Energy Consumption, Input–Output Relationship and Cost Analysis for Greenhouse Productions in Esfahan Province of Iran

The objectives of this study were to determine the energy consumption and evaluation of inputs sensitivity for greenhouse vegetable production in the Esfahan province of Iran. Data were collected from 60 farmers using a face–to–face questionnaire method. The majority of farmers in the surveyed region were growing cucumber and tomato. The results revealed that cucumber production was the most energy intensive rather than tomato production. Cucumber production consumed a total of 124.44 G J ha–1 followed by tomato with 116.76 G J ha–1. The energy ratio (energy use efficiency) for greenhouse tomato and cucumber were estimated to be 0.92 and 0.56 respectively. This indicated an intensive use of inputs in greenhouse vegetable production not accompanied by increase in the final product. Econometric model evaluation showed the impact of human power for both tomato and cucumber production was significant at 1% levels and had the highest impact among the other inputs in greenhouse tomato and cucumber production. Economic analysis indicated that the total costs of production for one hectare of tomato and cucumber production were around 34939 and 31956$, respectively. Accordingly, the benefit–cost ratio for these productions was 2.74 and 1.79, respectively. The total amounts of CO2 for tomato and cucumber production were calculated as 4.622 and 4.930 tons ha–1 respectively, which indicated the high CO2 output in both cultivations. The use of diesel fuel and pesticide is in excess for tomato and cucumber production, causing an environmental risk problem in the region.