نادر حیدری

Participatory irrigation management (PIM) and at utmost level irrigation management transfer (IMT) are processes that have been carried out in the water sector of most countries all around the world for more than two decades. In Iran, such activities have also been carried out in different aspects including mainstreaming of its literature; entering it into the programs, laws, and macro-level policies, the establishment of a few number of Water Users Associations (WUA), and implementing PIM on a limited scale and in some pilot projects in recent years. According to surveys, the process of this issue in the country has been slow, scattered and has faced different problems and challenges. The review of scientific sources and the investigation and analysis carried out for the problem finding regarding the subject in this study indicate that the implementation of the PIM and IMT programs have various issues and challenges in Iran, which important ones are:1) issues of being in charge of the matter, 2) lack of necessary coordination, parallel work and interference of different agencies in each other's affairs 3) absence or lack of necessary determination and will regarding the issue despite its importance and different emphasis in the laws and macro-level documents, 4) the long time passed and the necessity of various changes in the structure of water management due to the growing crisis of water shortage in the country, 5) centralization and not having or not giving the necessary place to WUA from the aspects of the structure, the description of duties and authorities and their ultimate independence, 6) weaknesses in the empowerment of WUA and necessary facilitations for their formation and sustainability, 7) lack of necessary infrastructures and inconvenience of work from various aspects such as non-volumetric delivery of water, closure and or non-implementation of some related laws and regulations, indecision of the relevant organization in doing their work, and competition of water distribution companies to create WUA and relevant conflict of interest issues, 8) lack of necessary research and field studies regarding the issue, 9) the emergence of new challenges in the objectives of the subject and the introduction of some new terms in the discourse of the definition of WUA, specifically in Iran, such as the introduction of the term “land use” into the topic, i.e., calling it as water and land exploitation associations instead of just WUA, and 10) special issues and challenges in the creation and stability of well or underground water users associations (W-WUA). A lot of time (more than three decades) has passed since the introduction of PIM to the scientific and executive literature on water management. There is a long pause in its complete and effective implementation in Iran. During this period some new debates in the country's water management such as creating local water markets, water accounting, water reallocation, etc., have emerged. Moreover, the growing shortage of water resources and the issues of climate change over this period bring the continuation of PIM in the country into a new field and environment. All these necessitate newer studies for revisions in PIM and IMT implementation methods and approaches by taking into account the socio-cultural issues of the regions and on a case-by-case basis.

Considering the limitation of water resources and the need to increase water productivity in the production of agricultural products, the development of new irrigation systems has been one of the most important policies and activities of the agricultural water sector in recent decades. The purpose of this research is to quantitatively investigate the development of pressurized irrigation development in Iran and compare it with other countries and regions of the world using the pressurized irrigation development index, and finally the estimation of the optimal and expected level of its development for the country. According to the results, the PDI index until the end of the sixth development program (2020) is 21.4%, which is low compared to other 23 selected countries. Using the multivariable correlation method between the values of the variables affecting water management such as per capita withdrawal, the share of withdrawal from water resources in the agricultural sector, the area of irrigated lands, and the PDI index of 14 selected countries and applying values like for the Iran country, the desired and expected level of pressurized irrigation in the country was estimated at 49.2%. In other words, in the coming years it is possible to reduce the negative and undesirable effects of the unbalanced development of modern systems on water resources and the environment, and prevent the occurrence of the phenomenon of "rebound effect", in a favorable and potential way, up to half of the irrigated lands in the country should be equipped with pressurized irrigation systems. Meanwhile, according to the latest statistics, until the beginnings of 2023, the PDI has reached to 30% (2.9 million hectares). Therefore, there is still room for further development in terms of the necessary arrangements and under the condition of creating infrastructures, and necessary control rules and regulations by the related organizations.

