حسن قاسمی مبتکر

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in energy consumption and environmental indicators in the production of crops, including sugarcane, wheat, canola and sunflower during the years 2018 to 2022. Relevant information was collected through statistics recorded in planning management of Imam Khomeini Sugarcane Agro-Industrial Company in Khuzestan province. Using these statistics and sources, the production situation of agriculture and industry products was investigated. Based on the obtained results, in sugarcane fields, energy consumption in the years 2018 to 2022 was calculated as 131.05, 142.47, 152.16, 155.45 and 161.71 GJ ha-1 respectively. Also, energy consumption was equal to 30.49, 32.70, 35.10, 36.52, and 38.02 GJ ha-1 in wheat fields in the considered period. On the other hand, for the production of canola in the years 2018 to 2022, it varied and was equal to 19.44, 20.81, 22.68, 23.83 and 24.86 GJ ha-1 respectively. Also, in sunflower fields in the same period of time, it was estimated as 44.19, 82.14, 61.15, 20.16 and 76.16 GJ ha-1 respectively. The results of environmental effects showed that the highest amount of pollution caused by the effect of resources in sugarcane production is in the mentioned years of 12.08, 12.64, 12.91, 12.40 and 12.47 USD2013. Also, in wheat production this index increased from 61.96 to 68.23, in canola production increased from 79.86 to 85.51, and finally, in sunflower production increased from 61.82 to 65.73. Based on the ranking of the by-products, sunflower, wheat and canola are prioritized for cultivation from the first to the third place respectively. Optimal use of electricity inputs, diesel fuel and chemical fertilizers can help reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution. In order to reduce energy consumption in the production of agricultural and industrial products, it is recommended to use renewable energy sources such as electricity produced from solar sources by photovoltaic systems.

In conditions where don't have enough water for irrigation, intercropping of forage plants is one of the ways to achieve sustainable agriculture. Biochemical and physical properties of soil tillage system can affect the yield of plants in intercropping. Therefore, with the aim of investigating the forage yield and competitive indices of intercropping, this experiment was performed in the cropping seasons of 2020-2021. Treatments included conventional, minimum, and no tillage system. Intercropping patterns also included monoculture of forage sorghum and maize, alternate row cultivation maize and forage sorghum and alternate cultivation on planting rows. The results showed that the highest plant height (295 cm) and leaf area (6.88) was obtained in intercropping and conventional tillage. The highest forage yield was also observed in sorghum monoculture. However, the land equivalent ratio of mix intercropping with 1.17 showed the superiority of intercropping over monoculture. Evaluation of competitive indicators such as dominance index, relative crowding coefficient, and competitive ratio showed that forage maize is the predominant plant in intercropping conditions. The system productivity index with 8.11 showed that intermediate cultivation on planting rows was superior to other treatments in conventional tillage conditions. The results showed that in conventional tillage and intercropping conditions, acceptable yield was obtained; this advantage can increase water efficiency and use of sorghum in intercropping.

Mechanization is one of the transition ways from traditional agriculture to sustainable agriculture. Facing with limited resources in production and inputs on the one hand and increasing rate of population growth on the other hand demonstrate position and the importance of mechanization in the development of food security in the country more than ever. because seed, fertilizer, poison, and even soil and water inputs can be managed with its help, and sustainable production can also be achieved. multi-criteria decision making techniques were discussed to rank these parameters. The parameters were ranked by three common methods including simple additive weighting (SAW), TOPSIS and ELECTER. The results of the ranking were different in the three methods, which were integrated with the triple integration, and a uniform ranking was obtained for the parameters. After the triple merger, small and scattered agriculture holdings, worn out of agriculture machinery and the lack of a coherent and codified operational plan were in the first rank. Subsequently, lack of technical skills of the farmer, variability of raw material prices, lack of on-site repair, employment and unemployment problems, lack of best mechanization, lack of control and production of agricultural inputs, poor quality agricultural machinery produced internally and Lack of communication between agricultural machinery users and owners of these industries ranks second to ninth. Finally, according to the concordance of the results of TOPSIS method and the results of triple integration, TOPSIS method was approved as a suitable method for ranking.

