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nader heydari
Abstract
Wheat is considered a strategic crop in the country and even in the world. It covers a large area under cultivation (approximately 50% of the country's cultivated lands).The main objective of this study was to review and analyze wheat WP in Iran and compare it with data of some other world countries. ...
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Wheat is considered a strategic crop in the country and even in the world. It covers a large area under cultivation (approximately 50% of the country's cultivated lands).The main objective of this study was to review and analyze wheat WP in Iran and compare it with data of some other world countries. For this purpose, national and international scientific references were collected and reviewed, and the reported values for wheat WP (at the national, basin, and provincial scales) were arranged, calculated, and summarized, and necessary analyses and some conclusions were derived. According to the results, the range of wheat WP values in Iran and the world is very wide (0.25-2.2 and 0.3-3.9 kg/m3, respectively), depending on the geographical areas, water and soil conditions, different irrigation systems, climate, etc. The country's wheat WP (on a national scale) is estimated at 0.87 kg/m3, which is in the middle range compared to world. However, based on the reported wheat WP at the provincial level, the average wheat WP in the country is equal to 0.75 kg/m3, which is again in the (lower) middle range in comparison with the global values. Comparison of WP mean value at provincial level (0.75 kg/m3) with the average WP of 10 major wheat producing countries (0.93 kg/m3), indicated that the country's wheat WP is about 25% lower than the average of these countries. Moreover, the Iranian national wheat WP and the global scale average of this index is about 0.93 and 1.1 kg/m3, respectively. Therefore, the value of the country's wheat WP is not very low compared to the global average, and there is a relatively small gap (just 22%) with the global average. However, it is far from the values of the leading wheat producing countries (1.4 kg/m3), such as most Western European countries, South Africa, and Egypt in the Middle East, with a relatively large distance (50% lower). In conclusion, the range of wheat’s WP are very wide in different provinces and regions of the country, therefore there are many opportunities to increase it event up to twofold. This target could be achieved in the country in the medium term with the necessary investments and planning.
edris morsali; nader heydari; Abbas Zare; Hamidreza Hatami
Abstract
Infrastructure factors provide the main basis for agricultural production and activity under conditions of limited water resources and are considered as strategic requirement for improving this sector. The aim of this research was recognition, determination of importance and level of effectiveness, and ...
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Infrastructure factors provide the main basis for agricultural production and activity under conditions of limited water resources and are considered as strategic requirement for improving this sector. The aim of this research was recognition, determination of importance and level of effectiveness, and investigating the relation of infrastructural components and indicators in improving agricultural water productivity. The method used for this research was field surveying type in which, after documentary and library studies, a self-made questionnaire was developed for interview with professionals and practitioners to gather their opinion on the importance level of different indicators using a Likert Scale, followed by analysis of questions and assumptions. The research indicated the relation and effectiveness level of variables by means of structural equation modeling and Smart PLS software. According to the obtained results, emphasis of infrastructures were on the side of agricultural water supply, while lack of demand oriented approach, process, systematic, and holistic view were among the main problems of the infrastructures. Also, components such as “downstream instrumentation of the fields and wells with water measurement devices and controlling irrigation water” and “share of downstream farms equipped with systems for lowering water consumption out of the total cultivated area” were among the most effective factors. It was shown that by taking other variables as constant, agricultural water infrastructures have been effective (about 87.6%) on improvement of agricultural water productivity, and there is a positive and meaningful relation between each one of the components and related indicators.
E M; N H; A Z; H H
Abstract
Iran has been faced with severe water resources scarcity and significant share of these scarce resources have been used in agricultural sector. One of the most important strategies for reducing the impact of these shortages is to improve the agricultural water productivity (WP) and to reduce ...
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Iran has been faced with severe water resources scarcity and significant share of these scarce resources have been used in agricultural sector. One of the most important strategies for reducing the impact of these shortages is to improve the agricultural water productivity (WP) and to reduce utilization of water resources, which will be discussed in this article. This research is of both applied and development type and its methodology was based on library studies and field activities, using documentary study, survey and exploration. The statistical population consisted of experts and specialists of administrative institutions, university professors and research specialists in the field of agricultural WP, together with experienced farmers. All these stakeholders were selected by purposive sampling method. The study aimed to identify the most important processes for improving WP and to prioritize them. Through library and archival studies, and then by using the feedback obtained from professional meetings and interviews with the experts and stakeholders. Therefore, 2 centric process, 4 main processes, and 16 index processes were identified and were identified by means of questionnaire. The ranking of importance was determined on a LIKERT five option range, and then the results, questions, and hypotheses were examined by help of statistical software. Accordingly, the impacts of identified processes on improving WP were different, but all the processes had strong positive impact. Of the two centric process, "agricultural product reform processes" by a factor of 0.938, among the 4 main process, "reform process of agricultural production" by a coefficient of 0.786, and among the 16 indicators processes, the process of "reuse (recycling of) agricultural water" with a coefficient of 0.785, had the greatest impact on improving agricultural WP.