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission is 1,106.12 kg CO2eq ha−1 with the main share coming from diesel fuel, machinery, and irrigation water. Stimulating data of energies, e.g., energy use efficiency (1.53), specific energy (7.69 MJ kg−1), energy productivity (0.13 kg MJ−1), and net energy gained (16,409.77 MJ ha−1). Further analysis using data envelopment analysis (DEA) showed that low technical efficiency, i.e., 69.02%, is the most probable cause of poor energy use efficiency. The impermanent trend in growth of energy efficiency has been witnessed with plausible potential of energy savings from 4,048.012 to 16,194.77 MJ ha−1 and a reduction of 148.96–595.96 kg CO2eq ha−1 in GHG emission. Cobb–Douglas production function is further applied to discover the associations of energy input to output, which inferred that chemical fertilizer, diesel fuel, machinery, and biocides have significant effect on cotton yield. The marginal physical productivity (MPP) values obliged that the additional use in energy (1 MJ) from fuel (diesel), biocides, and machinery can enhance cotton yield at the rate of 0.35, 1.52, and 0.45 kg ha−1, respectively. Energy saving best links with energy sharing data, i.e., 55.66% (direct), 44.34% (indirect), 21.05% (renewable), and 78.95% (nonrenewable), further unveiled the high usage of nonrenewable energy resources (fossil fuels) that ultimately contributes to high emissions of GHGs. We hope that these findings could help in the management of energy budget that we believe will reduce the high emissions of GHGs.