In recent years, due to the limitation of water resources, the use of pressured irrigation methods has received much attention. Although the use of pressurized irrigation systems increases the water productivity, these systems have received less attention in terms of energy use and environmental aspects. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the energy and environmental indicators of almond orchards under surface and pressured irrigation methods in Shahr-e Kord and Saman region of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. The required data, including information about inputs and energy consumed in almond orchards, were collected using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. No significant difference was observed regarding the performance of almond production in the two mentioned irrigation systems. Examining the results of water consumption in two systems showed that the pressured irrigation system consumes about 82% less water than the surface irrigation system, while the energy consumption in this system was about 12% more than the surface irrigation system. Energy ratio of almond production in surface irrigation systems was computed as 2.40, while the corresponding value in pressured system was 2.07. In other words, surface irrigation had better conditions in terms of energy indicators. The investigation of the environmental indicators of two irrigation systems showed that the use of the pressured irrigation system reduces the environmental damage

Since the beginning of the 21st century, about 80% of the world's energy is supplied by fossil fuels. The problems caused by the environmental pollutants resulting from the consumption of fossil fuels and the reduction of fossil fuel reserves have drawn a lot of attention to renewable energy sources and other low-carbon and cheap energy sources for electricity generation. For this reason, in this article, Shiraz biogas power plant has been investigated. In this study, in order to investigate the economic and environmental aspects of the Shiraz waste incinerator biogas plant, reverse-forward logistics was used by GAMS software, where the products from the lower levels of the supply chain are returned to the higher levels and due to cost reduction Increasing profits, increasing customer satisfaction and complying with environmental laws are very important. The results showed that the theoretical methane produced from the digestion process is 27.35% and the high and low calorific value of biogas is 22.32 and 20.11 megajoules per cubic meter, respectively. For 18 generators with an input mass flow rate of each generator of 888.57 kg per day and a residence time of 9.57 days, the biogas produced will be 3949.326 cubic meters per day, the power obtained assuming high power and low calorific value of the fuel in The power plant will be 357/09 and 321/809 kW. The results of the examination of the economic and environmental function showed that as the amount of the economic objective function increases, the profit of the chain increases,

As one of the most important food producers, the agricultural industry consumes a lot of energy to produce various products. Also, agriculture is the largest supplier of energy in the form of biological energy. This study was conducted in Khuzestan province with the aim of investigating the energy indicators of okra and the contribution of different inputs to the total energy in monoculture, intercropping (okra+cucumber) and agroforestry (okra+date palm) systems. The simple random sampling method was used to determine the survey volume and calculated sample size in this study was found to be 139. The data used in the study were collected from okra farms using a face-to-face questionnaire. The inputs and outputs were calculated per hectare and then, these input and output data were multiplied by the coefficient of energy equivalent. Following the calculation of energy input and output values, the energy ratio, energy productivity and net energy were determined. The results indicated that averages of energy inputs in monoculture, intercropping and agroforestry systems of okra were 78763.77, 81269.27 and 52502.42 respectively, while the energy output in these systems was 17575, 37380 and 113715 MJ ha-1, respectively. The energy ratio in monoculture, intercropping and agroforestry systems were calculated as 0.223, 0.460 and 2.166 respectively. The energy productivity in intercropping system was calculated as 0.470 kg MJ-1, which was about 302% and 64% more than monoculture and agroforestry, respectively. This issue is due to the higher yield of this cultivation system compared to other investigated systems.

Intercropping is one of the ways to achieve sustainability in agriculture. However, studying its economic and competitive indicators is critical to optimizing production. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the status and amount of consumption inputs in monoculture and intercropping systems in Khuzestan province. The required information was collected through a questionnaire and a field survey of 111 farmers. The results showed that intercropping with a land equivalent ratio of 1.40, gross and net production value of 7269.23 and 4090.19 dollars per hectare, and superiority in benefit-cost ratio, system productivity, and economic efficiency has a higher yield than okra monoculture. Also, the total cost of intercropping with 3179.04 dollars per hectare and input energy with 81269.27 megajoule per hectare were 23.20 and 3.18 % higher than monoculture, respectively. According to the results of this study, intercropping of okra and cucumber with superiority in economic and competitive indicators can be the optimal cultivation pattern of okra in Khuzestan province. However, it is necessary to optimize the intercropping input to reduce the total cost and input energy.

