ISHS Acta Horticulturae 747: VIII International Symposium on Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates: Advances in Soil and Soilless Cultivation under Protected Environment
ENERGY BALANCE OF INTENSIVE VEGETABLE CROPPING SYSTEMS IN CENTRAL ITALY |
| Authors: | E. Campiglia, G. Colla, R. Mancinelli, Y. Rouphael, A. Marucci |
| Keywords: | energy input, energy output, greenhouse, vegetables |
| Abstract:
Energy balance is usually used to evaluate the efficiency and environmental impacts of cropping systems, few reports have investigated on energy input and output in greenhouse vegetable crop production which is a very energy-intensive system to produce food. For this purpose, the production data of five greenhouse crops (tomato, lettuce, melon, parsley and zucchini) were collected in 60 greenhouse farms by questionnaire in 2003 and 2004. The results indicated that melon was the most energy intensive crop of the vegetables investigated, followed by tomato, zucchini, parsley and lettuce. The output-input energy ratio for greenhouse tomato, lettuce, melon, parsley and zucchini were estimated to be 0.55, 0.38, 0.46, 0.25 and 0.23, respectively. There were huge differences among the crops investigated, and the crop sequences in terms of energy consumed, produced and output-input energy ratio. The highest energy requirements were found among the operational inputs for seedbed preparation and irrigation while among the energy sources inputs for fertilizer and fuel. Therefore, there is a need to force greenhouse growers to undertake energy efficient practices to increase the sustainability of the greenhouse vegetable production systems. | |
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