Determination of Energy Balance and Economic Analysis of Cucumber ( Cucumis Sativus ) Production in Tillage Methods

Energy whatever might be its source viz. human, animal, machine, electricity, solar, seed, chemical, fertilizer, gasoline or diesel has become a crucial input of agriculture right from preparatory tillage to the disposal of farm produce, energy input is necessary. This study investigates the energy balance and economic analysis of cucumber production in tillage methods. A tin of 50 g of treated cucumber seeds was planted in three different tillage systems namely; reduced, minimum and maximum tillage using foot dibbling method. Human power, machinery, diesel fuel, fertilizer, seed and pesticides were various forms of energy inputs used during the field cultivation of cucumber in the selected tillage methods. Input and output method of energy analysis was used to analyze the amount of input and output energies in each of the three tillage systems used in the production of cucumber. The calculated energy indices determined are energy ratio, energy productivity, specific energy, net energy and energy efficiency index. The result revealed that the highest total energy input and output values of 8694.09 and 8359.33 MJha -1 were estimated in maximum tillage, minimum tillage has an average values of 7774.42 and 12015 MJha -1 , while the least average values of 5688.26 and 12736.67 MJha -1 were estimated in reduced tillage, respectively. The highest benefit–cost ratio of 2.94 was found in minimum tillage, followed by maximum tillage with a value of 2.35, while least value of 2.08 was estimated in reduced tillage.


Introduction
Agriculture is both a producer and consumer of energy. It consumes large quantities of locally available noncommercial energy, such as seed, manure and animate energy, as well as commercial energy sources, directly and indirectly, in the form of diesel, electricity, fertilizer, plant protection chemical, irrigation water, machinery etc (Morteza et al., 2012). Energy use in agriculture has been increasing in response to increasing population, limited supply of arable land and a desire for higher standards of living (Kizilaslan, 2009). The increased use of inputs such as fertilizer, irrigation water, diesel, plant protection chemicals, electricity etc. demands more energy in the form of human, animal and machinery (Yadav and Khandelwal, 2013). Efficient use of these energies helps to achieve increased productivity and contributes to the economy, profitability and competitiveness of agricultural sustainability of rural communities (Omid et al., 2011). Improving energy use efficiency is becoming increasingly important for combating rising energy costs, depletion of natural resources and environmental deterioration (Ashkan et al., 2014).
Despite the fact that Nigeria is classified among the regions of traditional agriculture and where there is a high cost for acquiring farm machinery and equipment (Abdussalaam, 2015), many farmers still prefer replacing the conventional methods of land preparation with the use of tractor during land preparation for the production of crops. From the foregoing there are possibilities of replacement of popular conventional tillage with alternative tillage practices such as minimum and maximum tillage. The use of inappropriate tillage techniques has been found to be responsible for increased soil erosion, loss of fertility of agricultural soils, increased environmental hazards and has also contributes to unsustainability of crop production systems, as mechanized tillage requires high amount of energy input for an equal output per unit of cultivated area (Bertocco et al., 2008;Yildiz, 2016). Researchers such as Ashraf (2021), Tabatabaeefar et al. (2008) and Ashkan et al. (2014) investigates the effects of different tillage systems on energy consumption in the production of different crops and all of them reported that tillage is one of the major determinant factors which dictate the quantity of energy consumed during crop production. Therefore, there is need to study the energy balance and economic analyses of cucumber production in tillage methods with a view of selecting the most appropriate tillage method that will minimize the energy input and enhance the profitability of cucumber production.

Land preparation and experimental layout
Preparation of experimental farm was carried out using manual method for reduced tillage treatment and tractor for both minimum and maximum tillage methods. The experimental farm was divided into three blocks and each block consists of three plots making a total of 9 experimental plots. The experimental farm was dimensioned 46 m x 46 m, while each block was measured 46 m x 10 m and each plot with a dimension of 10 m x 10 m with a space of 4 m in between the two adjacent plots which enabled the tractor to turn conveniently without entering the reduced tillage plots. The experimental farm was arranged in a complete randomized block design with each tillage method representing a treatment.

