The Karkheh River Basin: the food basket of Iran under pressure.

Two strategies are assessed to increase wheat production in the water-scarce Karkheh River Basin (KRB) in Iran to meet targets by the year 2025. The strategies proposed are (a) to increase yields in the current irrigated and rainfed wheat areas and (b) to increase the area under rainfed wheat throug...

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Main Authors: Ahmad, M.D., Giordano, Mark
Format: Book Chapter
Language:Inglés
Published: Routledge 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/34736
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author Ahmad, M.D.
Giordano, Mark
author_browse Ahmad, M.D.
Giordano, Mark
author_facet Ahmad, M.D.
Giordano, Mark
author_sort Ahmad, M.D.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Two strategies are assessed to increase wheat production in the water-scarce Karkheh River Basin (KRB) in Iran to meet targets by the year 2025. The strategies proposed are (a) to increase yields in the current irrigated and rainfed wheat areas and (b) to increase the area under rainfed wheat through land conversion. Crop water consumption, based on satellite remote sensing and crop yield data, was used to estimate crop water productivity (CWP) in irrigated and rainfed wheat areas in five sub-basins. CWP for wheat ranges from 0.5�1.63 kg m-3 in irrigated areas to 0.37�0.62 kg m-3 in rainfed areas. Conditions indicating water-stress in wheat areas were assessed by relative evapotranspiration (ETa/ETp) and showed that water-stress only had a minimal effect for about 154,000 ha of irrigated wheat (57%). Land suitability analysis showed that about 71,000 ha of rangelands can be converted into rainfed wheat areas without harming the current water balance in the basin. Statistical analyses showed that more than 70% of the variation in irrigated and rainfed wheat yield at plot level can be explained by water, fertilizer and seed rates. This suggests that wheat production can be increased by improving inputs other than water. Results from this study indicate that it is possible to meet approximately 85% of the wheat production targets in the year 2025 when strategies are combined.
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spelling CGSpace347362023-06-08T19:32:08Z The Karkheh River Basin: the food basket of Iran under pressure. Ahmad, M.D. Giordano, Mark irrigated farming rainfed farming wheats watersheds water use evapotranspiration drought stress remote sensing surveys land use mapping land suitability Two strategies are assessed to increase wheat production in the water-scarce Karkheh River Basin (KRB) in Iran to meet targets by the year 2025. The strategies proposed are (a) to increase yields in the current irrigated and rainfed wheat areas and (b) to increase the area under rainfed wheat through land conversion. Crop water consumption, based on satellite remote sensing and crop yield data, was used to estimate crop water productivity (CWP) in irrigated and rainfed wheat areas in five sub-basins. CWP for wheat ranges from 0.5�1.63 kg m-3 in irrigated areas to 0.37�0.62 kg m-3 in rainfed areas. Conditions indicating water-stress in wheat areas were assessed by relative evapotranspiration (ETa/ETp) and showed that water-stress only had a minimal effect for about 154,000 ha of irrigated wheat (57%). Land suitability analysis showed that about 71,000 ha of rangelands can be converted into rainfed wheat areas without harming the current water balance in the basin. Statistical analyses showed that more than 70% of the variation in irrigated and rainfed wheat yield at plot level can be explained by water, fertilizer and seed rates. This suggests that wheat production can be increased by improving inputs other than water. Results from this study indicate that it is possible to meet approximately 85% of the wheat production targets in the year 2025 when strategies are combined. 2012 2014-02-02T16:39:50Z 2014-02-02T16:39:50Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/34736 en Limited Access Routledge Ahmad, M. D.; Giordano, Mark. 2012. The Karkheh River Basin: the food basket of Iran under pressure. In Fisher, M.; Cook, Simon (Eds.). Water, food and poverty in river basins: defining the limits. London, UK: Routledge. pp.59-81.
spellingShingle irrigated farming
rainfed farming
wheats
watersheds
water use
evapotranspiration
drought stress
remote sensing
surveys
land use mapping
land suitability
Ahmad, M.D.
Giordano, Mark
The Karkheh River Basin: the food basket of Iran under pressure.
title The Karkheh River Basin: the food basket of Iran under pressure.
title_full The Karkheh River Basin: the food basket of Iran under pressure.
title_fullStr The Karkheh River Basin: the food basket of Iran under pressure.
title_full_unstemmed The Karkheh River Basin: the food basket of Iran under pressure.
title_short The Karkheh River Basin: the food basket of Iran under pressure.
title_sort karkheh river basin the food basket of iran under pressure
topic irrigated farming
rainfed farming
wheats
watersheds
water use
evapotranspiration
drought stress
remote sensing
surveys
land use mapping
land suitability
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/34736
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