Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
7.4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
7.4.1 CHANGES OF CORRECTION COEFFICIENT
Figure 5 presents the changes of the correction coefficient. The correction
coefficient has declined from 1.37 in 1996 to 0.84 in 2010, with an average
annual decline of 3.46%. The decline in the correction coefficient proves
that technological progress has been affecting the unit diesel consumption
and the unit productivity of the agricultural machinery positively. One also
can find that the load factor has not been growing as expected.
The curve of the correction coeffi cient shows a signifi cant linear down-
ward trend. However, there are step changes in the correction coeffi cient
corresponding to the step changes in the diesel consumption from 2004
to 2007. The step changes of the energy consumption statistics are wide-
spread in most sectors during the Eleventh Five-Year period including the
diesel consumption in agriculture. According to careful analysis, it is be-
lieved that the step changes cannot refl ect the real energy consumption,
and they probably result from either changes in statistical methodology or
artifi cially adjusted energy consumption numbers. The latter is more likely
the main reason due to the existence of the compulsory target for reducing
energy consumption stated in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan of China gov-
ernment, so the correction coeffi cients from 2004 to 2007 are corrected
using linear interpolation.
7.4.2 CHANGES OF UNIT CONSUMPTION
Table 2 provides the unit diesel consumption of agricultural machinery.
The unit diesel consumption generally maintained a steady downward
trend from 1996 to 2010.
• For tractors, the unit diesel consumption declined from 407.96 g/kWh in
1996 to 356.93 g/kWh in 2010, an average annual decline of 0.95%.
• For harvesters, it declined from 423.67 g/kWh to 352.70 g/kWh, an annual
decline of 1.30%.
