TY - JOUR AU - Flores, Edgar D. AU - Cruz, Renita SM. Dela AU - Antolin, Ma. Cecilia R. PY - 2016/03/05 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Farmer-level Sweet Potato Production Systems in the Philippines JF - Asian Journal of Applied Sciences JA - AJAS VL - 4 IS - 1 SE - Articles DO - UR - https://www.ajouronline.com/index.php/AJAS/article/view/3560 SP - AB - <p>Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is one of the most important cash crops in the Philippines.Assessmentof energyuse and emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs)in sweet potato production can provide useful information to help implement environmentally-sound crop managementstrategiesfor improving energy efficiency and reduction of GHGs emission. In this study, the energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissionsin kilogram carbon dioxide equivalent (kg CO<sub>2eq</sub>) of three sweet potato production systems at farmer-level of operation were evaluated. Data were collected from 350 sweet potato farmers randomly selected from the sweet potato producing provinces of Albay, Bataan and Tarlac, Philippines. The energy input to produce output energy of 12068.40, 29619.20 and 53435.50 MJ ha<sup>-1</sup> were 4059.14, 16131.76 and 29326.78 MJ ha<sup>-1</sup> for systems 1, 2 and 3, respectively.  System 3 had the highest input energy followed by system 2 because of the additional energy input of diesel fuel during land preparation and chemical fertilizer during crop management. The energy ratio of all the systems evaluated range from 1.82 to 2.97, among which system 3 was the lowest because of using more energy inputs of chemical fertilizers, diesel fuel and machinery. The amount of GHG emissions in the production systems of sweet potato, range from 77.97 to 1438.18 kg CO<sub>2eq</sub> ha<sup>-1</sup> (0.023 to 0.095 kg CO<sub>2eq</sub> kg<sup>-1</sup>). Highest GHG emission value corresponds to system 3 which uses more energy inputs such as chemical fertilizer and diesel fuel. It is apparent that improving the production system by increasing energy inputs to increase the yield in sweet potato production would increase GHGs emission. Hence, energy management should be considered as an important strategy for resource conservation and climate protection. It is crucial to check the use of chemical inputs and non-renewable energy resources to maintain and enhance the sustainability of sweet potato production.  The use of green manure instead of chemical fertilizer should be considered to control the high rate of non-renewable energy utilization, reduce the amount of GHGs emission and promote sustainable agriculture.</p> ER -