Determination of Optimal Cropping Pattern Due to Water Deficit: A Case Study in the South of Iran

Determination of optimal cropping pattern is essential for arid and semiarid regions with deficit water resources. Fars province is located in the southern part of I.R. of Iran with mean annual precipitation from 50 to 1000 mm and in most parts of this province water resources for agriculture are deficit. Jahrom region with semi-arid climate is located in Fars province with mean annual rainfall of 373 mm. In this study optimal cropping pattern was determined for this region based on water deficit condition. For this purpose, multi-objective programming approach was applied in order to reduce water consumption use. The results of this study showed that, there was trade offs among reduce water use, reduce risk and getting a specific gross margin. Also, the results showed that, wheat tended to increase, causing from price supporting program, indicating the government intervention trace in farmers cropping pattern. Therefore sustainable use of resources is affected by output condition in market. Furthermore, the area of maize and vegetables were increased in all of selected solutions as compared to their current area. Also, the findings of this study performed intended polices in crop markets may alter the water usage.