The agricultural industry produces about 10-12% of the world's greenhouse gases. studying the energy use in agriculture systems can be effective in optimizing energy consumption and reducing environmental pollution. This study was performed to evaluate the environmental indicators of okra production by the ReCiPe 2016 method in Monoculture, intercropping with cucumber and date palm agroforestry systems in Khuzestan province. This research was carried out in the cropping seasons 2020-2021. The system boundary of the research is from planting to harvesting okra in its cultivation systems. Collected information included all inputs used such as fertilizers, pesticides, Agricultural machinery, human labor, and fuel consumption. The studied method is ReCiPe 2016 environmental indicators. This method includes the end point of damage to human health, ecosystems, and resources, as well as midpoint indicators such as global warming and ozone depletion. The results showed that intercropping of okra and cucumber has higher environmental destructive effects due to the use of higher chemical and plastic inputs than monoculture and agroforestry (17.15 and 79.10 respectively). Nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate, and fuel consumption along with plastic are the most effective inputs in environmental indicators. Eco-efficiency index also showed that okra and date agroforestry have a significant advantage over monoculture and intercropping. Therefore, considering the higher performance of intercropping system compared to monoculture, it is recommended to optimize its high-use inputs. Also in areas of Khuzestan province where there is a possibility of agroforestry, this type of cultivation is recommended due to its lower environmental pollution.

Today, the increase in food demand has led to an increase in energy use, which has some environmental consequences such as air pollution and global warming. Irrigation is one of the energy-intensive operations in agriculture, which consumes great part of energy inputs and has harmful environmental effects. Applications of modern methods of irrigation in agriculture can be considered from different aspects. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the energy and environmental indicators of walnut orchards under surface and pressured irrigation methods. The required data, including information about inputs and energy consumed in walnut orchards, were collected using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews in Shahr-e Kord and Saman region of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. The collected data belonged to the production period of 2021–2022. The averages of total energy consumed for walnuts production in pressured and surface irrigation systems were 29573.53 and 25058.46 MJ ha−1, respectively. This shows that despite less water consumption in the pressured irrigation system, the total energy input in this irrigation system is more than the surface irrigation system. No significant difference was observed regarding the performance of walnut in the two mentioned irrigation systems. The inputs energy consumption in the walnut production with the pressurized irrigation system were highest for plastic and farmyard manure (about 32% and 15%, respectively); while in surface irrigation system, the share of nitrogen fertilizer and farmyard manure were highest (about 30% and 25%, respectively). Energy ratio of walnut production in surface irrigation systems was computed as 3.58, while the corresponding value in pressured system was 2.77. In other words, surface irrigation had better conditions in terms of energy indicators. The LCA results of walnut production showed that in the two irrigation systems, the greatest effects in human health and the ecosystems are from on-farm emissions. In general, the investigation of the environmental indicators of walnut production in the two irrigation systems showed that the use of the pressured irrigation system reduces the environmental damage.

The aim of this study was to investigate the amount of sugarcane losses during harvesting at the Imam Khomeini Sugarcane Agro-Industrial Company located in the Shoaibiyeh region.  Analytical hierarchy process was used to prioritize the factors affecting the level of losses. The statistical results obtained from measuring the losses showed a direct relationship between the age of the farm and the amount of sugarcane losses during harvesting. This relationship was examined with an accuracy of one percent. Additionally, using the recorded information, four effective criteria along with 23 sub-criteria were considered. Questionnaires based on pairwise comparisons were prepared and completed by agriculture and industry officials to determine the weights of the criteria and sub-criteria. Based on the obtained weights of the criteria, the lack of skilled and expert human resources (operator skills) (0.426), improper farm management (0.368), improper crop harvesting management (0.229), and the lack of adjustment of harvesting machines and improper technical management (0.076) were ranked in order. Improper control and management of the sugarcane transportation basket (0.194), insufficient training for operators (0.176), and the lack of placement of the product (plant deployment) on the cultivation surface (0.148) were the three most important sub-criteria based on their highest weights. After calculating the amount of sugarcane losses, the revenue obtained from the losses was estimated. This was calculated for all the farms studied in this research, and the economic results showed that the average income obtained from sugarcane losses was equivalent to 123.70 $ ha-1.