Source of planting material
A tin of 50 g of treated cucumber seeds was obtained from an agro vet shop at Ago-Aare in Atisbo Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria and planted in three different tillage methods namely; reduced, minimum and maximum tillage using foot dibbling method as described by Abdussalaam (2015). Two to three seeds of cucumber were directly placed into the soil made with foot, slightly covered with soil and foot pressed.

2.4
Energy analysis Identification of required operations, choosing the appropriate machinery and the right method of operation are important factors for effective analysis of energy used during the production of different crops. Operational (direct) energy consumption for the production of the cucumber, such as in land preparation, planting, fertilizer application, weeding, plant protection and harvesting were determined using input and output method of energy analysis. For converting farm inputs and outputs to energy, different energy conversion coefficients were used and these were extracted from Ashkan (2014), Fadavi et al. (2011), Abdussalam (2015) and Isaac and Babajide (2015). Major energy inputs that were utilized during tillage and other farming operations during field cultivation of cucumber include human energy, machinery, diesel fuel, fertilizer, seed and pesticides. The identified farming operations and equipment used in the three tillage methods are presented in Table 1. Energy demands of land preparation in reduced tillage using human power and for both minimum and maximum tillage using tractorization method are obtained by using equations 1and 2, respectively as described by Isaac  Where:-Seed energy input (Kg/ha), Human energy (MJ/ha) It should be noted that weeding operation was carried out using both hoeing and chemical control methods.

Energy demand of cucumber harvest
Harvesting of cucumber fruits was done manually by picking the matured fruits with bare hand. The time taken by the workers to harvest the fruits, the number of people involved and the quantity of fruits harvested were recorded. Energy demand of harvesting operation was analyzed using the expression in equation 6 as described by Isaac and Babajide (2015): Energy indices of cucumber production The calculated energy indices of cucumber production in tillage methods in terms of energy ratio (ER), Energy Productivity (EP), Specific Energy (SE), Net Energy (NE) and Energy efficiency index (EEN) were calculated using equations 7, 8, 9 and 10, respectively as described by Abdussalam (2015) as: The different forms of energy inputs used in the analysis of the cucumber production and their energy equivalent and are as presented in Table 2.  Economic analysis and cost benefit ratio of cucumber production The economic analysis of cucumber production in terms of total cost of production, gross and net monetary returns was analyzed using the method described by Khan et al. (2009).

2.5.1
Total cost of production The total cost of production (cost C) of cucumber production was estimated by using the addition of monetary values of all energy inputs during different tillage and farming operations such as labourer, fertilizer, chemical, seed, fuel, hired machinery and tractor with implement for farming operations.

Gross monetary returns
Gross monetary return was estimated by multiplying the energy outputs (yields) of the crop by the market price in naira per kg (Nkg -1 ) using equation 12  Analysis of input-output energy use in cucumber production in tillage methods The physical inputs used in cucumber production and their energy equivalents together with the energy equivalent of the yield are shown in Table 3. It is observed from the table that reduced tillage has the highest physical human power input which varied from 330.44 -350.0 h with an average of 333. The anthropogenic energy input ratios of cucumber production in the three tillage methods, namely; reduced, minimum and maximum is presented in Figure 1. It is noticed from the figure that the highest average human energy input of 653.62 MJha -1 was used in reduced tillage, followed by maximum tillage with a value of 333.98 MJha -1 , while the least human energy input of 290.82 MJha -1 was recorded in minimum tillage. Maximum tillage has the highest average machinery energy input of 1069.10 MJha -1 , followed by minimum tillage with an average value of 782.10 MJha -1 , while the least average machinery input of 409.90 MJha -1 was obtained in reduced tillage. The highest diesel fuel energy input with an average value of 2664.68 MJha -1 was estimated in maximum tillage, followed by minimum tillage with an average value of 2076.34 MJha -1 , while zero value of diesel fuel energy input was consumed in reduced tillage. Figure 1 further revealed that the same quantity of fertilizer, seed and pesticides inputs with average values of 2123.54, 7.60 and 24945 MJha -1 , respectively were used on yearly basis in the three tillage methods.  Similarly, Figure 3 presents the percentage composition of energy consumed by the operations in minimum tillage during the production of cucumber and it is revealed from the figure that the highest percentage energy composition value of 37 % was recorded during land preparation, crop protection has a percentage value of 34 %, fertilizer application accounted for 25 % of total energy consumed, while planting, weeding, staking and harvesting recorded the least equal percentage energy value of 1 %.
The percentage composition of energy consumed by operations during the production of cucumber in maximum tillage is presented in Figure 4. It can be seen from the figure that the highest percentage energy value of 43 % was recorded during land preparation, followed by plant protection with percentage energy value of 30 %, fertilizer application has a percentage value of 23 %, while the least energy percentage composition of 1 % was calculated for planting, weeding, staking and harvesting operations. This result is similar to the findings of Abdussalam (2015) who reported energy consumption composition of 58 % for land preparation, 36 % for ridging, 3 % for weeding operation, 2 % for application of fertilizer and 1 % for planting in the production of maize. Ashraf et al., 2021reported energy inputs composition of 28.96 % for chemical fertilizers, 6.31 % for rice seed energy, 44.61 % of diesel fuel energy, 10.14 % for electricity, 1.85 % for machinery, 5.32 % for pesticides energy and 2.82 % for human labour energy respectively.

