This handbook provides a holistic overview of different aspects of energy management in agriculture with an orientation to address the sustainable development goals. It covers possible applications not only from a technical point of view, but also from economic, financial, social, regulatory, and political viewpoints. Agriculture is one of the most imperative sectors that contribute to the economy across different agro-ecologies of the universe with energy inputs in each stage of production, from making and applying chemicals to fueling tractors that lay seeds and harvest crops to electricity for animal housing facilities. The majority of agricultural research has focused on the use of input, production, and productivity, whereas rational energy budgeting and use remain an overlooked and likely underestimated segment, ignored so far while formulating agro-ecosystem framework. Energy management study is a new frontier of agriculture and is challenging duе to complex enterprises, spatial-temporal variability, exposure to pollution, and the predominant effect of the anthropogenic factor on ecology and environment. But it is worth taking the challenge considering the important prerequisite role of energy for sustainable development which has been evidenced from increasing research in recent times. Of recent origin, there are critical, in-depth studies around the globe assessing the capture and flow of energy in the ecosystem, which will help to develop a conceptual framework to incorporate this vital resource in the agriculture management template. This book is a state-of-the-art resource for a broad group of readers including a diversity of stakeholders and professionals in universities, public energy institutions, farmers and farming industry, public health and other relevant institutions, and the broader public as well.

Energy and agriculture; Options for change; Reducing direct uses of energy on farms; Reducing indirect uses of energy on farms; Meat, poultry, and dairy production; Urban agriculture.

The aim of this work is to check the possibility of substantial energy savings in the European agricultural mechanisation. In this analytical survey the possibilities of energy saving in stationary plants nor the indirect savings in chemical inputs are considered. The analysis has been essentially bibliographical, without any direct experimental analysis. After some general considerations on the European farming structure and the present energy requirements of the sector, ,the European agricultural machines and tractors industry is outlined. At the start of this analytical survey, the working schemes and the energy requirements are examined for the different crops. The evolution of tractor manufacturing and the derived machines is also surveyed, gathering the specific implements into the main groups: tractors (and derived machines); soil tillage machines, intercultivation machines and harvesting machines. The evolution and the energy saving potential in tractors and farming machines management is examined and the actions for development are outlined.

Agriculture and Energy consists of the proceedings of a conference held at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, on June 17-19, 1976. The conference aims to bring together a broad spectrum of researchers concerned with obtaining a better understanding of the energy consumption by agriculture. These researchers are also concerned with developing ways to help food production adapt to occurring and anticipated resource availability problems. This book is organized into nine parts, separating the papers of the conference as chapters. It describes the quantity of energy consumed in particular production processes or in production at various levels of aggregation in the field of agriculture. It also dwells into the economic impacts of energy problems on agricultural production. It looks into the comparative economic and energy costs of the various methods for producing a specific product. Furthermore, this reference material discusses unconventional production methods that can reduce the need for fossil energy inputs by using renewable energy sources or recycling materials. Lastly, the implications of the energy situation for agricultural policy, both in the U.S. and in developing countries, are shown.