The purpose of this study is to introduce the most important challenges in advancing agricultural development in Guilan province. For this purpose, hierarchical analysis process was used to identify and rank the challenges of the agricultural sector of Guilan province. In this regard, six effective criteria along with 21 sub-criteria were considered. To determine the weight of criteria and sub-criteria, questionnaires based on pairwise comparisons were prepared and experts from Ministry of Agriculture Jihad of Guilan province were questioned to complete the questionnaires and the Expert Choice software was used to perform the calculations. According to the results, criteria of managerial challenges (0.368), fragmentation of land (0.229), lack of conversion and complementary industries and specialized and skilled human labor (0.155), resource limitation and land use change (0.126), low level of mechanization in the agricultural sector (0.076) and single crop cultivation and uncontrolled import of agricultural products (0.047) were ranked, respectively. Also inadequate use of inadequate resources and investments (0.157), failure to use supportive and credit policies (0.121) and non-payment of subsidies as a percentage of premiums to all insurers equally and irresponsible view of government and insurers on agricultural insurance (0.085), are three important sub-criteria with respect to the maximum weight obtained.

To rank the factors affecting waste in the citrus production cycle in three northern provinces include, Guilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan, first of all using the literature review and consulting with experts in four stages: cultivation, harvesting, post-harvest, and the market as the main criteria and 17 effective factors (4 sub-criteria in cultivation, four sub-criteria inharvesting, five sub-criteria in post-harvesting, four sub-criteria in market) as sub-criteria were identified. The questionnaires were designed as pairwise comparisons and by targeted sampling method completed by face-to-face interviews with 10 experts. Data were analyzed using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results showed that among the main criteria, the most effective stage in the citrus losses was the stage of cultivation by weight of 0.542. After that, from the expert's point of view, the post-harvest stage by weight of 0.284, the harvest stage by weight of 0.129, and the market stage by 0.045 are in the next rank. In comparing and ranking the sub-criteria, the indicator of "Lack of timely and correct control of pests and diseases" by weight of 0.320 was identified as the most important factor in citrus losses. Afterward, the indicators of "lack of frost control" (0.156) in the second place, "Inappropriate stockrooms and cold storage" (0.134) in the third place, "Harvesting at the wrong time" (0.075) in the fourth place, and "Lack of suitable control of post-harvest diseases" (0.064) in the fifth-place, were ranked in importance respectively.

Surveying of energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and their modeling using artificial intelligence methods in peanut production of Astaneh-Ashrafiyeh county of Guilan province were investigated in this research. The data used in the study were collected using a face-to-face questionnaire in 2019 production period. Results showed the total inputs energy and output energy were 19248 and 87210 MJ ha-1 with energy use efficiency as 4.53, respectively and the highest consumption of inputs was belonged to chemical fertilizers with 45%. Also, in production process, about 571 kgCO2eq. ha-1 was emitted that fuel with 57% had the highest share of emissions. The modeling results showed that in comparison with the results of artificial neural network, the performance of the ANFIS model is better in predicting the output energy and greenhouse gas emissions of peanut production.

