Energy Analysis for Mechanizing Himachal Pradesh of India

In Himachal Pradesh, more than 85% population is engaged in agriculture and producing mainly maize, wheat and rice for their livelihoods. The objective of the study is to determine the energy input-output ratio during the last 25 years so that need of mechanization aspects could be adequately assessed for increasing the production and reducing the drudgery involved in various farm operations. The share of animate power(humanand animal) wentfrom 94.96 to 73.60% during the period 1977–2002 whereas inanimate power (tractor, power tiller and engines) increased from 5.04 to 26.40% during the same period. The results indicated that total energy input increased from 6.83 to 11.07 GJ/ha in which the animate energy is the major source. However, the growth of mechanical energy has been slow. Energy from seed was almost static but input energy increased due to increase in fertilizer consumption from the year 1977 to 2002. Total output energy slightly increased from 33.86 to 54.49 GJ/ha. The energy output input ratio was in the range of 4.16 to 4.96 during the year 1977–2002 but had no definite trend because of low energy input. Since, there has been positive correlation between energy input and production, there exists scope of increasing production by increasing agricultural inputs particularly by mechanizing the farm with appropriate improved equipment.