Assessing the technical efficiency of energy use in different barberry production systems

The main objectives of this study were to analyze the technical and scale efficiencies of farmers and to identify the wasteful uses of energy in different farm sizes of barberry production in Iran. For these purposes the data envelopment analysis approach was applied to the data of energy use for barberry production in individual farms. The results indicated that total energy input and yield value of small farms were higher than those of large farms. Also, energy resources are used more efficiently in small farms; technical efficiency of farmers in small and large farms was calculated as 0.66 and 0.50, respectively; also, scale efficiency was 0.82 and 0.62 for the respective farms. Total energy input in small and large farms could be reduced by 13.2% and 15.2%, respectively; accordingly, total energy requirement in target conditions was calculated as 20,702.4 and 13,761.2 MJ ha−1. The highest potential improvement was derived from diesel fuel, followed by electricity and biocides. Improving energy use efficiency of water pumping systems, improving timing, amount and reliability of water application, employing the conservation tillage methods and applying integrated pest management technique are suggested for improving energy use efficiency and reducing the environmental footprints of barberry production.