The water productivity index (WP), which is defined as the crop produced per unit of consumed water, has been considered as a key indicator for the optimal use of water in the agricultural sector. It has been heavily relied upon in the Iran's agricultural water policies and plans. However despite several years have passed since the introduction of this concept and index, unfortunately, water crisis still exists and is expanding in the country and measures to increase WP in agricultural products have not yet been able to effectively solve the country's water issues. In this review-analytical paper, the issues and challenges of using this index in practice have been discussed and the shortcomings, challenges, measures, and infrastructure necessary for the proper use of this index have been discussed and analyzed. According to the results, there are hidden issues and challenges (in 8 groups) in its application. The most important of which are the need to deeply understand the concept and definition of WP in the country's expert and management community, and the problems and issues of using the index from the aspect of lack of the required infrastructure for the proper impacts of improving WP in mitigating water scarcity. According to the identified issues and challenges, it was concluded that improving WP could not be a sole measure to solve the country's water crisis, because it fulfills just initial conditions. In order to fulfill conditions sufficiently and to implement related comprehensive measures and interventions, the necessary hardware, software, legal, and policy infrastructures must be provided.

The goals of irrigation modernization are mainly focused on increasing irrigation efficiency, improving water productivity, and ultimately reducing irrigation water consumption and saving scarce water resources in these countries. Meanwhile, various studies have shown that increasing irrigation efficiency and improving water productivity through the development of the use of efficient and modern irrigation systems, sometimes did not lead to real savings and reduction of agricultural water consumption as expected or vice versa, it has caused its increase. This phenomenon is called "rebound effect” of water. The concept of the rebound effect phenomenon is that with the use of efficient irrigation technologies, irrigation efficiency and water productivity increase, but part or all of the expected saved water may be offset by more water consumption. The effective factors and reasons for the rebound effect phenomenon are mainly: the increase in the irrigated area following the reduction of water consumption, the increase in evapotranspiration due to the change in the cropping pattern and increased crop yield, reduction in the quantity and quality of return flows due to increased irrigation efficiency, deficit irrigation to provide enough water for the increased cultivated area. In general, there is a need to mainstream the literature on the subject and following determining the extent of rebound effect and the necessary analysis, relevant hints to the policy makers and those responsible for the development of new irrigation technologies should be given to adopt a suitable policy and to take actions to implement technical, economic-social and political solutions.

Irrigation modernization is the process of updating and improving an existing irrigation plan in order to achieve advanced technical, economic, or social goals. This research was carried out with the aim of developing a basic road map for the modernization of irrigation networks and emphasizing the related issues and challenges in the agricultural water sector of Iran. By combining the results of the main and key influencing factors in the basic roadmap for the modernization of irrigation networks related to the expected goals; issues, problems, and obstacles; strategies/solutions (actions); the type of modernization and its location in the network; priority indicators in the selection of networks; effectiveness monitoring indicators and methods; and how the discussion of modernization enters to the laws, macro-level documents, and development plans; were identified and compiled. Based on the results, the group of economic-social and institutional-political-legal issues and problems is more important than the issues of other groups, i.e. technical and environmental. Among the key issues of this group, the issues of empowering users, the exploitation system, the level of acceptance and participation of users, and weaknesses in proper and systematic coordination and communication between the institutions in charge of the issue, could be mentioned.Other important challenges from the aspects of implementing the road map and adopting policies and solutions for the modernization of irrigation networks in the Iran country include: a comprehensive approach to modernization and its implementation from the water supply source, the water conveyance network, the farm , and the irrigation system ("practically irrigation irrigation") and the challenge of delivering volumetric and accurate water for use instead of delivering it based on the water rights; issues and challenges related to the training of specialized human resources (experts and extension staff); and capacity building in operators to create modern farmers.
Other important and challenging points from the aspect of implementing the road map and adopting modernization policies and solutions in the country are: In the process of implementing the modernization roadmap, the entire system, that is, from the water supply source, the conveyance network (both main and secondary canals), to the farm and the irrigation system, should be seen together and integrated, as far as the consensus of opinion is that the title of this integrated process should be called "irrigation modernization" (not irrigation network modernization).
 The challenge of paying attention to the rehabilitation and its integration and simultaneous implementation with the main activities of modernization.
 Modernization is one of the requirements of changing the supply-based water distribution system to a water demand-based distribution system. But at the same time, it should be noted that due to the lack of water in the networks due to drought, climate change, the expansion of the cultivated area, etc., and as a result of the increase in water demand, the water requirement of the command areas of the network should be provided by a conjunctive method and modernization should not cause social tensions in the network in this regard.
 The challenge of creating the platform and hardware and software infrastructures necessary for social and cooperative management of operation and maintenance of networks and in the framework of compiling and establishing a "participatory water exploitation system".
 The challenge of volume delivery of water and the accurate determination of applied and required water in the farm, considering that water delivery is based solely on traditional and historical concepts and methods, and the existence of previous traditional and outdated water rights is another challenge in the field of implementing modernization.
 Issues and challenges related to the weaknesses in the training of experts in the field of modernization and required technologies and the lack of related research projects in universities and research institutes.
 Challenges related to weaknesses in specialized training for extension staff and farmers and overall weaknesses in capacity building and the problem of creating modern farmers.

