Energy consumption efficiency for corn production utilizing data envelopment analysis (DEA) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) techniques

The present study was carried out to assess corn production efficiency with regard to energy consumption in three regions of Fars province, Iran. For this purpose, the data were collected from 287 corn growing farmers using completely randomized design. Efficiency evaluation was done using data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique via using CCR, BCC and SBM models. The results indicated that total input energy for corn production was 41631.97, 44730.15 and 38866.64 MJ/ha with the weighted average yield of 7357.18, 7227.30 and 7582.47 kg/ha in region 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The main three energy consumers were electricity, fertilizer and diesel fuel by about 90% in all regions. The efficiency evaluation disclosed that the number of technical efficient farmers was more in region 3 by 35.16% using CCR model. For determining the best region for corn production considering all efficiencies, analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was used. AHP was applied in two ways, different and equal weighted efficiencies. In both the ways, region 3 was the best place for corn production considering energy consumption efficiency.