Water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the Karkheh River Basin of Iran

Karkheh River Basin (KRB) is the third largest and most productive river basin of Iran. The major agricultural issue of KRB is low water use efficiencies. Farmers' irrigation practices are aimed at maximizing crop production through excessive use of irrigation water resulting in huge water losses. A...

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Autores principales: Qureshi, Asad Sarwar, Oweis, Theib Y., Karimi, Poolad, Porehemmat, J.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Wiley 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40654
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author Qureshi, Asad Sarwar
Oweis, Theib Y.
Karimi, Poolad
Porehemmat, J.
author_browse Karimi, Poolad
Oweis, Theib Y.
Porehemmat, J.
Qureshi, Asad Sarwar
author_facet Qureshi, Asad Sarwar
Oweis, Theib Y.
Karimi, Poolad
Porehemmat, J.
author_sort Qureshi, Asad Sarwar
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Karkheh River Basin (KRB) is the third largest and most productive river basin of Iran. The major agricultural issue of KRB is low water use efficiencies. Farmers' irrigation practices are aimed at maximizing crop production through excessive use of irrigation water resulting in huge water losses. As the opportunities for water resources development in KRB are very limited, improving the productivity of existing water resources is the most attractive option to produce more food for the increasing population. This paper analyzes water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the KRB. The results reveal that farmers having access to groundwater tend to apply higher irrigation amounts. Relatively higher crop yields in irrigated areas are also linked to higher nitrogen use, which can create serious problems of groundwater contamination in future. Due to excessive use of groundwater and fertilizer, production costs have increased resulting in low gross margins (farm incomes). The study suggests that increase in charges for surface water use removal of subsidies on electricity will discourage excessive use of water for agriculture. Furthermore, farmers should be trained to optimize irrigation water and fertilizer application in order to save scarce water resources and reduce production costs and increase farm returns. These steps are of great importance for ensuring sustainability of irrigated agriculture and to alleviate poverty in rural areas of KRB.
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spelling CGSpace406542025-06-17T08:23:50Z Water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the Karkheh River Basin of Iran Qureshi, Asad Sarwar Oweis, Theib Y. Karimi, Poolad Porehemmat, J. river basins irrigation practices groundwater irrigation wheat maize crop production crop yield productivity Karkheh River Basin (KRB) is the third largest and most productive river basin of Iran. The major agricultural issue of KRB is low water use efficiencies. Farmers' irrigation practices are aimed at maximizing crop production through excessive use of irrigation water resulting in huge water losses. As the opportunities for water resources development in KRB are very limited, improving the productivity of existing water resources is the most attractive option to produce more food for the increasing population. This paper analyzes water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the KRB. The results reveal that farmers having access to groundwater tend to apply higher irrigation amounts. Relatively higher crop yields in irrigated areas are also linked to higher nitrogen use, which can create serious problems of groundwater contamination in future. Due to excessive use of groundwater and fertilizer, production costs have increased resulting in low gross margins (farm incomes). The study suggests that increase in charges for surface water use removal of subsidies on electricity will discourage excessive use of water for agriculture. Furthermore, farmers should be trained to optimize irrigation water and fertilizer application in order to save scarce water resources and reduce production costs and increase farm returns. These steps are of great importance for ensuring sustainability of irrigated agriculture and to alleviate poverty in rural areas of KRB. 2009 2014-06-13T14:48:07Z 2014-06-13T14:48:07Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40654 en Limited Access Wiley Qureshi, Asad Sarwar; Oweis, T.; Karimi, Poolad; Porehemmat, J. 2009. Water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the Karkheh River Basin of Iran. Irrigation and Drainage, 59(3):264?276. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.481
spellingShingle river basins
irrigation practices
groundwater irrigation
wheat
maize
crop production
crop yield
productivity
Qureshi, Asad Sarwar
Oweis, Theib Y.
Karimi, Poolad
Porehemmat, J.
Water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the Karkheh River Basin of Iran
title Water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the Karkheh River Basin of Iran
title_full Water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the Karkheh River Basin of Iran
title_fullStr Water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the Karkheh River Basin of Iran
title_full_unstemmed Water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the Karkheh River Basin of Iran
title_short Water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the Karkheh River Basin of Iran
title_sort water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize in the karkheh river basin of iran
topic river basins
irrigation practices
groundwater irrigation
wheat
maize
crop production
crop yield
productivity
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40654
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AT karimipoolad waterproductivityofirrigatedwheatandmaizeinthekarkhehriverbasinofiran
AT porehemmatj waterproductivityofirrigatedwheatandmaizeinthekarkhehriverbasinofiran