Energy usage of agricultural machinery for corn and soybean production in Brazil, India, USA and Zambia

The use of agricultural machinery was quantified for the production of corn and soybeans. The energy usage patterns of agricultural machinery were analyzed and compared across four regions including Illinois in the United States, Mato Grosso in Brazil, Madhya Pradesh in India and Zambia in sub-Saharan Africa. Representative farms were set up to reflect the common farming practices in each region. The farm characteristics varied depending on location and machinery were selected to perform the required tasks in the available amount of time. Machinery power, time available and area cropped were used to estimate the energy usage per hectare. The efficiency of machine use was then quantified in terms of a mechanization index, energy required/available, fuel consumption and cost per hectare. The energy required per hectare was found to be in the range 2168 - 2732 MJ/ha for corn and 1485 – 2084 MJ/ha for soybeans