Karkheh watershed is located in the western to southwestern region of Iran and in a dry to semi-arid region. The existence of different agricultural systems, including irrigated and rainfed agriculture, low water efficiency, the existence of production limitations (salinity and drainage management in the downstream), poverty and lack of livelihood of local communities (upstream), the issues of upstream-downstream impacts of the basin, environmental issues, etc., led to the proposal of the Karkheh watershed as a suitable model in the country for the CGIAR Global Water and Food Challenge Program (known as CPWF). Therefore, this basin was chosen as one of the representative watersheds among the other nine watersheds of this global program, as a model for arid and semi-arid regions of the world, and the program was implemented during phase one of the program (2004 to 2008). In the implementation of this program, approaches, organization and mechanism, management structure, technical and program criteria, basin management principles, stakeholders' participation, innovations and ways of presenting outputs, in different stages of basin selection, program start and during The implementation of projects approved by the program were adopted and used. The main objective of this article is to document the methodology used during the process of implementing the CPWF international research and development program in the Karkheh Basin, so that its hidden knowledge is revealed, related experiences and achievements are documented, and used for future uses in other similar projects in this or other basins in the country. The study method is mainly based and derived from the study and analysis of program documentation archives, reports, discussions held during the meetings, the results of workshops and national and international conferences and the reports of the field visits carried out during the implementation of the global CPWF program and the implementation of this program in Karkheh basin. Among the important achievements and methodologies and the documented indicators of the program, one can include the methodology of collaborative development of technologies, the examination of the paths of project results, the criteria for selecting research sites, and the methodology for determining the principles of integrated watershed management which are presented and explained in detail in this article.

FAO defines irrigation modernization as a combination strategy of institutional, managerial and technological changes with the aim of changing from a purely supply-oriented operational mode to a service-oriented one. While the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) defines irrigation modernization as the process of improving the existing project to meet new project criteria. This definition includes changes in existing facilities, operational procedures, management, and institutional aspects (Arif et al., 2019; Burt, 2013). Population growth and greater demand for water to produce agricultural products on the one hand and the occurrence of droughts and climate change on the other hand have led to a sharp decrease in water resources and the lack of water needed in the agricultural sector, as the largest water consuming sector in Iran. Due to the lack of water resources stored behind dams and water supply reservoirs, in practice only 2.9 million hectares of the 3.2 million hectares of main irrigation networks in Iran are being exploited. Due to the water crisis and the need to optimize water use in irrigation networks, modernization of these networks in the country is more important than ever. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the issues and challenges of modernization of irrigation networks in Iran from the perspective of experts and executives related to the subject. This research is in line with the first stage of a comprehensive study on the subject and the development of a road map for the modernization of irrigation networks in the conditions of water resource shortage. For this purpose, after a comprehensive review of scientific sources, a specialized questionnaire was compiled with the cooperation and opinion of the relevant executive bodies in charge of the subject. In the questionnaire, the following points were raised: the importance and priority of modernization, the level of attention given to the issue and the speed with which action was taken, the potential inhibiting factors, the factors that drive and facilitate the process, the impact of modernization on the various components of water management in the network and its agricultural production, effective parameters and necessary criteria in the selection and prioritization of networks for modernization, internal and external obstacles to the implementation of the modernization process, the effect of modernization on actual water saving, and other opinions and suggestions. Based on the results, the majority of the respondents emphasized the necessity of modernization of irrigation networks in Iran. The results of counting and evaluating various key and effective components and factors regarding the process of modernization of irrigation networks with different degrees of importance (more than 50 components with very high to high degree of importance) indicate that the implementation of this process is complex and it requires many factors, variables, and infrastructure to be available. It is on this basis that most scientific literature recommend that this process should be gradual and with sufficient study. Overall, many background-infrastructural factors play a role in the process of modernization of irrigation networks in Iran. However, components or factors such as policies and laws, institutional and political reforms, volumetric delivery of water, socio-economic criteria, empowerment of utilization systems, definition and main goal from modernization, issues of delivery and distribution of water, O&M costs, effects of modernization on real water saving, and improving the production and livelihood of farmers, have a great role in this regard. The impact of modernization on various performance indicators of the network, especially the actual water saving, the purpose and specific definition of modernization, the way of participation of stakeholders in the work process, and the issues of O&M after modernization process, are among the important issues that need further studies. In this article, the results of the analysis and evaluation of the opinions obtained from the stakeholders regarding the modernization of irrigation networks in Iran are presented. Also, the discussions and analyzes necessary for the first step in "compilation of the road map for the modernization of irrigation networks in Iran" have been carried out.

