Evaluation of wheat water irrigation management in Iran with the approach of reducing the area under cultivation and improving water productivity

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Irrigation and Soil Physics, Soil and Water Research Institute (SWRI), Agriculture Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran.

2 Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Agriculture Engineering Research Institute (AERI), Agriculture Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran.

Abstract

Water consumption and disproportion of the cultivated area and the amount of available water in the agricultural sector, or the disproportion of water supply and demand, have always been the concern of farmers and agricultural managers. Sustainable food security due to the growth and change of people's taste is an additional concern. Therefore, according to the determination of land suitability class and the percentage of the area of each of the S1, S2, S3 and N classes in Iran, was determined and Based on that, the physical (WPPa), economic (WPEa), relative physical (KWPp) and relative economic (KWPe) indicators of water were calculated. Based on the results of evaluating the economic suitability, wheat fields were removed from the lands with S3 and N suitability. Then, using water productivity indicators, the ways to compensate for the decrease in wheat production in lands with S1 and S2 suitability classes were investigated. The results showed that the area under wheat cultivation was 989 thousand hectares, wheat production was 1184 thousand tons, applied irrigation water was 5.138 billion cubic meters, and the indices of WPPa, WPEa, KWPp and KWPe are increased by 41, 47, 12 and 39% respectively. Also, if the irrigation water use efficiency is increased 16% or the amount of irrigation water is decreased between 73 and 80mm in the lands with S1 and S2 suitability classes, or agricultural management, increase the yield by 9 to 14%, the decrease in yield caused by the decrease in the area under wheat cultivation is compensated.

Keywords

Main Subjects

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

 

Introduction

 Water consumption and disproportion of the cultivated area and the amount of water available in the agricultural sector, or the disproportion of water supply and demand, have always been the concern of farmers and agricultural managers. Sustainable food security due to the growth and change of people's taste is an additional concern. So that according to the 7th national economic and social development plan, an annual increase of 5% in water productivity is targeted. One of the ways to achieve this goal is to reduce the area under cultivation in lands with low suitability.

Purpose

In order to reduce water consumption and increase its efficiency, the reduction of the area under cultivation of wheat in lands with low suitability throughout the country (Iran) and methods to compensate for the decrease in wheat yield caused by the reduction of the area under cultivation in lands with high suitability were evaluated.

Material and method

According to the determination of land suitability class (S1, S2, S3, and N) and the percentage of the area of each of the S1, S2, S3 and N classes of Iran, yield, applied irrigation water, production potential, income and cost in each of the land suitability classes for wheat were determined and based on that, physical (WPPa), economic (WPEa), relative physical (KWPp) and relative economic (KWPe) water productivity indices were calculated. Based on the results of evaluating the economic suitability of the lands in all suitability classes, the area of wheat in lands with S3 and N suitability classes were removed. By removing these lands, the area under cultivation, applied irrigation water and the amount of reduced yield due to the removal of these lands and the remaining lands (the lands with suitability of S1 and S2) were calculated. Then, by using water productivity indicators, the ways of compensating for yield reduction in lands with S1 and S2 suitability classes were investigated.

Results

The results showed that 11.434 billion cubic meters of water is applied for 2.295 million hectares of wheat lands in Iran. Removed lands with S3 and N suitability was 989 thousand hectares, reduction in yield of wheat was 1.184 million tons, and applied irrigation water for lands with S3 and N suitability was 5.138 billion cubic meters. The WPPa, WPEa, KWPp and KWPe indices increased by 41, 47, 12 and 39%, respectively. On the other hand, the lands area with S1 and S2 suitability was 1.306 million hectares, and in these lands, 6.296 billion cubic meters of water were consumed to produce 7.14 million tons wheat.

Conclusion

Therfore if irrigation water efficiency increases between 15 to 17 percent in the lands with S1 and S2 suitability, or the amount of irrigation water decreases between 73 to 80 mm, or agricultural management, including variety improvement, nutrition and irrigation management, will increase the yield by 9 to 14%, the decrease in wheat production  due to the decrease in the area under wheat cultivation will be compensated.

Author Contributions

Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization of the article and writing of the original and subsequent drafts.

Data Availability Statement

Data available on request from the authors.

