Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Agricultural Engineering Research Department, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research Education And Extention Organization, Shiraz, Iran
2 Assistant Professor of Economic, Social and Extension Research Department, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Shiraz, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Soil and Water Research Department, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research Education And Extention Organization, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
The sharp drop in the water level of the underground aquifers in the plains shows the lack of a suitable approach to create synergy between all the stakeholders in the water sector in the management of water resources. On the other hand, the undeniable limitation of water resources has led to the adoption of integrated water resources management as a requirement. In this regard, in an agricultural plain, there should be a matching of underground water resources with programmable water in order to reduce the severity of the created crisis and help to balance the plain over time. Therefore, avoiding horizontal development in the agricultural sector and increasing water productivity should be on the agenda of decision makers, especially in the planning of cropping patterns. This research has been carried out with the aim of improving the cultivation pattern in improving the physical and economic productivity of water in the Qaderabad-Madarsolaman plain of Fars province. The required data of the products include crop calendar, price at the time of harvest, production cost, yield, monthly programmable amount of plain water and monthly irrigation water amount of each crop related to crop year 2021-2022, which is in the form of documents from Jihad- Agriculture Organization. and the regional water company of Fars province was collected. Data analysis was done by mathematical programming method using GAMS software. The results showed that after implementing the model and determining the optimal cultivation pattern, the number of agricultural products in the plain increased by 50%. So that the number of products reached 18 products from 12 products. Also, the area under cultivation of crops in the optimal cultivation pattern decreased by 27% and reached 3861 ha from 5303 ha. Meanwhile, the amount of irrigation water of the optimal pattern caused a 26% reduction in the consumption of underground water resources. In addition, the amount of crop production in the current and optimal model was 8,469,3000 and 6,947,060 kg, respectively, and the decrease in the cultivated area has caused an 18% decrease in this index in the optimized model. However, the economic efficiency of the entire plain in the current and optimal model was calculated as 1975.37 and 2035.60 billion rials, respectively, which indicates a three percent increase in the optimal model. With regard to the direct effects of the modification of the cultivation pattern of the Qaderabad-Madarsolaman plain, including the increase in the number of agricultural products of the plain and the introduction of six crops with the highest economic water productivity into the optimal cultivation pattern, as well as the reduction of the area under cultivation of crops in the optimal cultivation pattern, and the increase of the economic efficiency of the entire plain in this pattern, it is expected that the index of physical productivity and economic productivity of the whole plain will also change. So, the physical water productivity index of the whole plain in the current and optimal model was obtained as 2.56 and 2.84 kg/m3, respectively. In the same way, the water economic productivity index of the whole plain was calculated as 59,607 and 83,086 rials per cubic meter, respectively. Therefore, the modification of the cultivation pattern in the Qaderabad-Madarsolaman plain resulted in the annual saving of 8.64 million cubic meters of water, an 11% increase in physical productivity, and a 39.4% increase in the economic productivity of water. Based on this, focusing on the water productivity index in the form of improving physical and economic productivity can be followed as a suitable approach to create synergy between all stakeholders and beneficiaries of the water sector in the management of water resources in the agricultural sector. In this approach, by focusing on increasing water productivity, in a defined time period, while minimizing the amount of production reduction, and by increasing the livelihood level of the users, it is possible to reduce the agricultural water consumption in the plains to the amount of programmable water.
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