Material and Energy Flow Cost Accounting (MEFCA) of Grape Production in Malayer City

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• M. Dekamin ¹
• K. Kheiralipour ²

¹ Plant Production and Genetics Department, Malayer University, Malayer, Hamadan, Iran

² Department of Mechanical Engineering of Biosystems, Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/jead.2023.80448.1174

Abstract

Introduction
Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most important agricultural products in the Mediterranean. Today, grapes are grown in a large area of the world's gardens. The world production of grapes was about 77.8 million tons in 2018, of which 1.3 million tons were converted into raisins. According to the latest data of FAO, Iran has an annual production of 24.45 million tons of grapes in an area of 213 thousand hectares, accounting for 3% of the world's grape production. The average yield per hectare of vineyard is reported to be 15.5 tons. The purpose of this study is to determine hot spots in terms of energy and cost in the production of Malayer grapes with the approach of material and energy flow costing (MEFCA). The primary focus of material and energy flow cost accounting is on waste (waste of energy, materials and potential human capacity).
 
Materials and Methods
Material flow cost accounting was introduced in the late 1990s in Augsburg, Germany as a tool for green productivity management. This is known as a tool to increase productivity by reducing the use of materials, energy and human resources. Unlike life cycle assessment, which only weighs the environmental impacts of production and does not provide a solution for simultaneously reducing environmental impacts and increasing economic profit, material flow costing is recognized as an efficient tool for managing resources, wastes, and environmental impacts, and has covered the shortcomings of life cycle assessment. Material flow cost accounting helps to discover hidden costs and waste by objectifying the flow of materials in the production process. Based on ISO 14051 material flow analysis occurs in quantitative centers (QCs). In general, each quantitative center divides the production process into several parts. The basis of material flow and energy costing is material flow balance. This means that the inputs must be the same as the outputs. Based on this balance, positive inputs (i.e. consumable inputs) and positive outputs (i.e. product performance) and negative outputs (i.e. wastes and emissions during production) should be equal. The primary focus of material and energy flow costing is on waste (e.g. waste of energy, materials and potential human capacity). Allocation of costs to positive and negative products in each quantitative center is done in the following way:
- Material cost (including raw and industrial materials used in the production process)
- Energy costs (including electricity or buying diesel fuel)
- System costs (including labor costs, transportation costs and system maintenance)
- Waste cost (including waste management costs)
The system boundary included the background processes that the farmer was directly involved in using and managing. Grape data was collected in the crop year of 2020-2021 from Malayer vineyards.
 
Results and Discussion
Based on the results of the study, the average energy input including renewable, non-renewable, direct and indirect energy for grape production was 42234 MJ ha^-1. The negative energy resulting from the wastage of chemical fertilizers, grapes, irrigation water and pesticides was 28650 MJ ha^-1. The total positive output energy was calculated as 296180 MJ ha^-1. Nitrogen fertilizer with 27% and animal manure with 19% had the largest share in input energy for grape production. In terms of negative energy, grape waste accounted for the largest share with 82% and the Irrigation water wastage was the next with 16%. Energy indices including energy efficiency (6.33), energy productivity (0.59) kgMJ^-1), energy intensity (1.68 MJkg^-1) and net energy gain (1225295 MJha^-1) were calculated for grape production. The cost of grape production per hectare was $2,779. The highest input costs were related to labor and irrigation water, which cost the farmer 1644 and 680 dollars per hectare, respectively. The calculated negative production in grape production was equal to 2560 dollars per hectare. The main negative production in grape was related to wastage of grapes and irrigation water, which brought hidden costs of 2108 and 442 dollars to the farmer, respectively. The economic indicators of gross income (13954 $ha^-1) and cost-benefit ratio (4.5) were calculated.
 
Conclusion
Transitioning from flood irrigation to drip irrigation is anticipated to enhance irrigation efficiency by 50%, resulting in an incremental addition of $221 to the farmer's income while concurrently reducing labor costs. Additionally, emphasizing training for workers can prove pivotal in minimizing grape yield wastage within the region.
 

Keywords

• Energy accounting
• Energy efficiency
• Energy productivity
• Environmental management
• ISO 14051 standard

Main Subjects

• Environment and Natural Resources Economics

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