Ethical considerations

The authors avoided data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and misconduct.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

References

Abbasi, F. and Abbasi N., (2023). An analysis of Iran's irrigation efficiency over time. Iranian Journal of Irrigation and Drainage, 17(6), 1033-1025. (In Persian).
Abbasi, F., Akbari, M., Naseri, A., Abbasi, N., Baghani, J., Jolaini, M., Shahrukhnia, M.A., Nakhjavani Moghaddam, M.M., Sepehri, S., Miri, M., Hasan-Oghli, A.R., Haghayeghi, A., Gadami-Firouzabadi, A., Mousavi Fazl, H. & Yazdani M.R., (2024). A review of water consumption management indicators of different plants in Iran. Irrigation and Drainage Structures Engineering Research. 25(94), 1-14. (In Persian).
Abbaszadeh, M., Salari, A., & Rohani, H. (2019). Quantitative, qualitative and economic assessment of agricultural land suitability of Rokh plains of Torbat Heydarieh for saffron and wheat cultivation. Journal of Saffron Agriculture and Technology. 7(1), 109-93. (In Persian).
Abdallah, S., Elmohemen, M.A., Hemdan, S., & Ibrahem, K.. (2019). Land assessment for agricultural use in Jizan basin, KSA, after 48 years of Jizan dam construction. J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. 47:1895-1904.
Agricultural Statistics of Crops 2021-2022. (2022). Information and Communication Technology Statistics Center of the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad. Volume 1. (In Persian).
Ayoubi, S., & Jalalian, A. (2006). Land Evaluation (Agriculture and Natural Resources). 1st edition. Isfahan University of Technology Press.
Ayoubi, Sh., & Jalalian, A. (2010). Land Evaluation (Agricultural and Natural Resources) Second Edition. Isfahan University of Technology Publication Center, Isfahan, Iran.
Azadi, A., Banineme, J. & Seyed Jalali, S.J. (2021). Land suitability assessment for wheat in some saline lands in the south of Khuzestan province. Iranian Journal of Soil Research (IJSR). 35(3), 234-217. (In Persian).
Azadi, A., Banineme, J. & Seyed Jalali, S.J. (2022). Production potential modeling and quantitative land evaluation for wheat cultivation in calcareous soils (The case of southern Behbahan). Journal of land Management (Soil and Water Sci.). 10(2): 177-200. (In Persian).
Azimi Dezfuli, A.A. (2020). An introduction to agricultural water accounting by estimating crop water consumption. J. Water and Sustainable Development, 3(6), 31-40. (In Persian)
Azimi Dezfuli, A.A., Roknoddin Eftekhari, A., Nazari, B., Haydaj, A., Nezamipour, Q., Farajzadeh, M. & Fahmi, H. (2017). Analytical estimation of water requirement for wheat production in Iran. Space Planning and Design, 21(2), 173-195. (In Persian)
Bazarafshan, J., Khalili, A., Zandparsa, S., Sepaskhah, A.R., Alizadeh, A. & Farhoudi, J. (2021). Documentary Study of the Situation of Agricultural Water Resources and Uses in Iran: Analysis of the Current Situation, Pathology and Solutions to the Challenges. Strategic Researches In Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. 6(1), 35-50. (In Persian).
Bonfante, A., G. Langella, P. Mercogliano, E. Bucchignani, P. Manna, & F. Terribile. (2018). A dynamic viticultural zoning to explore the resilience of terroir concept under climate change. Sci.Total Environ. 624:294-308.
Ebrahimi Pak, N. A., Tafte A., Hosseini, S.N. & Keykha, F. (2022a). Water demand system. Soil and Water Research Institute. http:// swri.ir. (In Persian).
Ebrahimipak, N.A., Tafte, A., Abbasi, F. & Baghani, J. (2022b). Estimation of the actual amount of wheat irrigation water using the NIAZAB system and comparing with the farm measurement. Iranian Journal of Water and Soil Research, 53(9), 2075-2092. (In Persian).
Elsheikh, R., Mohamed Shariff, A.R.B., Amiri, F., Ahmad, N.B., Balasundram, S.K. & Soom,M.A.M. (2013). Agriculture land suitability evaluator (ALSE): A decision and planning support tool for tropical and subtropical crops. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 93: 98–110.
Fathi Tepehrasht, A., Shafizadeh Moghadam, H. & Kochzadeh, M. (2022). Spatio-temporal analysis of Iran's climatic classification based on Domarten method and Mann-Kendall test in the statistical period of 1995-2019. Environmental Sciences. 20(3), 137-155. (In Persian).
Foley, J.A., Ramankutty, N., Brauman, K.A., Cassidy, E.S., & Gerber, J.S.,. (2011). Solutions for a cultivated planet. J. Nature. 478: 337–342.
Ghaderzadeh, H. & Karimi, M. (2017). Impacts of agricultural water quota policy in groundwater resources management in Qorveh-Dehgolan plain. Agricultural Economics. 12(4), 73-98. (In Persian).
Heydari, N. (2021). Wheat water productivity in Iran compared with data of some countries. Journal of Water Research in Agriculture (Soil and Water Sci.). 35(4), 342-337. (In Persian).
