Energy Flow in Agriculture: Bangladesh

Abstract

In this paper, a qualitative energy flow analysis in Bangladesh agriculture has been made for a period from 1980-81 to 2000-01 to evaluate the impact of energy input to produce output. Human and animal muscle power and machinery energy for tillage operation, electricity and diesel energy for irrigation, fertilizer and pesticides energy for growth and protection are taken into account. Energy values are calculated by multiplying respective quantity by their respective energy equivalents with the use of relevant conversion factors. Energy flow studied based on some energy dependent indicators: energy input per ha, energy output per ha, energy output to input ratio, mechanization index, energy input to generate per unit GDP output as well as per unit output in energy term and solar energy conversion efficiency. During the study period, energy input and output to Bangladesh agriculture were increased from 6.4 to 17.32 GJ ha^-1 and 72.22 to 130.05 GJ ha^-1, respectively. It is found that energetic efficiency (energy output to input ratio) was declined from 11.28% to 8.1%, which indicates that the energy input increased faster than energy output. It is expected that sustainable energy flow in Bangladesh agriculture can be ascertained by this study.