In order to evaluate the selection of the best method for rice cultivation from among different methods including: manual weeding, chemical control and mechanical weeding, questionnaires were distributed among farmers and experts of Sowme'eh Sara city in Guilan province. A quantitative and qualitative integration approach was used to analyze the data, and the characteristics were weighed using the entropy method. The comfort of the labor, the amount of environmental pollution, the number of labors needed and the cost have the highest weights, which indicates the importance of these cases for farmers and experts. Multi-indicator methods have a variety of methods at different stages of decision making. In these methods, several options are compared based on several different criteria, and finally the best option or sequence of appropriate options is selected. Using the TOPSIS method, ranking was performed between different weeding methods. The results showed that the highest degree of impact is related to the mechanical weeder with 0.7221, followed by chemical control and manual weeding with importance degree of 0.5019 and 0.3730, respectively. Efforts and support from officials in management, providing skills training, proper culture, and budget allocation for farmers are effective and effective solutions.

In order to investigate the mechanization development status, in this study, four wheat, barley, rice and forage maize crops in Ahvaz city were evaluated with two quantitative (degree and capacity of mechanization) and qualitative (income and labor desirability) indices. The data were collected through questionnaires and interviews, also statistics and recorded information. Four parameters were calculated and estimated in four products and finally the results were summarized and presented using fuzzy logic. The results showed that the average degree of mechanization of different operations (total mechanization degree) for wheat, barley, rice and forage maize products in the study area was 93, 92.5, 73.5 and 95%, respectively. The mechanization capacity in this order was 988/22, 944/72, 806/6 and 1136/936 hp.h/ha, the results were calculated as 62, 43, 57 and 54% for income desirability and 73, 69, 59 and 47% for labor desirability, respectively. The final de-fuzzy output obtained from the summation of four indicators using fuzzy logic showed that among the studied crops, wheat with 52.3% had the highest amount, followed by rice with 46.6%, barley with 42.2% and forage maize with 40.3% had the lowest amount.  In general, according to the results of the index defined for the study of mechanization development, the study area is almost in a moderate position in the four products under study.

Efficient use of energy inputs in crop production is an important goal in sustainable agriculture. The purpose of this study was to investigate energy consumption in two irrigation systems (flood and sprinkler irrigation system) for agricultural production including wheat, barley and alfalfa. Required information including total inputs, machinery and human labor, were collected from a 100 hectare farm placed in central region of Hamadan province. The data belonged to the 2017-218 production period. The results revealed that the energy ratio in the sprinkler irrigation system was higher than flood irrigation system for all crops. The results also showed that use of sprinkler irrigation system led to decrease water consumption in all investigated crops. The inputs investigation indicated that electricity input (about 60%) in flood irrigation system and diesel fuel and electricity inputs (about 40 & 33%) in sprinkler irrigation system have the highest energy consumption. The energy forms results showed that crops production depends mainly on non-renewable energy resources (electricity, diesel fuel and chemical fertilizers) in the studied field. According to the results, it was found that although the use of sprinkler irrigation systems increases water productivity, it also increases energy consumption in crop production.

In this research, modeling of energy consumption and environmental emissions for different process of tea production in Gilan province (Iran) were investigated using regression and artificial neural networks. Data related to agricultural and industrial activities of tea production chain were collected through questionnaire survey from tea farms of different counties in Guilan province. Also, the datatbank of agricultural organization, tea research institute and tea factories were collected. The results showed that the total energy input and output for green tea leaf production were 34343.51 and 10996.45 MJ/ha, respectively. Also, the total energy input for dry tea was obtained 64885.23 MJ/ton. The results of the life cycle assessment in tea farms revealed that the highest effect belonged to nitrogen in abiotic depletion, dcidification, eutrophication and global warming potential impacts. The survey of life cycle assessment in the tea processing factories illustrated that diesel fuel had the highest share in abiotic depletion, ozone layer depletion, human toxicity, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity and photochemical oxidation impact categories. In acidification, eutrophication, global warming potential impacts, green leaf input had the highest share. Moreover, the highest share of marine aquatic ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity was belonged to coated paper. The results of energy and environmental emissions modeling for green tea leaf production showed that artificial neural networks can predict the outputs and inputs with more accuracy than regression technique.

