Indian Farming 66(8): 47–51; November 2016
Energy Management
for sustainable agriculture
Indra Mani1, Tapan K Khura2, Satish Lande3 and Rouf A Parray4
ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012
T HE world relies on agriculture to
feed humanity. Energy is an
essential component of agricultural
powered pumps accompanied by the
introduction of micro irrigation
system (drip and sprinkler irrigation)
the figure. The three most significant
energy consumers are fertilizers, farm
equipment with power source, and
production system. To run the has been encouraged that use water pumping and irrigation. Indian
tractors and pump sets in Indian more efficiently. Agriculture provides agriculture faces multiple challenges
farms, 12 million tonnes of diesel is raw material to several major relevant to the energy sector like
required and also one third of industries, such as sugar, textiles, jute, inefficient pump sets, over-
electricity of the country is paper, food processing and milk consumption of electricity due to
consumed. It takes 12 GJ energy to processing. This sector has forward subsidised tariffs and low irrigation
produce one tone of grain in the and backward linkages with the other efficiency. Energy consumption in
country. The input to output energy economic sectors. Therefore, changes agriculture would increase by 27 to
ratio in agricultural production has in the agricultural sector have a 50 Mtoe by 2040, with electricity
been steadily increasing with increase multiplier effect on the entire accounting for 68% of the 2040
input energy cost. Energy fuels the economy. share and oil products
equipment, irrigates the crops, There are four main factors that (overwhelmingly diesel) a further
fertilizes the soil, sustains the contribute to food production and 30%.
livestock, transports the food, and energy consumption. Each factor is Nitrogen fertilizer is the most
processes the food into its final an input to the food production significant energy input in plant
forms. process. These energy-consuming production because ammonia
Traditionally, India has been an inputs, fertilizers and other manufacturing is very energy
agricultural economy. Agriculture is chemicals, farm equipment with intensive. Mechanization of various
still a major source of income for power sources, irrigation and agricultural operations like threshing,
over 50% of the total population. pumping, transportation, and other harvesting, land preparation,
Although a small part of energy miscellaneous inputs are depicted in irrigation, etc. account for the energy
demanded roughly about 15% of
total final electricity demand since Fertilizers and other chemicals
2000 as more farmers obtained
electric pumps for irrigation
purposes. Subsidised electricity tariffs Farm equipment & power Food Production Irrigation and pumping
for agricultural users and a lack of
metering have led to hugely Transportation Other
inefficient consumption of both
electricity and water. The solar- Energy input factors for food production
To meet the demand of food, fiber and other needs more agricultural production but at the same
time, energy and environment are to be taken care of. It is necessary to increase agricultural
yields per unit area of land, while preserving the soil integrity and environment. Efficient energy
management practices will help to achieve and maintain this delicate balance. The energy saving
technologies such as precision agriculture, controlled traffic farming (CTF), direct drilling and
minimum tillage, renewable energy dependent farms, hydroponics and vertical farming etc should
be encouraged for sustainable agriculture in India. This topic and sub-articles present a wide
variety of energy-efficiency opportunities related to sustainable agriculture.
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November 2016
demand in the agricultural sector. GIS mapping to assess the field as a fuel inefficiencies due to increased
Energy demand in the agricultural whole and fertilizer quantities are manoeuvring or through reduced
sector in India is mainly attributed to determined from this data. The yield via nutrient loss. It has been
two major agricultural operations: amount of fertilizer required by a rice stated that efficiency of farm
land preparation and irrigation crop to achieve a profitable yield machinery operation can be affected
pumping. The energy demand for target is determined by the calculated by three factors: the travel speed, the
land preparation and irrigation is a crop response to the fertilizer. The effective swath width, and the field
function of land under tractors and timing of applications is decided traffic pattern. Field design can
tillers and area under irrigation, upon according to critical growth impact all three, thus is an important
respectively; the demand also stages of the crop. Each field consideration when trying to
depends on the technological therefore has a different level of improve fuel efficiency. Long fields
parameters of the associated fertilizer application. are often used abroad to improve fuel
machines. The report states that all efficiency due to reduced machine
the energy requirements of the farm Energy Management Through turning. Using a predetermined
could be met from the straw and ley Agricultural Mechanization optimum tractor course for each field
residues of 24 and 13% of the farm Diesel engines have traditionally resulted in up to a 16% reduction in
area respectively. been the main focus in improving distance travelled and a reduction of
Some of the interventions for fuel efficiency in agriculture. Billions 10% on inputs due to reduced
sustainable energy management are of pounds of investment have been overlap and misses. Thus 16% of
discussed here. made by the automotive sector into tractor fuel would be saved and
improving the diesel engine. A major reduction of chemicals would save
Energy Management in Fertilizer consideration when objectively fossil fuels in production. It can be
Application looking at diesel engines is that the estimated that in this case fuel
For irrigated crops, the main thermal efficiency of an internal efficiency could be improved by up to
source of energy is fertilizers followed combustion engine (ICE) is poor, 20% with the use of a predetermined
by electricity and diesel. Crop with the most advanced diesel course in fields that are extremely
rotations including legumes, green engines in the world only being irregularly shaped; this would drop
fertilization, and better manure about 50% efficient. Punjab practices significantly for regularly shaped
management are measures to replace energy intensive agriculture with fields. The choice of the right soil
synthetic nitrogen. Organic farming 3.5kW/ha power availability with tillage system for crops in rotation
has been promoted over inorganic maximum use of non-renewable help in reduce energy consumption.
