Water Productivity Index and Solutions for Future Agricultural Activities in Iran

As water resources constantly shrink and due to climate changes in the past few decades and increased demand for water in industrial, household and environmental sectors, water consumption in agriculture sector as the main consumer of water resources, should be controlled in favor of other sectors. Obviously, controlling this process needs special components. Water productivity index is one of those components, which has come to the fore in national plans during the past years. Water productivity in agriculture sector describes the value of a unit of water in terms of economic income, social conditions, as well as the amount of calories and proteins that it produces. When water yield in terms of evaporation from plants is the sole performance index, more attention is paid to efficiency of water consumption. Productivity can be estimated in terms of crops, livestock, forests, culture farms, production units, farms, irrigation system, irrigation network, basins, and natural areas (such as pastures and green spaces). Increased productivity can directly and indirectly improve living standards of local communities by increasing production per unit of consumed water. At present, water productivity for agriculture sector in Iran is about 0.88 kg for every cubic meters of water which should at least increase to 2 according to the 20-Year Perspective Plan. Differences in water productivity for different crops in different Iranian provinces and its comparison with other countries with similar climatic conditions reveals more potentials for increasing water productivity in agriculture sector. Several policies can help to increase productivity which include: 1) changing the policy of increasing land productivity index in favor of water productivity; 2) development of research activities on agricultural crops which need less water, have shorter growth period, and are more resistant to environment tensions such as dry spells; 3) development of improved farming methods such as “no tillage” and “minimum tillage” methods; promoting irrigation management in early growth stages (by reducing water consumption); seeding raw crops in greenhouse and using less water; 4) taking advantage of virtual water index; and 5) improving irrigation management