Comparison of Irrigation Water Management Indices of Silage maize in Modern and Conventional Irrigation Networks

Despite the importance of determining and measuring the indices of irrigation water management in the agricultural sector for application in macroeconomic planning, these indices have not yet been done in modern and conventional irrigation networks. Therefore, the present study was conducted to compare the indices of irrigation water management (water consumed, water productivity and water application efficiency) in modern and conventional irrigation networks producing silage maize in Iran. The data were obtained by direct measurements from fields in the provinces of Alborz, Tehran, Fars, Khuzestan, Khorasan Razavi, Ardebil, Isfahan and Qazvin, which covered about 70% of areas under cultivation of silage maize in Iran, in more than 100 farms in modern and conventional irrigation networks. Results showed that the differences in water consumption and water productivity indices of modern and conventional irrigation networks were statistically significant to produce silage maize. Consequently, the yield of silage maize measured 50.54 and 54.32 ton ha-1, water consumption measured 6983 and 9085 m3 ha-1 ,water productivity measured 7.46 and 6.26 kg m-3, and water application efficiency measured 73% and 68% under the modern and conventional networks, respectively. These findings indicate that development of modern irrigation networks can promote water productivity and are valuable to be applied in the five-year national development plan and economic programs.