fertilizer and by better utilization of energy (82.1%) as well as commercial In India tillage is one of the
organic fertilizers soil heath improves energy (91.7%). However in hill mechanized farm operations and
in terms of soil organic carbon, agriculture the use of renewable tilling soil at right moisture level
porosity, water retention capacity etc. energy (human and animal power) would save fuel, better soil
However, the use of inorganic was more up to 60%, which indicates pulverization and reduce soil
fertilizers especially nitrogenous more use of diesel, electricity, compaction. Selection of matching
fertilizer is on peak in the Indian fertilizer, machineries, etc. Currently equipment based on the availability
farms. The soil health card may guide most production steel diesel engines of the power source could increase
the farmers for using right quantity have a limit of 37% thermal efficiency the fuel efficiency. The combine of
of different organic and inorganic and an overall energy efficiency of active and passive tillage tools could
fertilizers. Application of Urea about 20%, thus the efficiency of the reduce the number pass and
Ammonium Nitrate (UAN) other diesel engine is not anticipated to optimized use of tractor power. The
than urea would reduce the ammonia vastly improve and fuel efficiency use of four wheel drive tractor can
loss, saving in fertilizer and irrigation enhancements will be limited. The reduce the number of passes on the
water and yield advantage. The basal reduction, elimination or field and reduce soil compaction.
and foliar applications of UAN could combination at machinery operation
enhance the nitrogen use efficiency will reduce energy (fuel) input and Direct Drilling and Minimum tillage
(NUE). In puddled paddy field deep also may reduce the uses of labour Direct drilling and minimum
placement of super granular urea and time. Therefore, it is time to tillage are farming practices that have
(SGU) would enhance NUE by slow prioritize alternative methods for increased in popularity over the last
release of nitrogen and restricting the improving fuel efficiency in two decades. Both systems replace
losses. Precision agriculture offers the agriculture. Some of the methods are the plough as methods of establishing
possibility of growing better quality given here. a crop. Direct drilling is pretty self-
crops, while optimizing the use of explanatory and drills the seed into
inputs and minimizing environmental Field Design and Tractor Traffic Pattern uncultivated land, reducing the
impacts. Site-specific nutrient Field design can have a strong energy input considerably. The min-
mapping (SSNM) is one of the core bearing on the fuel efficiency of till technique uses tines and discs to
research area to reduce fertilizer and agricultural operations. Shape, cultivate, which both use
other chemical input use. SSNM uses contours and obstacles can all cause substantially less energy than a
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plough, and has been shown to reduced mass, rolling resistance, and 230 cubic kilometers of groundwater,
increase yields. It works on the smaller implements. Furthermore, more than a quarter of the global
concept that by turning over the smaller more efficient engines could total, making it the largest
stubble from the previous crop, this be utilized. The drawback is that groundwater user in the world. In
will decompose and produce the more passes have to be completed by India irrigation and livestock
nutrients required for the following the tractor to cover the same field accounted for more than 90% of
crop. Scientist state that the fuel area. Research is required to establish total water withdrawals for
consumption saving between min-till whether smaller tractors with more agriculture. More than 60% of India’s
and ploughing is 41-46% during passes are proportionally more fuel irrigated agriculture depends on
cultivation and tillage operations are efficient than larger tractors with groundwater and the crop
dependent on soil type. The fuel fewer passes. productivity of groundwater-irrigated
consumption saving during tillage farms is almost double that of surface
operations is slightly higher at 49%, Machine Maintenance water irrigated farms. In the state of
and estimates the fuel consumption Machine maintenance can have an Punjab, characterized by intensive
saving between direct drilling and impact on fuel efficiency; a well irrigated agriculture, the ground
ploughing during tillage operations is maintained machine will be more water table is falling at a rate of 0.7
approximately 89%. By adoption of efficient. By carrying out regular m/year. The increased usage and
Zero tillage in seasonal savings in maintenance such as maintaining the reliance on groundwater has led to
diesel for land preparation is reported correct oil level, changing oil at the over-extraction and exploitation of
to be in the range of 15–60 litres/ required distances and replacing filters previous groundwater reserves.
