Energy modeling of plum production in Golestan province

The aims of this study were to investigate the energy flow and its modeling in Shablon cultivar of plum production in Golestan province of Iran. Data were collected through questionnaires and also interviews with producers. Cobb-Douglass model and sensitivity analysis were used to determine the effects of energy inputs on plum yield. The results revealed that the total energy inputs and energy use efficiency of plum production in the region were 25870.33 MJha-1 and 1.04, respectively. Diesel fuel and chemical fertilizer as the highest energy inputs were 33 and 30 percent, respectively.The shares of renewable energy and non-renewable energy of production were 88 and 12 percent, respectively. The Cobb-Douglas model results showed that the effects of human labor, agricultural machinery, diesel fuel, biocide and farmyard manure were positive on the yield while the effect of chemical fertilizers on plum yield was negative.