Determination of Cost, Profitability and Energy Balance of Sugar Beet Production: Example of Kırşehir Province

The aim of this study is to determine the costs, profitability and energy balance of sugar beet production in the K & imath;r & scedil;ehir Province of Turkey during the 2023-2024 production season. Data were collected via face-to-face surveys of 100 sugar beet farms, selected using the proportional sampling method. The results indicate that the average sugar beet yield on the surveyed farms was 66.73 kg/ha, at a selling price of 0.0433 $/kg. The gross production value was calculated to be 2892.96 $/ha, the gross profit as 1113.50 $/ha, the net profit as 510.75 $/ha, the relative profit as 1.21, the profit margin as $0.0077/kg, and the unit production cost as 0.0357 $/kg. The total energy input for sugar beet production was 64,848.03 MJ/ha, while the total energy output was 280.266 MJ/ha. The energy use efficiency, energy productivity, specific energy and net energy were calculated to be 4.32, 1.02 kg/MJ, 0.97 MJ/kg and 64,567.73 MJ/ha, respectively. It was found that 57.12% of the total energy input was direct and 42.88% was indirect. Of this, 30.70% was renewable and 69.30% non-renewable. In conclusion, sugar beet production was found to be profitable in terms of energy use. Efficient energy utilisation in agriculture reduces environmental impact, supports the conservation of natural resources and enhances the economic viability of sustainable agriculture. Within this scope, implementing suggestions such as increasing the use of renewable energy sources and educating farmers on energy efficiency is believed to contribute to sustainable production by reducing energy consumption.