hectare (l/ha), representing a 60–90% the engine will run smoother and will Groundwater levels are extremely
savings and approximately 3,000 MJ/ require less fuel to achieve the same stressed in areas with electric pumps.
ha of energy in tractor operations as power. This awareness drive should For domestic water supplies, some
compared to conventional tillage. In continue to be recognized to ensure 85% of rural water supply schemes in
maize crop reduction in energy by the importance of maintenance. It has India rely on groundwater sources.
97–98% when using minimum tillage been stated that correct machine Beginning in the 1960s, the Green
and 91% when using no-tillage inc maintenance can reduce fuel Revolution was a turning point in
comparision to conventional tillage. consumption by 5-15% compared India’s agricultural development and
These are impressive statistics, but with a badly maintained machine. productivity expanded rapidly for
must be taken with caution. Many those who could take advantage of
farmers in India have stated that Implement Travel Speed new hybrid seeds, fertilizers, and
certain soils are not suitable for direct Selecting the wrong implement access to water on demand.
drilling, as they become hard without travel speed is another preventable Groundwater irrigation development
cultivation and lead to poor yields. cause for poor fuel efficiency. Each exploded. Although Government
This has resulted in the halfway stage implement will be designed a invested heavily in surface irrigation
of min-till becoming more popular, as different way, therefore will have projects to assure access to water
it does not suffer from this issue as different optimum operating speeds. supply for more farmers, many
much. Operating speed for two different farmers remained underserved.
tillage implements was studied. The Several factors prompted an ever-
Varying Machine Size results showed that operating speed increasing number of farmers to opt
The current tractor design trend had a large effect on fuel for groundwater irrigation: (a) rural
has seen an increase in tractor size to consumption, in one case a 115% electricity supply expanded; (b)
improve operation efficiency. increase in fuel consumption. The where water-logging and salinity
However, larger, heavier tractors use results also showed that a slower or were a growing problem (such as
proportionally more fuel and cause faster speed did not necessarily result parts of Punjab) groundwater
unwanted side-effects such as soil in higher or lower fuel consumption, pumping was an effective mechanism
compaction. It is anticipated by but rather it depended on how the to lower the water table and mitigate
manufacturers and researchers that implement was designed. Thus, if impacts; and (c) subsidized credit
the future of agriculture will involve looking to reduce fuel consumption and affordable modular well and
smaller, fully autonomous tractors. and increase fuel efficiency, an pump technologies became widely
These tractors have the benefit of optimum speed should be chosen for available. However, a regime of
reducing soil compaction, and use the implement according to the unmetered power supply and power
less fuel. Scientific principles show manufacturer ’s specifications. subsidies throughout the Indian
that the force required to move a However, the trade-off between states were arguably the most
tractor, is equal to mass multiplied by productivity and fuel consumption powerful driver for extraordinary
acceleration, with implements and must be taken into account. growth in groundwater irrigation.
rolling resistance acting as The energy analysis of various
proportional resisting forces against Energy Management Through Water operations in potato cultivation
the tractor. With a smaller tractor, the Saving Technology showed that, irrigation consumed the
forces required are reduced due to India uses an estimated annual maximum amount of energy, i.e.
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November 2016
6622.12 MJ/ha (44.4%) followed by would increase water use efficiency that will, in turn, change the
seedbed preparation 3192.84 MJ/ha and the water requirements for a crop availability of agricultural residues
(21.4%). However, for rainfed crops, can be reduced by about 30%, with time. India set targets to
the maximum energy was consumed regardless whether under irrigation increase the share of bioethanol and
in the form of seeds. or rain fed conditions. biodiesel for blending for biofuels up
Taken in a broad sense, energy to 20% (for gasoline and diesel,
efficiency in agriculture includes, and Energy Management Through Biomass respectively) by the end of the Fifth
can promote, water-use efficiency as a Utilization Plan (2017). However, a minimum
key component. Electricity and water Dependence on bioenergy has of 5% ethanol blending has been
use in agriculture are clearly linked. grown in absolute terms, but its share made mandatory in 20 states and 4
In 2013–14, the agricultural sector in the primary energy mix has union territories. Bioenergy demand
consumed 22% of total electricity for declined by almost 10% points since rises by around 11% over the
irrigation. Increased demand for 2000, as households moved to other projection period to 2040.