Greenhouse is a structure which provides the best condition for the maximum plants growth during the cold seasons. In cold climate zones such as Tabriz province, Iran, the greenhouse heating is one of the most energy consumers. It has been estimated that the greenhouse heating cost is attributed up to 30% of the total operational costs of the greenhouses. Renewable energy resources are clean alternatives that can be used in greenhouse heating. Among the renewable energy resources, solar energy has the highest potential around the world. In this regard, application of solar energy in greenhouse heating during the cold months of a year could be considerable. The rate of thermal energy required inside the greenhouse depends on the solar radiation received inside the greenhouse. Using a north brick wall in an east-west oriented greenhouse can increase the absorption of solar radiation and consequently reduces the thermal and radiation losses. Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of implementing of a north wall on the solar radiation absorption and energy consumption of an east-west oriented single span greenhouse in Tabriz.
This study was carried out in Tabriz and a steady state analysis was used to predict the energy consumption of a single span greenhouse. For this purpose, thermal energy balance equations for different components of the greenhouse including the soil layer, internal air and plants were presented. For investigating the effect of the north wall on the energy consumption, the Ft and Fn parameters were used to calculate the radiation loss from the walls of the greenhouses. These factors were determined using a 3D–shadow analysis by Auto–CAD software. An east-west oriented single span greenhouse which has a north brick wall and is covered with a single glass sheet with 4 mm thickness was applied to validate the developed models. The measurements were carried out on a sunny winter day (November 30, 2015). The hourly variations of solar radiation on a horizontal surface were measured to calculate the total solar radiation received by the greenhouse using the Liu and Jordan equations. For heating of a greenhouse in nighttime, an electrical heater was used while an additional required energy was measured using a single phase meters. The inside and ambient temperatures of the air were recorded using SHT11 temperature sensors. A computer-based program of EES (engineering equations solver) was developed to solve the energy balance equations. Different statistical indicators were used to predict the accuracy of the presented models.
The obtained results showed that in winter months the greenhouse without the north brick wall can receive 14% more solar radiation than the greenhouse with a north brick wall. On the other hand, the use of a north wall in the greenhouses can reduce the radiation and thermal loss from north wall. To maintain the temperature at 25 °C in day-time and 15 °C in night-time, the additional required energy was calculated for greenhouse with and without north brick wall. The results indicated that the total energy requirement to keep the plants warm was 313.8 MJ in greenhouse without north brick wall and 210.8 MJ in greenhouse with the north brick wall. In other word, use of the north brick wall in the greenhouse can contribute to reduce energy consumption by 32%. Comparisons between the predicted and measured results showed a fair agreement for greenhouse energy requirements. The correlation coefficient and mean percentage error for this model were determined to be 0.79 and -2.34%, respectively. Due to the small values, the radiative exchange within greenhouse cover and the sky was neglected. Therefore, the results of the presented model showed fewer values in comparison with the experimental results. It can be concluded from the final results that a considerable amount of the incident radiation has been lost to the ambient by convection from the cover of the greenhouse (glass walls and north walls).
In the present study, the effect of north brick wall on solar radiation absorption and energy consumption of a single span greenhouse located in Tabriz was investigated. Results showed that use of north brick wall in an east-west oriented single span greenhouse leads to a reduction of 14% in solar radiation absorbed by the greenhouse. The results indicated that use of the north brick wall in the greenhouse can decrease energy consumption by 32%. There was a fair agreement between the experimental and theoretical results with the calculated correlation coefficient and mean percentage error of 0.79 and -2.34%, respectively.

One of the best ways to provide optimum conditions to the crop is the development of accurate greenhouse models for inside environment control. In this study a mathematical model was developed for computing transmitted total solar radiation (beam, diffused and ground reflected), for the single span greenhouse, without crops, was performed in Tabriz University. Also a dynamic model was developed to predict the all internal temperatures of the greenhouse including greenhouse inside air, soil surface and north wall temperature. The input parameters of the model were the measured meteorological conditions and the thermo-physical properties of the greenhouse components. Results showed that soil surface heat exchange has a positive contribution to the internal air temperature. Comparisons between the predicted and measured results showed close agreement for greenhouse air temperature. The correlation coefficient and mean percentage error for this model were calculated as 0.99 and -3.62%, respectively. Results also showed a considerable amount of the incident radiation was lost to outside the greenhouse by convection and radiation.

