Abstract

The differences in the investment, cost, energy efficiency of cultivation in organic and conventional systems are considerable. This paper reports the results of emergy analysis and comparison of cost and energy efficiency of the two systems based on the example of growing winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The differences between the two systems include the total cost of production as well as various levels of economic efficiency of production in a conventional system. It was noted that the cost of conventional production is decided on by the large cost of production materials. These farms demonstrate considerably lower energy efficiency of production. In contrast, in organic farms we can observe lower yield levels associated with the more extensive production quality. However, in the considerations we needs to take into account how the two types of production affect the natural environment. For this reason, emergy analysis was taken up, as its results indicate lower energy use in ecological cultivation.

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