Investigation of Energy Consumption and Associated CO 2 Emissions for Wheat–Rice Crop Rotation Farming

This study investigates the input–output energy-flow patterns and CO 2 emissions from the wheat–rice crop rotation system. In this regard, an arid region of Punjab, Pakistan was selected as the study area, comprising 4150 km 2 . Farmers were interviewed to collect data and information on input/output sources during the 2020 work season. The total energy from these sources was calculated using appropriate energy equivalents. Three energy indices, including energy use efficiency ( η e ), energy productivity ( η p ), and net energy ( ρ ), were defined and calculated to investigate overall energy efficiency. Moreover, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique was used to optimize the input energy in wheat and rice production. Finally, CO 2 emissions was calculated using emissions equivalents from peer-reviewed published literature. Results showed that the average total energy consumption in rice production was twice the energy consumed in wheat production. However, the values of η e , η p , and ρ were higher in wheat production and calculated as 5.68, 202.3 kg/GJ, and 100.12 GJ/ha, respectively. The DEA showed the highest reduction potential in machinery energy for both crops, calculated as −42.97% in rice production and −17.48% in wheat production. The highest CO 2 emissions were found in rice production and calculated as 1762.5 kg-CO 2 /ha. Our conclusion indicates that energy consumption and CO 2 emissions from wheat–rice cropping systems can be minimized using optimized energy inputs.