Farm-level emergy dataset for date palm sustainability assessment in Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran

This dataset accompanies the article "Sustainability assessment of date palm production systems using emergy analysis and management scenarios: A case study in Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran" (Motakefi, Asgharipour & Seyedabadi, 2026). It provides farm-level input and output data used to evaluate the sustainability of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) cultivation across five major producing counties in southeastern Iran: Iranshahr, Saravan, Nikshahr, Sib va Suran, and Sarbaz. Data were collected through structured interviews with date palm growers during a single production year, stratified by orchard size. Environmental data (solar radiation, wind, rainfall, soil erosion, organic matter and nitrogen loss) were derived from meteorological records and standard soil-loss equations. The dataset includes per-hectare physical quantities of renewable environmental inputs, non-renewable environmental flows (river and groundwater withdrawal, erosion, organic matter and nitrogen loss), and purchased inputs (N, P, K fertilizers, manure, biocides, fuel, electricity, labor, machinery, seedlings). These were converted to solar emjoules (sej) using published unit emergy values (UEVs) rescaled to the 12.0 × 10²⁴ sej yr⁻¹ baseline. For each county, the dataset provides baseline (S0) emergy flows and five sustainability indicators: Transformity, renewable share (%R), Emergy Yield Ratio (EYR), Environmental Loading Ratio (ELR), and Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI). Six management scenarios are also evaluated: S1 (30% fertilizer reduction); S2 (50% biocide reduction); S3 (drip irrigation conversion, –25% water); S4 (increased mechanization); S5 (organic substitution); and S6 (combined best-practice package). All scenario results are reported by county. Files include a data dictionary, README, full emergy tables, the associated manuscript, and figures. This dataset is suitable for comparative emergy analyses of tree crops in arid regions, model calibration, and water policy planning. It is shared under CC BY 4.0; reuse is encouraged with proper citation of the original publication.