Understanding energy efficiency using a socioeconomic framework: the case of paddy farming in Malaysia
The agriculture sector is one of the contributors to energy use either as production input or bioenergy output. The utilization of energy use is based on the Cobb-Douglas production theory. Nevertheless, several factors affecting energy use in paddy production include fuel for running machiner...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2021
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Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16435/1/40858-149813-1-PB.pdf http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16435/ https://ejournal.ukm.my/gmjss/issue/view/1376 |
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Summary: | The agriculture sector is one of the contributors to energy use either as production input or
bioenergy output. The utilization of energy use is based on the Cobb-Douglas production theory.
Nevertheless, several factors affecting energy use in paddy production include fuel for running
machinery, electricity for irrigation, fertiliser for improving soil fertility, pesticides for pest
control, and planting seeds. Albeit the relationship between energy use and agricultural
productivity is well examined in the literature, the results are mixed. Some studies argue that higher
energy use tends to higher agricultural productivity, while others found that energy use efficiency
leads to higher productivity. This study investigates farmers’ socioeconomic status in paddy
production based on the statistical analysis of paddy productivity, farmers’ income, and production
cost in Malaysia’s MADA granary areas. Besides, it utilizes the Energy Analysis approach to
analyze energy efficiency based on inputs use selected by farmers. The results show that the
harvested area does not affect the farmers’ income, while productivity positively affects farmers’
income. Production costs are not influenced by socioeconomic variables such as ownership and
harvested area as they depend on farmers’ willingness to pay for inputs. The energy efficiency in
MADA is 6.35, which indicates that farmers can obtain at least six times larger paddy productivity
compared to the inputs used in production activities. |
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