In order to investigation on effect of different tillage methods on Wheat yield and soil physical and chemical properties in wheat - fallow rotation, This experiment is conducting by Randomized Completed Block Design with 4 replications and 5 treatments in Station of Ghamloo (Kurdistan) in 2 phases for 3 years since 2004. The tillage treatments were: Chisel plow in fall 댇 in spring (A1); Non moldboard plow sweep in spring (A2); No tillage in fall Herbicide in spring (A3); No tillage in fall sweep in spring (A4); Check (Moldboard plow in spring) (A5). In all of treatments, variety of Azar 2 with grain drill was planted equally. The results of combined variance analysis revealed that the wheat yield and components in different years were different in order to difference in rate and distribution of precipitation and cold rate of weather in different years. The product yield in the first year (1963 kg ha-1) was the highest. Effect of tillage treatments on wheat quantity and quality and also yield components was significant, So that, the highest amounts of almost measured factors, obtained from treatment (A3).

Solar energy is the most important source of renewable energies. Using solar energy in greenhouse heating during the cold season could be of great importance. In this study, six most commonly used shapes of greenhouses including: even span, uneven span, vinery, single span, arch and quonset types were selected for comparison from received solar radiation point of view for Tabriz city climate condition. These greenhouses were investigated for both east–west and north–south orientations, built all in the same dimensions. Results showed that the single span greenhouse received the maximum and quonset one received the minimum solar radiation. The single span greenhouse in east–west orientation received more radiation as compared to other greenhouses during the winter months. In summer months north–south orientation of an arch shape greenhouse received the most solar radiation. The single span greenhouse in east–west orientation appeared to be the best year-round greenhouse productions in Tabriz region. This shape received 8% more radiation as compared to an average amount of a normal greenhouse and can be used for crop production in winter. Results also showed that in the single span greenhouse oriented in east–west direction, about 60% of the incoming radiation was intercepted by the southern faced greenhouse roof.

Determining the consumption patterns and presenting a model for that, apart from finding the amount of inputs and subsequently the energy consumption, provides the grounds for optimizing it, which would be dealt with in this study.The results revealed that total energy input and yield of garlic was 36616.78 MJ ha−1 and 14636.53 kg ha−1, respectively. Different functions between output and input energyies were fitted using regression analysis and curve estimation. Using Cobb-Douglas production function and with consider to statistical significance and expected signs of parameters the relationship between inputs and output energy was detemined. The results of econometric model estimation revealed that the regression coefficients of human labor, farmyard manure and seed energies were all statistically significant at 1% level. Durbin–Watson values were calculated as 2.138 indicating that there is no autocorrelation at the 1% significance level in the estimated model. The R2 value for this model was as 0.99.

Efficient energy use in agriculture sector is one of the prerequisites to sustainable agriculture, because it allows financial savings, fossil resources preservation along with decreasing trend of air pollution. This research was conducted at the Agricultural Research Field of Zanjan University to determine the level of input energy in different tillage systems in forage maize production when in rotation with canola and to investigate the impact of different tillage systems on growth indices. The study was planned as a split-block design with three tillage systems as main plots and three cultivation systems as sub plots and in four replications. The tillage treatments were: moldboard plow+disk (A1); cyclo-tiller (A2); and minimum-till (A3) the cultivation treatments being: cultivator with furrower (B1); cultivator without furrower with the tendency of the cutting share towards inside (B2); cultivator without furrower with the tendency of the cutting share towards outside (B3). For a comparison of energy consumption, the variabls of: forward speed, tillage time and fuel consumption for each plot were calculated. All the three methods of tillage were carried out at same soil moisture level and crop residues conditions. The energy consumption in the three treatments were recorded as 1990.6, 1157.2 and 558.7 MJ ha-1 respectively showing significant differences, in terms of energy consumption, among the main treatments. Also the interaction of tillage and cultivation was significant at a 5% probability level. Finally, according to the obtained results, minimum-till method is suggested 10 to be employed in the study area.