Title: Optimisation of deficit-irrigation under variable seasonal rainfall and planning scenarios for rice in a semi-arid region of Iran

Authors: Mohammad Javad Amiri; Hossein Hamidifar; Mehdi Bahrami; Saeid Eslamian

Addresses: Department of Water Engineering, College of Agriculture, Fasa University, 74617-81189 Fasa, Iran ' Department of Water Engineering, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz 71365, Iran ' Department of Water Engineering, College of Agriculture, Fasa University, 74617-81189 Fasa, Iran ' Department of Water Engineering, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, 84156-83111, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract: The objective of this paper was to conduct economic analysis for optimum seasonal irrigation water application by considering seasonal rainfall under water (ww) and land limitation (wl) for rice in Isfahan province. The results showed that the values of ww and wl for different years decreased as the seasonal rainfall increased. The greatest applied water reduction occurred at water limiting condition with 50%-84% for 0-0.25 m seasonal rainfall. The greatest income per unit applied water occurred for water limiting condition and it increased from 41%-46% for 0-0.25 m seasonal rainfall, with respect to maximum yield condition. In water limiting condition, with decreased water consumption, the cultivated land increased from 1-5.2 times. In order to attain more net profit, values of ww and wl with a given amount of rainfall decreased with increasing the water price.

Keywords: economic analysis; deficit irrigation; land limiting; water limitation; Iran; optimisation; variable rainfall; seasonal rainfall; planning scenarios; rice; semi-arid regions; water consumption; water price.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHST.2016.079351

International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology, 2016 Vol.6 No.4, pp.331 - 343

Received: 16 Nov 2015
Accepted: 22 Dec 2015
Published online: 27 Sep 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article