Economic and Energy Efficiency of Pea Inoculation When Growing Crop in the System of Organic Production

Abstract

Objective. To analyse economic and energy efficiency of inoculants based on a new strain Rhizobium leguminosarum Г222 in the technology of growing field peas. Methods. The calculation of the indicators of the economic efficiency of the cultivation of field peas for various seed treatment variants was carried out using methods and commonly used methodological approaches, which are based on a comparison of the results of the application of a certain agricultural measure with the costs of its implementation. The following indicators were studied: profit, cost per unit, payback of additional costs, as well as the level of profitability of production. Modelling of technological costs in the conditions of production scales using typical pea growing technologies has been used. The main agrotechnical operations have been modelled according to resource cost standards and product costing algorithms with the inclusion of additional operations and costs associated with the use of studied inoculants. In order to calculate the main indicators of the energy efficiency of the applied means for treatment of the pea seeds, the costs of all types of used resources and the obtained products were converted into energy equivalents according to generally accepted methods. Results. The use of inoculants based on R. leguminosarum Г222 contributes to increase in all the main indicators of economic efficiency: cost per unit, profit based on 1 ha of sown area and the level of profitability increase with the corresponding level of payback of additional costs. This is due to the higher rates of yield growth (and, accordingly, cash receipts) in experimental variants compared to the rates of increase of costs per unit area associated with the use of inoculants. According to the results of the energy efficiency analysis, it has been shown that the inoculation of peas with a new strain provides a high level of energy efficiency in terms of the ratio of the energy content of the obtained products to the energy consumption for its production (energy efficiency coefficient). The results of the comparative analysis of the calculated indicators show that in the variants with bacterization, there is a significant lag in the rates of increase of anthropogenic energy consumption per 1 ha of sown area versus the increase in yield and energy content of the obtained products. Additional energy costs associated with the use of inoculants are 8.00–24.39 times paid back by the energy of the additional harvest. Conclusion. The results of the analysis suggest high economic and energy efficiency of the use of the new strain R. leguminosarum Г222. The variant in which the use of R. leguminosarum Г222 was combined with a polysaccharide-protein complex is the most efficient.