estimation of excess water use in agricultural sector(case study: cultivation part of boshruye province)

abstract the existence of various perceptions related to the efficiency of water use in agricultural sector can hamper the development of appropriate water resource conservation policies. particularly, when there has been an emphasis on increasing water use efficiency by improvement in irrigation systems. the main purpose of current study is to estimate excess water use for a sample of 15 farms by simple stochastic sampling, located in southern khorasan province during 2000-2006 by data envelopment analysis (dea). results showed that, there is a very weak association between irrigation systems and the level of excess water use. management had an effective role in water use efficiency. there was a positive and negative relationship between age, size of farms and excess water use, respectively. also differences in the amount of excess water use between farms located in two different locations (eastern and southern) were also shown. according to findings, the efficient farmers can be considering as a measure for improving water use efficiency in the area under study.