Optimization of energy consumption for table olive production using data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach.

The aim of this study was to determine the energy flow in the table olive production and to apply a non-parametric method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) in order to identify and optimize the energy efficiency of farmers, their present and targeted uses of energy and the amount of wasteful energy uses for table olive production in one of its main production centers in Iran. The results revealed that total energy input and energy output were found to be as 18274.42 and 55258.29 MJ ha -1 . Also the energy use efficiency was calculated as 3.02. The results of DEA analysis showed that among the 48 growers, 12 and 20 ones were technically and pure technically efficient, respectively. The technical, pure technical and scale efficiency scores of farmers were 0.91, 0.96 and 0.94, respectively. Optimum energy requirement was found to be 16868.35 MJ ha -1 . Among the energy inputs the chemical fertilizers energy input had the highest share in the total energy consumption and most of energy saving in the inefficient groves can be happened through reducing the chemical fertilizers use (by75% in average). It’s suggested that the use of chemical fertilizers, especially the nitrogen fertilizer, to be declined through the use of more farmyard manures instead.

[1]  Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo,et al.  Analysing farming systems with Data Envelopment Analysis: citrus farming in Spain , 2004 .

[2]  Mahmoud Omid,et al.  Measuring productive efficiency of horticultural greenhouses in Iran: A data envelopment analysis approach , 2012, Expert Syst. Appl..

[3]  A. Charnes,et al.  Some Models for Estimating Technical and Scale Inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis , 1984 .

[4]  G. Nanos,et al.  Energy budget in organic and conventional olive groves , 2007 .

[5]  Kemal Sarica,et al.  Efficiency assessment of Turkish power plants using data envelopment analysis , 2007 .

[6]  K. P. Pandey,et al.  Improving energy productivity in paddy production through benchmarking—An application of data envelopment analysis , 2006 .

[7]  S. Rafiee,et al.  Modeling and sensitivity analysis of energy inputs for apple production in Iran , 2010 .

[8]  Shahin Rafiee,et al.  An analysis of energy use and relation between energy inputs and yield in tangerine production , 2012 .

[9]  Surendra Singh,et al.  Study on energy use efficiency for paddy crop using data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique , 2009 .

[10]  Abraham Charnes,et al.  Measuring the efficiency of decision making units , 1978 .

[11]  J. P. Mittal,et al.  Energy in production agriculture , 1992 .

[12]  W. Cooper,et al.  Data Envelopment Analysis: A Comprehensive Text with Models, Applications, References and DEA-Solver Software , 1999 .

[13]  Mohamed M. Mostafa,et al.  Modeling the efficiency of top Arab banks: A DEA-neural network approach , 2009, Expert Syst. Appl..

[14]  S. Rafiee,et al.  Optimization of energy consumption and input costs for apple production in Iran using data envelopment analysis , 2011 .

[15]  G. Guzmán,et al.  A comparison of energy use in conventional and organic olive oil production in Spain , 2008 .

[16]  Olaf Christen,et al.  Effects of nitrogen source and rate on productivity and quality of winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) grown in different crop rotations , 2005 .

[17]  K. Esengün,et al.  Input–output energy analysis in dry apricot production of Turkey , 2007 .

[18]  Ibrahim Akinci,et al.  ENERGY USE PATTERN OF SOME FIELD CROPS AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTION: CASE STUDY FOR ANTALYA REGION, TURKEY , 2005 .

[19]  Mahmoud Omid,et al.  Energy use patterns and econometric models of major greenhouse vegetable productions in Iran , 2011 .

[20]  A. U.S.,et al.  Measuring the efficiency of decision making units , 2003 .

[21]  Shakhnoza S. Azimova,et al.  Brassica napus L. , 2012 .

[22]  T. Alemdar,et al.  Technical Efficiency Analysis of Tobacco Farming in Southeastern Anatolia , 2006 .

[23]  Shahin Rafiee,et al.  Energy flow modeling and sensitivity analysis of inputs for canola production in Iran , 2011 .

[24]  Theocharis Tsoutsos,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment for biodiesel production under Greek climate conditions , 2010 .

[25]  Shahin Rafiee,et al.  ENERGY CONSUMPTION FLOW AND ECONOMETRIC MODELS OF TWO PLUM CULTIVARS PRODUCTIONS IN TEHRAN PROVINCE OF IRAN , 2012 .