Energy and economic assessment of prune production in Tehran province of Iran

This study examines energy use patterns and the relationship between energy inputs and yield for prune production in the Tehran province of Iran. In this study, data were collected by administering a questionnaire in face-to-face interviews. This article presents a comprehensive picture of the current status of energy consumption and some energy indices such as energy ratio, energy productivity, specific energy, net energy and energy intensiveness. Also the distribution of total energy input as direct, indirect, renewable and non-renewable forms was analyzed. The Cobb-Douglas production function was used to estimate an econometric model for energy inputs, and the marginal physical productivity technique was applied to analyze the sensitivity of energy inputs. Economic analysis of prune production was carried out, and some economic indicators such as total cost of production, total production value, gross return, net return, benefit-to-cost ratio and productivity were computed. This study suggests some ways to improve energy efficiency such as changing irrigation method, applying conservation agriculture and optimization of energy use. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.