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.