Wheat is a strategic crop in Iran . As a result, various policies and plans have been developed and or implemented in Iran. In macro-level documents, attention to this crop as a strategic crop is still low. However, in the policies and executive plans within the system of those in charge of crop production , it is one of the main challenges and concerns and various policies and plan have been developed and implemented. Such as policies and plan to use more modern irrigation methods , more use of conservation agriculture, “mutation plan” of crop production in rainfed agriculture, various research-development plans with international research institutes, agro-technics and breeding programs, implementation of the plan to increase wheat self-reliance, increase, the productivity of cereals-based production systems, increase the yield and water productivity of wheat in wheat systems, and formulate policies and implement instructions related to encouraging the nominated farmers with high water productivity. Of the highlights of these policies and plans is the special attention to improving the production of rainfed crops and more involvement of the private sector and relevant institutions in improving the production and productivity of this crop. However, the results of this study show that the developed policies and plans have not been well documented, developed, and or codified, and are mostly in the form of official statements in the media or case reports and circulars. Moreover, reviewing the progress and monitoring of these policies and plans in regard to identify obstacles to their implementation, as well as their cross-sectional and sustainability in terms of work continuation, are some of the weaknesses and shortcomings of such policies and plans. In conclusion, recommendations and solutions of various categories including planning-policies and strategies to improve the yield and water productivity of wheat in the country are presented.

Wheat is considered a strategic crop in the country and even in the world. It covers a large area under cultivation (approximately 50% of the country's irrigated lands).The main objective of this study was to review and analyze wheat WP in Iran and compare it with data of some other world countries. For this purpose, national and international scientific references were collected and reviewed, and the reported values for wheat WP (at the national, basin, and provincial scales) were arranged, calculated, and summarized, and necessary analyses and some conclusions were derived. According to the results, the range of wheat WP values in Iran and the world is very wide (0.25-2.2 and 0.3-3.9 kg/m3, respectively), depending on the geographical areas, water and soil conditions, different irrigation systems, climate, etc. The country's wheat WP (on a national scale) is estimated at 0.87 kg/m3, which is in the middle range compared to world. However, based on the reported wheat WP at the provincial level, the average wheat WP in the country is equal to 0.75 kg/m3, which is again in the (lower) middle range in comparison with the global values. Comparison of  WP mean value at provincial level (0.75 kg/m3) with the average WP of 10 major wheat producing countries (0.93 kg/m3), indicated that the country's wheat WP is about 25% lower than the average of these countries. Moreover, the Iranian national wheat WP and the global scale average of this index is about 0.93 and 1.1 kg/m3, respectively. Therefore, the value of the country's wheat WP is not very low compared to the global average, and there is a relatively small gap (just 22%) with the global average. However, it is far from the values of the leading wheat producing countries (1.4 kg/m3), such as most Western European countries, South Africa, and Egypt in the Middle East, with a relatively large distance (50% lower). In conclusion, the range of wheat’s WP are very wide in different provinces and regions of the country, therefore there are many opportunities to increase it event up to twofold. This target could be achieved in the country in the medium term with the necessary investments and planning.

