Efficiency and Sustainability of Silage Corn Production by Data Envelopment Analysis and Multi-Functional Ecological Footprint: Evidence from Sarayan County, Iran

Show simple item record

dc.contributor.author . Dourandish, A
dc.contributor.author Saadi, H
dc.contributor.author Mahdei, v K. Naderi
dc.contributor.author Esfahani, S. M. J.
dc.date.accessioned 2018-02-12T08:17:59Z
dc.date.available 2018-02-12T08:17:59Z
dc.date.issued 2018-02-12
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/4008
dc.description.abstract The Ecological Footprint (EF) is used to understand the relationship between human activities and pressure on land and its resources. The present study combined multifunctional ecological footprint with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate environmental impacts of inefficient use of resources of silage corn production in the Sarayan County, Iran. In this applied survey research, data were collected using a questionnaire accompanied by face-to-face interviews with 42 farmers (N= 48). Validity of the instrument was approved by a panel of experts; while its reliability was secured via pretest-posttest method. Results showed that mean technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency were 0.86, 0.93, and 0.80; respectively. The CO2 footprints were 0.95 and 0.83 gha under current and optimum conditions; respectively, with electricity and manure comprising the highest and lowest shares. The Ecological footprint land- (gha gha-1 farm), yield- (gha ton-1) and revenue-based (gha $-1 1,000) EFs were estimated to be 1.6, 0.84, and 1.4 under current conditions but 1.57, 0.081, and 1.33 under optimum conditions, respectively. When the resources were used efficiently, the EFCO2 and EF improved by 13.42 and 3.35% respectively, in which the highest shares in terms of quantity and percentage belonged to electricity, manure and fertilizer. Findings implied that optimum usage of electricity and fertilizer could play a significant role in mitigating environmental impacts of silage corn production in Sarayan. Local agricultural extension should focus on introduction of innovative irrigation systems to reduce water, electricity and fertilizer consumption. Meanwhile, to improve silage corn efficiency, farm size expansion is recommended based on the DEA findings. Keywords en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher jKUAT en_US
dc.subject Sustainability en_US
dc.subject Silage corn en_US
dc.subject Efficiency en_US
dc.subject Ecological footprint en_US
dc.title Efficiency and Sustainability of Silage Corn Production by Data Envelopment Analysis and Multi-Functional Ecological Footprint: Evidence from Sarayan County, Iran en_US
dc.type Working Paper en_US


Files in this item

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search DSpace


Browse

My Account