3.2
Energy indices in cucumber production in tillage methods The calculated energy ratio (energy use efficiency), energy productivity, specific energy, net energy gain and percentage energy index of cucumber production in the three tillage methods in the three cropping seasons is presented in Table 4. It can be seen from the table that minimum tillage has the highest energy ratio between the range of 1. Economic analysis and cost benefit ratio in cucumber production The calculated economic analysis in cucumber production in terms of total cost of production, gross and net monetary returns and cost benefit ration in three tillage methods is presented in Table 5. It is observed from the table that maximum tillage has the highest total cost of production with the sum of N276,000.00 k, followed by Journal of Energy Technologies and Policy www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-3232 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0573 (Online) Vol. 10, No.1, 2020 reduced tillage with a total sum of N234,750.00k, while the least sum of N215,000.00k was estimated in minimum tillage. The highest gross monetary return with the sum of N649,500.00k was realized in maximum tillage, minimum tillage has a total sum of N633,500.00k and the least gross monetary return with a total sum of N488,000.00k was realized in reduced tillage.
The highest sum of N418,500.00k net monetary returns was calculated in reduced tillage, followed by maximum tillage with a sum of N373,500.00k, while the least sum of N253,250.00k was realized in reduced tillage. Minimum tillage has the highest cost benefit ratio of 2.94, followed by maximum tillage with a value of 2.35 and the least value of 2.08 cost benefit value was observed in reduced tillage. This result is similar to the findings of Morteza et al. (2012) who reported cost benefit ratios of 1.75 for corn grain production, respectively.

Conclusions
In this study, determination of energy balance and economic analysis of cucumber production in three tillage methods have been investigated and the following points were drawn from the study: The results shows that the maximum tillage consumed the highest total energy of 26,082.35 MJha -1 with an average value of 8,694.12 MJha -1 , followed by minimum tillage with a total energy value of 23,323.26 MJha -1 with an average of 7,774. 42 MJha -1 , while the least total energy value of 17,064.79 MJha-1 with an average value of 5,688.26 MJha -1 was expended in reduced tillage.
Averagely, minimum tillage has the highest energy ratio of 1.27 while the least value of 1.26 was estimated in reduced tillage; reduced tillage has energy productivity value of 1.57 MJkg -1 , while the least energy productivity of 1.47 MJha -1 was estimated in maximum tillage. The highest net energy gain of 2157.84 MJ/ha -1 was analyzed in minimum tillage, followed by reduced tillage with a value of 1520.40 MJha -1 , while the least energy gain with a value of 1409.60 MJha -1 was calculated in maximum tillage.
The highest benefit-cost ratio of 2.94 was found in minimum tillage, followed by maximum tillage with a value of 2.35, while least value of 2.08 was estimated in reduced tillage.
The highest mean net return of N418,500.00k was realized in minimum tillage, followed by maximum tillage with a sum of N373,500.00k, while the least sum of N253,250.00k was estimated in reduced tillage respectively.