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India has 31.71 Mha of hot and areas, of which 61.8% is in Western Rajasthan, commonly known as the "Thar Desert". A detailed study of the energy use pattern in production agriculture for a representative village, Pemasar, district Bikaner of zone II (200 mm/yr less than or equal to annual rainfall less than or equal to 300 mm/yr) has been conducted.

Out of the total geographical area (945.7 ha) of the village, 693.6 ha is cultivable land. The main crops grown in the village are cluster bean, moth bean, groundnut, green gram (Kharif), wheat, mustard, gram, barley and rocket salad (Rabi). In general, Kharif crops are grown as rain fed crops, but due to low rainfall in the zone and the presence of the Indira Gandhi Canal, even Kharif crops are raised under irrigated conditions. However, the area covered under irrigation is meagre as the availability of canal water is very much limited and uncertain.

Operation wise, the total energy consumed for rain fed Kharif crops is minimum (1187.6 MJ/ha) for moth bean and maximum (1261.9 MJ/ha) for cluster bean, while for irrigated crops, it is minimum (2847.3 MJ/ha) for moth bean, and maximum (12,809.6 MJ/ha) for groundnut. The average specific energy for cultivation of cluster bean (rain fed), cluster bean (irrigated), moth bean (rain fed), moth bean (irrigated) and groundnut were 11.7, 7.5, 7.7, 7.4 and 11.2 MJ/ha, respectively. Operation wise, the energy consumed for Rabi crops is minimum (3855.6 MJ/ha) for rocket salad followed by 4779.4 MJ/ha for mustard, 4845.2 MJ/ha for gram and maximum (7953.2 MJ/ha) for wheat. The average specific energy for cultivation of wheat, gram, mustard and rocket salad were 11.4, 16.5, 13.2 and 13.7 MJ/ha, respectively. The average values of estimated energy ratio for cluster bean (rain fed), cluster bean (irrigated), moth bean (rain fed), moth bean (irrigated) and groundnut were 2.1, 0.5, 3.4, 3.5 and 3.0, respectively. This suggests that the moth bean crop is more remunerating to the farmers in Kharif as compared to cluster bean and groundnut. The average values of estimated energy ratio for cultivation of wheat, gram, mustard and rocket salad were 2.1, 1.6, 3.1 and 3.3, respectively. This suggests that the rocket salad and mustard crops are more remunerating to the farmers in Rabi as compared to wheat and gram. A definite and clear cut relationship exists between crop yield and energy input in the form of a second degree polynomial with zero intercept. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.