Materials, Energy and Value Flows Analysis of Different Tobacco Planting Patterns in Soutern Anhui Area

The reasonable choice of tobacco planting pattern is very important to improve the efficiency of tobacco field ecosystem and to promote the sustainable development of tobacco modern agriculture. In this study, the materials, energy and value flow characters of four tobacco planting patterns in Southern Anhui area were investigated, and the NPK input and output status, energy structure and value conversion efficiency were analyzed and discussed based on field investigation. The results showed that in all the planting patterns there was a need for decreasing the amounts of N, P fertilizers and increasing the fertilizer application efficiency. Meanwhile, the K fertilizer application and straw returning should be emphasized in the three tobacco rotation patterns. The ratio of organic energy to inorganic energy was the highest (0.71) in tobacco planting among all the studied crops planting, and the labor energy was the highest among the energy components. The fertilizer energy and agricultural machinery energy was the second. The tobacco-rice multiple cropping had the lowest of energy ratio of output to input, and the planting pattern of tobacco-rice→wheat-rice→tobacco had the highest value in the four tobacco planting patterns. Moreover, the tobacco-rice multiple cropping pattern had the highest net income per hectare, but the planting pattern of tobacco-rice→wheat-rice→tobacco in two years was the best of four planting patterns from the perspective of ratio of nutrients input to output, energy efficient utilization and the ratio of value input to output. The later should be promoted in a larger area in the Southern part of Anhui Province.