irrigation water, as a consequence of fuels for cooking, notably liquefied The table indicates that nearly half
climate change, would require higher petroleum gas IEA (2015). of the agricultural residue available is
electricity consumption. As the water Agricultural residues are the primary used as fodder for livestock, about
table goes down, the amount of source of biomass. Crops like wheat, 20% is used for fuel production,
electricity required to draw water will maize, rice and sugarcane contribute while the rest is consumed for other
increase. In other words, water-use 600 m tonnes of organic waste. India purposes. Thus, most of the agri-
efficiency is required to reduce is very rich in biomass and has a residue gets utilized as fodder and the
climate-induced stress on water potential of about 16,881 MW from remaining portion is too little for the
resources, which would also lead to agro-residues and plantations and sufficient production of biomass.
greater energy efficiency. 5,000 MW from bagasses Biomass based power generation
There are several recent examples cogeneration. However, the installed would rise by more than five-times to
across different states of India that capacities of biomass cogeneration reach around 120 TWh in 2040
show how well designed and agro-residue are 1.2 GW and 0.9 provided constrained of relatively
interventions can create real GW, respectively. The quantity of high costs and by poor access to
incentives for farmers to increase agricultural residue varies with the financing and contribution to
irrigation efficiency and help them type of crop and is driven heavily by reliability of rural electricity supply is
raise their incomes. The Punjab seasons, soil types and irrigation taken care of. This poses a major
government is considering additional conditions. If the amount of crop challenge in the production of
measures such as leveling fields using production is known, then it may be biomass-based energy. The
laser techniques, introducing soil- possible to estimate the amounts of availability of crop residues is, more
moisture-based irrigation timing and agricultural residues produced via the or less, spread evenly over the year.
short-duration rice varieties; and the application of the residue to crop So, crop residues of one kind or the
system of rice intensification and ratio. As science and technology other are available throughout the
water-saving techniques that also progress, there are bound to be year. One under-utilised option is to
increase crop productivity. The developments in farming techniques get energy from urban waste/
cumulative impacts on water needs municipal waste which is becoming a
and crop yields are as yet unknown major health and environmental
Table 2. Current use of agri-residue (in
but preliminary results indicate million tonnes) hazard as only 20% of which is
significant water-saving potential. treated and rest 80% dumped
Crop Fodder Fuel Other
The soil cover by mulching, untreated at open sites (Planning
avoidance of mechanical tillage and Rice 124.7 17.2 12.4 Commission, 2014). Thus there is a
improved soil organic matter levels Wheat 97.3 0 15.3 need to segregate the fodder crop,
Jowar 14.0 0 0 municipal waste and biomass
Bajra 14.7 0 1.7
Table 1. Water-saving potential of utilization crop. The renewable
Maize 28.4 6.7 0
individual interventions
Other Cereals 7.4 0 0
energy technologies such as solar
Proposed intervention Reduction in Red Gram 0 9. 4 2.6 panels, wind turbines, hydrogen fuel
for rice farming water need (mm) Gram 0 8.8 0 cells, biomass boilers, heat sink
Laser leveling 410
Other pulses 0.6 7.7 7.6 pumps and pyroformers could all be
Delay transplanting by 210
Ground nut 0 1.9 12.7 used to produce electricity or forms
one month Rapeseed and 0 13.3 0 of biofuel, which could be used to ful
Mustard
Timed irrigation with 370 fil the energy requirements of the
tensiometer Other oil seeds 0 29.8 0
Cotton 0 55.9 0 farm. The farm, La Bellotta, takes the
Short duration rice 300
Jute 0 17.6 0 idea of producing all the energy
varieties
System of rice 370 Sugarcane 13.2 45.7 52.7 required on site and puts it into
intensification Total 300.3 214 105 practice. The site has its own 1MW
Baseline water requirement for Source: The energy report– India 100% anaerobic digester (AD) on site and
rice=1,840 mm Renewable Energy by 2050 (TERI, 2015) an 180kW photovoltaic panel plant
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November 2016
installed to the roofs of the farm 250 and 125 kg/h (Stationary and Indian farms required about 12
buildings. Solar energy can be used in mobile) as per requirement of the million tonnes of diesel and it may
agriculture in a number of ways as users. rise upto 45 million tonnes in the
farm electricity, heating (water/ Biogas generation: Agro-residues, next 20 years. The non edible and
homes/livestock buildings) crop agro-industrial wastes, weeds etc are edible oils like Jatropha, Karanja,
drying homes and greenhouses. Solar major bio-resources sources for Mahua, neem and castor and
Photovoltaic (SPV) panels can be anaerobic digestion and converting soyabean, sunflower, safflower,
used for stationary farm equipment, them to biogas which provides a linseed and mustard has been dried
water pumps, light, and electric sustainable energy source and for bio-diesel production by
fences. nutrient-rich compost for nutrient transesterfication process. Bio-
Following are the technologies starved soil in India. In anaerobic ethanol (ethanol blend with petrol)
used for various energy options. digestion over 95% of all plant has been accepted by many countries
Briquetting: In this process, nutrients of biomass can be recycled for their energy security and content.
