Investigation and comparison of energy flow in wheat fields of Gorgan and Marvdasht townships

In this study, the energy flow is analyzed and compared in wheat fields of Gorgan and Marvdasht townships. The indicators of energy use efficiency, net energy, specific energy, energy productivity, direct energy, indirect energy, renewable and non-renewable energy, total input energy and total output energy were calculated. Primary data were obtained through field survey and personal interviews using questionnaires from farmers and agricultural experts in two regions. Secondary data and energy equivalents were obtained from available literature using collected data of the production period. Analysis of data showed that the greatest contribution of input energy belonged to, chemical fertilizers, fuels, machinery and irrigation in two agroecosystems. Energy use efficiency was calculated as 2.91 in Gorgan and 2.56 in Marvdasht. Also, total input energy and total output energy in wheat production were higher in the fields of Marvdasht than Gorgan. In this study, the average energy productivity was 0.125 in Gorgan and 0.123 in marvdasht. This means that 0.125 and 0.123 grain output were obtained per energy unit in Gorgan and Marvdasht, respectively. It is showed that variables of seed, human labor and chemicals were the least demanding input energy for wheat production in two regions. In general, Gorgan fields had better management and were more successful in energy consumption.