Role of mechanization on the sustainability of sugar beet production using emergy approach

Over 40% of agriculture on the planet is conducted on smallholder farms with low productivity but high production costs. As a result, governments have attempted to replace traditional farms with mechanized farms in recent years. The sustainability of three distinct production systems, namely traditional, semi-mechanized, and mechanized cultivation systems, were assessed using emergy approach in 2017-2018. These systems were practiced over areas of less than 2 ha, 2-10 ha, and more than 10 ha, respectively. The results indicated that the total emergy values for sugar beet production were 2.84E+16, 4.57E+16, and 6.21E+16 sej ha-1 yr-1, respectively, for traditional, semi-mechanized, and mechanized systems. Historically, the proportion of renewable natural inputs, non-renewable natural inputs, and purchased inputs in total input emergy was 8.88E+14, 8.88E+15, and 1.86E+16 sej ha-1 yr-1, respectively. However, the proportion of renewable natural inputs, non-renewable natural inputs, and purchased inputs was 9.06E+14, 2.56E+16, and 3.57E+16 sej ha-1 yr-1, respectively, in mechanized farms. As the rate of mechanization increased, the unit emergy value, renewable emergy ratio, emergy exchange ratio, emergy yield ratio, emergy input ratio, and environmental loading ratio increased by 11.5, 77, 13.7, 11.9, and 1.32 percent, respectively; while the renewable emergy ratio and environmental sustainability index decreased by 20.1 and 28.9 percent, respectively. In general, the results indicated that mechanization protected the environment more than traditional cultivation.