Comprehensive Study of the Crop Water Productivity in Bushehr Province, Iran

Increasing population leads to intensification of water shortage problems in arid regions. Agriculture sector is the main user of water in Iran. Bushehr province with an arid and semiarid climate is located in the south of Iran. Improvement of water productivity (WP), the value or benefit derived from the use of water, is essential in the agriculture sector for achieving food security and sustainable development in the area. This study was carried out to investigate the agriculture water productivity of various crops in 161 fields with different irrigation systems. Results showed that the range of WPs in tomato, wheat, tobacco, watermelon, palm and lemon were 2.88-12.77 kg/m3, 0.21-0.45 kg/m3, 0.18-0.19 kg/m3, 2.67-7.73 kg/m3, 0.48-1.7 kg/m3 and 1.40-1.97 kg/m3, respectively. Use of localized irrigation systems has improved WP in most crops, especially in tomato and watermelon it has increased more than 4 times. In addition, results indicated that some crops, such as wheat, have a very low neat benefit and an economical water productivity (0-1.7 thousand Rial/m3). Considering severe water shortage problems in the study area, promotion of irrigation systems and adopting the optimum crop patterns based on the WP should be considered.