Evaluation of the sustainability of wheat production systems in the Sistan using emergy analysis

This study was conducted using the emergy analysis approach in wheat production systems in order to plan and manage the major challenges facing the Sistan region's wheat production. All inputs for wheat production, the most important crop in the region, were assessed in this study. These inputs include renewable inputs, such as sunlight, wind, and rain; nonrenewable inputs, such as soil erosion; and purchased inputs and services, such as machinery, fossil fuels, electricity, labor, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and chemical fertilizers. According to the results of the study, the total emergy production of wheat was 1.061016 sej ha-1. The irrigation water consumed the most energy at 28.96%, followed by nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers at 20.75 and 16.5%, respectively. The emergy yield ratio index was 1.41, the emergy investment ratio index was 2.4, the environmental loading ratio was 2.41, and the emergy sustainability index was 0.585, which indicates the average sustainability and environmental load of this system relative to other researchers' reports. By increasing input efficiency by optimizing the consumption of irrigation water, nitrogen fertilizer, and phosphorus fertilizer, this production system can be made more sustainable and less taxing on the environment.