ABSTRACT
Primary agricultural production accounts for only 3.1 percent of the total fossil fuel energy used in the United States and 4.6 percent of the total used in the United Kingdom. The major use of fossil fuel energy in agriculture is to power tractors and other mechanical equipment. Crop protection and pest control use very little fossil fuel energy. Fossil fuel energy could be saved by hand spraying of pesticides rather than machine spraying. Fertilizers account for 24 percent of the total fossil fuel energy used in US agriculture and 38 percent of the total used in UK agriculture. Production of fertilizers accounts for a considerable proportion of the total energy put into primary agricultural production, particularly nitrogenous fertilizers. There are a number of lines of research in progress in various parts of the world which could have profound effects on energy requirements of agriculture in relation to production of sufficient food to meet the needs of the population.
