Determining Yield Gap and Potential for Improved Production of Irrigated Canola in Iran

The present study tries to estimate the yield gap of irrigated canola in Iran as the first step for planning sustainable improvement of production. It has been performed in the modeling laboratory of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in 2017-2019. The protocol provided by the GYGA project is used for detection of climatic zones as well as major weather stations in canola production regions to estimate the yield gap. The actual yield of the irrigated canola in its major production regions is between 1184 to 2358 kg ha-1. The range of potential yield is estimated between and 3823 and 6520 kg ha-1. The highest potential yields belongs to Hamedan and Lorestan provinces and the lowest value to Khuzestan Plain. The range of the yield gap in its major production regions in the country is 2480 to 4365 kg ha-1, i.e. 53% to 77% of gap and with an average, 3276 kg ha-1 equal to 65% of the gap. With respect to the exploitable yield as the target yield, the exploitable yield is between 1544 and 3208 kg ha-1, with an average of 2261 kg ha-1. The magnitude of this gap indicates that the potentials of canola production in Iran are not exploited properly. Analyzing the reasons and methods of amendment the present yield gap and adoption of efficient management methods to achieve higher yields is crucial with regard to food security and economic.