Impact of energy efficiency improvement on greenhouse gas in off-season tomato farming: Evidence from Punjab, Pakistan

Energy consumption in agriculture is responsible for greenhouse gas emission but it can be reduced after efficient utilization of energy inputs. Therefore, the present study aims for the estimation of energy efficiency and extent of greenhouse gas reduction after benchmarking of inefficient farms in off-season tomato in Punjab province of Pakistan. Primary data were collected from 70 farmers with simple random sampling. By using data envelopment analysis, the average value of technical, pure technical and scale efficiency was 0.80, 0.92 and 0.87, respectively while increasing, constant and decreasing return to scale was observed in 33, 26 and 11 farmers, respectively. Total input energy was reduced by 12,688.91 MJ ha-1 (13.89%) if inefficient farms used the energy inputs according to recommendations or benchmarking. A major portion of energy saving comes from fertilizers (68.79%) followed by diesel (15.70%), chemicals (5.91%), machinery (4.37%) and water (4.00%). Total greenhouse gases reduction was 499.17 kg CO2 eq.ha-1 (14.57%) as a result of improvement in energy efficiency or benchmarking of inefficient farms. Agricultural extension staff should visit the vegetable farms on regular basis and give necessary information about efficient utilization of energy inputs. The government should create awareness about the optimum use of input through seminars and pamphlets.