Jafari, H. & Abbasi, F. (2023). Introducing and evaluation of relative economic water productivity index. Journal of Water and Soil Research in Iran. 6(54), 1095-1114. https://doi.org/10.22059/ijswr.2023.358941.669495. (In Persian).
Kamali, A., Shirani, H. & Rahmati, F. (2015). Application of fuzzy inference system to estimate yield of potato, alfalfa and wheat in Shahrekian. Water and Soil Science Journal. 26(1), 275-265.
Keshavarz, A., Malekian, R., Najhand Ali, A. & Beigi, A. (2021). The collection of documents related to the national and strategic document on the transformation of food security; Explanation of the country's water situation (No. 8). First edition. Tehran: Publication of Agricultural Education. (In Persian).
Masoumi, H. (2021, February). Formulating the pattern and composition of cultivation with emphasis on reducing the net need of irrigation through low irrigation (Case study: Bukan study area - Urmia lake basin). The Second National Cconference on Ddeficit Irrigation and the Use of Non-conventional Water for Agriculture in Dry Regions. 27 and 28 of February, Fars-Fasa. (In Persian).
Montgomery, B., Dragićević S., Dujmović, J. & & Schmidt, M.. (2016). A GIS-based logic scoring of preference method for evaluation of land capability and suitability for agriculture. Comput. Electron. Agric. 124:340-353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2016.04.013.
Mosadeghi, A., Akbari, N., Bakhshandeh, A.M., Sarmadian, F., Nasiri, B. & Sofizadeh, S. (2018). Agroecological Zoning of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Production Systems using RS and GIS in the Shavoor plain of Khouzestan. Journal of Agroecology. 11(4),1527-1543. (In Persian).
Navidi, M.N., J., Seyedmohammadi, Seyed Jalali, S.A., Zeinadini, A., Farajnia, A., Zareain, G.R., Toomanian, N., Fatehi, S., Eskandari, M. & Delsooz, B. (2022). Assessing land suitability for wheat cultivation in irrigated plains of Iran. Scientific Journal of Soil Research. 36(2), 127-147. (In Persian).
Nazari, B. (2018). Analysis of productivity gap and agricultural water productivity improvement planning with the empowerment approach of farmers and aquifer sustainability (case study: Qazvin plain). Journal of Water and Sustainable Development, 6(3), 50-41. (In Persian).
Perry C., Steduto P. & Karajeh F. (2017). Does improved irrigation technology save water? Global, Near East & North Africa. Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO), CAIRO, 1-57.
Raja, O., Parsinejad, M. & Sohrabi, T. (2018). Evaluation of managment strategies to reduce water use in Marvdasht-Kharameh study area. Water and Soil Resources Conservation. 8(4), 86-67. (In Persian).
Seyedmohammadi, J., & Navidi, M.N. (2022). Applying fuzzy inference system and analytic network process based on GIS to determine land suitability potential for agricultural. Environ. Monit. Assess. 194: 712.
Shahrukh, V., Ayubi, Sh. & Jalalian, A. (2013). Qualitative, quantitative and economic assessment of land suitability and environmental consequences of wheat and rice irrigation on the lands of Zarin Shahr and Mobarakeh (Isfahan). Journal of Water and Soil Conservation. 18(3), 61-37. (In Persian).
Soltani, A., Nehbandani, A.R., Zainli, A., Torabi, B., Zand, A., Ghasemi, S., Elesti, A., Dadarsi, A., Hosseini, R.S. , Aalimaqam, S.M., Zahid, M., Fayazi, H., Kemari, H., Arab Ameri, R., Mohammadzadeh, Z., Rehban, S., Mohammadi, S. & Dignity, P. (2018). Preparation of the Gap Atlas of Yield and Production Capacity of Important Agricultural Plants in the Country in Current and Future Climatic Conditions. First Edition. Gorgan. Sirang Vocabulary Publications. (In Persian).
Sun, S., Zhang C., Li X., Zhou T., Wang Y., Wu P. & Cai, H. (2017). Sensitivity of crop water productivity to the variation of agricultural and climatic factors: A study of Hetao irrigation district, China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142(2017), 2562-2569.
Taheri, M., Rezavardinjad, V. Bahmanesh, J. Abbasi, F. & Baghani, J. (2019). Spatial analysis of water productivity index at major wheat production centers of IRAN. Water Research in Agriculture, 34(2), 227-217. (In Persian).
Zeinadini Meymand, A., Seyed Jalali, S.A., Navidi, M.N., Ebrahimi Maimand, F., Farajnia, A. & Zareian, G. 2019. Evaluation of wheat yield potential in some Iranian cultivated plains. Journal of Land Management. 8(1), 13-1. (In Persian).
Zinali, M., Jafarzadeh, A.A., Shahbazi, F. & Oustan, Sh. (2015). Qualitative, quantitative, and economic evaluation of land suitability for wheat, barley, maize and sunflower in part of Khoy plain. Water and Soil Sci. 26(2/3), 15-29. (In Persian).
Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research
Volume 55, Issue 12
March 2025
Pages 2333-2349

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics