Assessment of Energy Use Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Strawberry Production: A Case Study from Central Anatolia

This study evaluates the energy use efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of strawberry production in Central Anatolia, Türkiye. Primary data were collected from 41 farms through face-to-face surveys conducted during the 2025 production season. All inputs were converted into energy equivalents to calculate total energy input (EI), total energy output (EO), energy use efficiency (EUE), specific energy (SE), energy productivity (EP), and net energy (NE). Total energy input was calculated as 24,680.40 MJ ha⁻¹, while total energy output reached 32,916.34 MJ ha⁻¹, resulting in an EUE of 1.34 and a net energy gain of 8,235.96 MJ ha⁻¹. Specific energy was 1.43 MJ kg⁻¹ and energy productivity was 0.70 kg MJ⁻¹. Pesticides represented the largest share of total energy input (48.20%), followed by labor (13.35%), diesel (11.55%), and chemical fertilizers (12.63%). Indirect energy accounted for 68.59% of total energy use, while non-renewable energy represented 86.65%, indicating strong dependency on external and fossil-based inputs. Total GHG emissions were estimated at 2,012.26 kg CO₂-eq ha⁻¹, corresponding to an emission intensity of 0.12 kg CO₂-eq kg⁻¹. Labor (58.46%) and electricity (13.49%) were the primary emission sources, whereas nitrogen fertilizer contributed only 2.56%. The findings indicate that strawberry production is energetically feasible but structurally dependent on chemical inputs and non-renewable energy sources, suggesting that input optimization and renewable energy integration are essential for improving environmental performance.