Energy Use Efficiency of Onion and Tomato Production in the Gezira Scheme

Abdelkarim  D. Elfadil; Mohamed Abdulnasir Mohamed; Osama  A. Moheldin

doi:10.52981/fajas.v6i1.2766

Abdelkarim D. Elfadil Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Science, University of Gezira, Sudan.
Mohamed Abdulnasir Mohamed Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Science, University of Gezira, Sudan.
Osama A. Moheldin Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Science, University of Gezira, Sudan.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52981/fajas.v6i1.2766

Keywords: Onion, tomato, energy, efficiency

Abstract

This research was conducted in the Gezira Scheme to evaluate the energy use efficiency in onion and tomato production. Energy management is an important issue in terms of efficient, sustainable and economic use of energy. Results indicated that total energy inputs for onion and tomato production were 47134.8 and 59068.60 MJ/ha, respectively. More than 69% of the energy input was generated by fertilizers for the two crops. Water constitutes 20.61% and 24.66% of the input energy and water productivity were 1.10 and 2.14 kg/m³for onion and tomato respectively. About 73.78 and 73.19% of the total energy inputs used in onion and tomato production was indirect energy and 26.22 and 26.81% was direct. 95.94 % and 98.65% were nonrenewable energy while 4.06% and 1.35% were renewable energy for onion and tomato respectively, indicating that these crops highly dependent on nonrenewable energy which may not be sustainable in the long run. The ratios of energy outputs to energy inputs were found to be 0.18 and 0.41, energy productivity were 0.22 and 0.52 kg/MJ and the specific energy were 4.5 and 1.93 MJ/kg for onion and tomato, respectively.