Economic Analysis of Energy Consumption in Lahijan City Tea Production Farms

Modern agriculture more than ever is dependent on energy, especially fossil fuels. Considering the importance of agricultural products in Iran, the present study aims to investigate the energy consumption and energy indices during the tea production in Lahijan County. Required data were collected through questionnaire. Results show that the average input energy and output energy is 11755. 8 Mj. ha-1 and 6064. 87 Mj. ha-1 for the tea product in the said region, respectively. The average energy efficiency, energy productivity, specific energy and added energy related to tea production were calculated as 0. 86, 1. 079, 1. 81 and 5711, respectively. In addition, the comparison of the effect of renewable and non-renewable energy sources show that the energy effect of non-renewable energies on yield is more than the energy effect of renewable inputs. We have also demonstrated that the energy efficiency in the tea farms under the study is low, implying that for these farms the increase in inputs has exceeded the yield increase. Therefore, it causes a reduction in energy consumption efficiency in intended farms.