Energy Assessment of Rice Under Conventional and Drip Irrigation Systems

Conventionally rice being irrigated under ponding conditions either by storing rain water or by pumping water or both by utilizing lot of electric/diesel energy especially when pumping is carried out. This paper examines the energy consumption of rice crop with different crop geometry by varying plant-to-plant and row-to-row spacing (25 × 25 cm) and irrigation practices by adopting drip irrigation in changed geometry. The data on energy required in cultivation of rice crop both in conventional practice were collected from primary data (number of laborers required, number of hours of operation of pumping system, number of weeding operations, etc.) and from secondary sources data (such as conversion of input data such as human labor, seed energy, fertilizer energy, etc.). The crop was cultivated during kharif season, by adopting drip irrigation as and when required. The total energy used in various farm operations during rice production was 95,117 MJ/ha in conventional practice, 78,678 MJ/ha in System of Rice Intensification practice (SRI) practices, and 54,877 MJ/ha in System of Rice Intensification practice (SRI) with drip practice. Average annual grain yield of rice in conventional practice were found as 3140, 4050 kg/ha in SRI and 7060 kg/ha SRI with drip. Calculated total energy outputs were 106,898 MJ/ha for conventional, 115,885 MJ/ha for System of Rice Intensification practice (SRI) and 165,155 MJ/ha for System of Rice Intensification practice (SRI) with drip irrigation. The highest average energy productivity was 0.128 kg/MJ for rice under SRI with drip, indicating more production per unit of energy consumed in rice production.