Energy and economic analyses of pepper production under plasticulture and conventional systems

Faced with the twin challenges of food security and environmental protection, given the energy resource scarcity, agriculture needs to develop production systems that are highly productive, economically viable and environmentally sound. In this regard, several production systems have been recently developed. All of them share the general objective of using less energy per unit of output.;The focus of this study for red pepper, is to examine the environmental performance of a plasticulture system compared to a conventional system in terms of: (1) energy inputs per unit of output; and (2) cost per unit of output.;Energy analysis was performed to account for the total energy consumed in red pepper production under silver mulch and no-mulch. The method of process analysis was employed to account for total energy requirements for different inputs. Partial budgets for both type of production systems were constructed to estimate the costs of production. The analysis boundary was set at the farm gate. Production costs are derived from secondary data. Data on mulch yield were based on the results of an experimental trail conducted on the farm of Macdonald Campus of McGill University in the West Island of Montreal (Fava, 1996). (Abstract shortened by UMI.).