biomass material is compressed under while producing biogas an energy There are primarily two technologies
high pressure to form a round or source. On the basis of plenty for ethanol preparation i.e.
square briquette that can be used for availability of crop residue and low converting starch part of biomass
heating purpose. Calorific value of level of technical skill required for into ethanol and woody parts
these briquettes are higher than other biogas plant making and running this (cellulosic and lignocellulosic)
materials used for heating purposes would be a better option for converted into sugar and then
and mostly utilized for electricity sustainable energy supply for rural ferments the sugar into ethanol. A
generation through gasifiers. Profit household of India. ton of agri-residues can produce 215
obtained from the briquettes made of Biochar: All over the world about liters A ethanol. Algae are rich source
mixed waste and mustard stalk 2.7 billion people use wood, cow of lipid and it can accumulated up to
blended with 20% concentration of dung and crop residue for cooking 60% of oil in certain condition. It
press mud was 117.2 and 114.6% and house heating. India produced can be grown in waste/fresh water
more as compared to the briquettes about 120-150 million tonnes surplus body as well as sea water. Half of the
made from the wood waste. biomass and 93 million tonnes of it dry biomass of the algae is carbon
Gasification: One of the easy burn on the field. These agro-residue which is fixed from CO2. Microalgae
method for converting biomass to and biomass are not waste but the produce fermentable carbohydrate
energy is thermal conversion. In this resources and can be utilized to meet without containing lignin which
the biomass is converted into the challenge of soil degradation, makes it feedstock for bioethanol.
electricity either by combustion or environmental pollution and energy
gasification. Combustion route to security. The biochar has higher SUMMARY
electricity generation is mainly calorific value than the raw biomass The energy saving technologies
adopted for large scale power plant and is stabilized carbon. Design such as precision agriculture,
(>1MW). The gasification is most improvement of cook stove and controlled traffic farming (CTF),
suited to Indian condition for portable biochar kiln would help in direct drilling and minimum tillage,
decentralized power generation up to biomass conservation, efficient renewable energy dependent farms,
1MW. The low density crop residues utilization of biomass as energy hydroponics and vertical farming etc
densified by briquetting changed to source, reduction in greenhouse gases should be encouraged for sustainable
high value solid fuel (3,500 to (especially CO- 2 ) emission, black agriculture in India. An automation
4,000Kcal/kg) used as input for carbon reduction which is responsible in agriculture for variable rate
gasification. The fuel cost for for global warming. The biochar application of inputs (water,
generation of one unit of electricity is embedment in soil improves soil fertilizers and seeds) with energy
from ` 1.5 to ` 3.5 whereas for diesel health and carbon sequestration. sources hydrogen fuel cells would
generator it is ` 6.5 to 7.0. Therefore, application of biochar give boost for energy efficient
Biomass Densification: Agri- needs to be encouraged through the agriculture. The farm using biomass,
cultural residues including hay and participation of public and private solar and other form of energies to
straws are densified into blocks and institutions, NGOs and farmers. make it Energy Independent
can be stored over a long period of Biofuel: Consequence of not Farm(EFI) and manage the soil
time in less space and transported breaking the nexus between energy health.
economically over long distances. consumption and greenhouse gas
These blocks are directly utilized for emission are going to be catastrophic.
bruning in the furnaces. Machines National policy on Biofuel targets the Division of Agricultural Engineering, 1Head,
available for densifications having replacement of fossil fuels by 2
Senior Scientist, 3,4Scientist
different capacities, i.e. 1 tonne/h, biodiesel to the next 10% by 2017.
Science is curiosity, testing and experimenting.
—Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
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