Evaluation of Virtual Water, Water Productivity and Ecological Footprint in Wheat and Maize Farms in West of Iran: A Case Study of Kouzaran Region, Kermanshah Province

The study of virtual water and water productivity in agricultural crops requires the establishment of relations where represent the actual amount of water in order to produce the respective crop. This feature presents a new approach in studies regarding agricultural ecology. This survey evaluates the virtual water, water productivity and ecological water footprint of wheat and corn fields in the Kouzaran region which is located in the center of Kermanshah province in the period of 2013 to 2014. Results showed that the amount of virtual water in wheat systems in the region with irrigation efficiency equal to 100, 40 and 32 percent were 2202, 3523 and 3699 m3/ton, respectively. For the aforementioned efficiencies, these numbers for corn were 2417, 3867 and 4060 ton/m3, respectively. The amount of water productivity for wheat systems were 0.454, 0.283 and 0.27 whilst for corn systems were 0.413 and 0.258 and 0.246 ton/m3. The ecological water footprint for irrigated wheat systems with 4851 hectares of cultivated land was 18251150 m3/year and for corn systems with 2523 hectares of cultivated land was 10550601 m3/year. According to the findings of the current study, is suggested that considering the severe water shortages in the region, cultivation of high-consuming crops such as corn must be stopped and alternative plants like saffron must be replaced in the Kouzaran's farmers’ agricultural planning. Improving productivity and efficiency of irrigation as well as decreasing irrigated wheat cultivation must be considered as main priorities in the region, simultaneously much more investments should be allocated to rain-fed wheat cultivation and supplementary irrigation in order to overcome current problems..