Abstract

Energy is critical aspect of a national development process. It is expended in agricultural operations, food processing, transportation and production of fertilizers, pesticides and farm equipments. Mechanical energy is necessary for all sorts of physical movements like soil manipulation, material input application, transportation etc. In our agriculture it is supplied by human labourers, draft animals, electric motors, diesel engines and tractors. But in earlier days it was dominated by animal power only. To assess the change in commercial and non-commercial energy use for rainfed sorghum cultivation, a study was conducted in the western zone of Tamil Nadu. Total energy utilized in the zone for rainfed sorghum cultivation was 21.76,669 GJ in 1986-87 and 11,72,986 GJ in 1997-98. The reduction in the usage of 10,03,683 GJ was mainly due to the reduction in cultivation area by 2,12,821 ha in the period. Commercial energy utilization was increased by 7.20 per cent though the area has reduced much, which is a very significant development in sorghum cultivation.

Keywords: Sorghum, Commercial energy. Non-commercial energy