Evaluation of water shortage in wheat production at Iran

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Natural resources Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran

2 Department of Water Sciences and Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

3 Department of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran

4 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia

10.22059/ije.2023.348718.1683

Abstract

Agriculture has the largest share of total water consumption in the world. Among the cereals, the high consumption and demand of wheat has made it a strategic product. Due to the high level of wheat cultivation in the world, the amount of water used for its production can significantly affect the total water used in the agricultural sector and pose a serious threat to access to water resources. This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the water shortage in wheat production in Iran, emphasizing the framework of the water footprint in the country during the statistical period of 2007-2018. The results of this study showed that the share of blue, green and gray water footprints is 71.76, 15.87 and 13.11% of the total water footprint in the production of Faryab wheat and 55 and 38.34% of the green water footprint respectively. And it forms gray in dry wheat in Iran. Also, the results showed that the average water stress index of wheat production in the country is 0.6, and the range of spatial changes of this index varies from 0.01 in Guilan to 3.01 in Ardebil at the North. The highest level of water self-sufficiency index (lowest dependency index) is related to North Khorasan, Khuzestan and Fars provinces with an average value of 70% and the lowest level of self-sufficiency index is related to Guilan province (2%), Mazandaran 9% and Tehran 16% (highest dependency index). The present study will be very helpful for making decisions about the sustainable management of water resources for wheat production in Iran.

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Main Subjects

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Iranian journal of Ecohydrology
Volume 9, Issue 4
January 2023
Pages 719-732

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History

  • Receive Date: 11 July 2022
  • Revise Date: 19 August 2022
  • Accept Date: 19 December 2022

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