Energy and Water Use in Arizona Agriculture

Abstract

Increasing energy and water concerns in Arizona are the driving forces to improve the efficiency of agricultural production within the state. In this article we address the energy and water uses in growing a variety of crops in Arizona. The goal of the research project is to identify and quantify all energy and water uses from the production of the initial seed, through the treatments of the soil and various chemical introductions, all the way until the crop is harvested in the field. Thus, the analysis is “from seed to the edge of the field.” Using a series of secondary data sources, the article provides ranges for the energy and water consumption for the predominant crops grown in the major agriculture areas of the state.

Keywords:

• agricultural inputs
• food and energy
• food and water
• food production

Notes

¹See the references listed under Teegerstrom (1999 and 2001) written with various county agents. These can be accessed at http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/ and then search for Crop Budgets.

²See the references listed under Teegerstrom (1999 and 2001) written with various county agents. These can be accessed at http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/ and then search for Crop Budgets.

³Beyond the scope of this paper is estimating the life-cycle energy costs of either electricity or diesel fuel.

⁴The specific references for the cabbage exemplar were detailed in the text. The reference list includes all the source documents for the collection of crops in this section. Specific calculations are available from the authors. The Arizona Crop Budgets are a massive collection that sometimes is bewildering as are some of the NASS reports. Specific questions should be directed to the authors.