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Abstract
Although agriculture uses only a small share of the world's total energy
consumption, it is generally recognized that its needs are crucial, since the
existing technologies for increasing production rely so heavily on energy
intensive inputs. It therefore becomes imperative to find ways of economizing
in the use of the expensive and rapidly depleting supplies of fossil fuel, to
develop alternative sources of energy, and to better utilize existing agricultural
energy sources as substitutes for expensive energy produced outside agriculture.
Most studies of energy use in agriculture have described the developed western
countries. Less information is available about agricultural energy use in
developing and in the centrally planned countries. In the latter two groups of
countries, large increases in food and agricultural production are required. Since
these countries now possess relatively abundant supplies of agricultural labour,
and modest supplies of capital and industrial energy, it is possible that they may
have alternatives to the energy intensive path of agricultural development
followed in the most technically advanced western agriculture.
Now is a good time to study the energetics of agricultural production in
Eastern Europe and the USSR because the agriculture of these countries has
been undergoing dynamic change characterized by more intensive use of capital,
increased specialization of agricultural enterprises, strengthening of vertical and
horizontal integration, and a growing scale of production. Concentration of land,
labour, and capital in the big state and cooperative farms under state and social
control creates a system of agricultural production which could be quite easily
adjusted to changed economic and energy situations.
With current technology, agriculture in these countries would require extremely
high direct and indirect energy inputs to bring crop yields and animal
productivity to the full potential. Perhaps alternatives exist. In times of energy
scarcity, energy analysis of agriculture in different countries can give insights
into the viability or competitiveness of different agricultural systems.
This study covers seven socialist countries which are members of the Council
for Mutual Economic Aid (Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic
Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the USSR). To gain a perspective on
the energy situation, it is necessary to know the actual amounts and productivity
of the energy used in the agriculture of the countries under consideration.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is: to describe the energy inputs into
agriculture in the seven countries and outline changes in these inputs during the
period 1960-1977; to measure agricultural output in energy units; and to compare
energy inputs with the energy content of agricultural output in order to estimate
the efficiency of energy use.
The method used in this study has been adapted from F AO. Energy used in
agricultural production was divided into two categories: (1) energy incorporated
in agricultural production inputs produced outside agriculture; and (2) energy
used directly as fuel and power within agriculture. In the first category are such
items as agricultural machinery, tractors, combines, trucks, horse drawn
equipment, as well as fertilizer and pesticides. Energy in food was measured on
the basis of crops in final form including grains, field beans, potatoes, oilseeds,
sugar, vegetables, fruits, and animal products (meat, eggs, and milk). Animal
feed was not counted as part of energy output. The energy value of the animal
product was multiplied a factor of 7.0 to account for the energy value of the
feed. Thus all figures for energy output are converted to crop production
equivalents.