The Iran’s Supreme Water Council (SWC) was established in 2000 with the aim of creating the necessary institutional and organizational bases for the coordination of policies on water supply, distribution and consumption. However, two decades after its inception, the fact that the water management issues are becoming more complex and deeper and the discrepancies in the policies, actions, and their consequences are widening, raise the questions that; to what extent has the SWC been successful in its missions, and to what extent has it had the necessary effectiveness and authority in resolving the conflicts and applying good water governance in the country. Accordingly, the objective of this paper is to present the results and achievements in identifying, reviewing and analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the SWC and to conclude the strategies and action plan needed to improve the performance of the SWC. The methodology used is based on the formation of an expert working group from different disciplines and sectors and holding brain storming meetings to harvest ideas of stakeholders. Finally the study employed a combination of SWOT technology and matrix technique (IFE-EFE Matrix) to evaluate internal and external factors for analyzing the results. The study identified 11 strengths (S), 10 weaknesses (W), 9 opportunities (O) and 7 threats (T) in regards of the SWC. According to the calculated scores for internal and external factors (i.e. 2.34 and 2.62, respectively), the intersection of these two values in the SWOT diagram located in the “WO” zone, which indicated that the main strategy to be followed to improve the authority of the SWC, would be an adaptive (conservative) strategy. For greater effectiveness and authority of the SWC, a new vision and mission was developed. Also, five sub-main strategies and 21 actions were identified to improve the performance and authority of the SWC. The proposed action plan was tailored to the identified sub-strategies, and then weighted and prioritized. The results indicated that in good water governance and for coordinated policy-making, the spirit of inter-institutional cooperation between government institutions should be accepted as a fundamental principle and the social interactions of the council should be increased. It is also necessary to expand the council's cooperation with ministries within the executive branch, the judiciary branch, the legislative branch, universities, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders.

The process of guarantee of quality and evaluation of advancement of programs or effectiveness evaluation of progresses based on pre-set indicators is called ‘accreditation’. The accreditation program was run by Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AERI) as one of the twenty research institutes affiliated to Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) of Ministry of Agriculture-Jahad (MAJ) in Iran. This institute is involved in four fields of ‘Irrigation and Drainage’, ‘Food Engineering and Post-harvest’, ‘Agricultural Machinery and Mechanization’ and ‘Greenhouse’. Thus, five working groups including ‘Missions and Objectives’, ‘Human Resources’, ‘Research’, ‘Education and Extension’ and ‘Budget and Credit’ were established and the tables of objectives and indicators, evaluation criteria, measurement indices, and achievement criteria were determined; then, six specialized questionnaires relevant to each working group (one questionnaire for each factor and two questionnaires for ‘Education and Extension’ factor) at the national level for 2014-15 activity years of the institute were given to the respondents and institute. The collected data were analyzed based on the Likert scale. The results indicated that the situation of the AERI status was satisfactory in the ‘Human Resources’, ‘Research’ and ‘Education and Extension’ aspects and unsatisfactory in ‘Missions and Objectives’ and ‘Budget and Credits’ aspects; in addition, the overall assessment of the institute was relatively satisfactory. Therefore, by benefiting more from the intellectual, skilled and collaborative efforts of AERI's faculty members as well as the attention of higher authorities, it is likely to strengthen the institute's strengths and eliminate its weaknesses to achieve a higher quality level. This study may serve as a good model for the other research institutes.

Providing an appropriate model for accreditation of Agricultural and Natutal Recources Research Centers is a heavy duty for monitoring and evaluation of these centers. An accreditation is a process of validation in which academic institutions are evaluated. To do this, an accreditation council must first be formed which its focus is reflected in its belief, vision, mission and values. The standards for accreditation are set by a peer review board whose members include faculty members from the accredited institute and the other accredited centers. Therefore, research centers, with their own evaluation of accreditation program, may be able to develop a model for their ongoing performance monitoring. To this end, they must first form different agents or working groups according to their tasks and missions. Each working group defines the tables of objectives and indicators including main objectives, sub-main objectives, evaluation criteria, measurement indices, and achievement criteria. Measurement tool for the evaluation is a specialized questionnaire relevant to each working group together with the registered data of the evaluated institute. The questionnaire is filled by relevant target groups in the National Agricultural Research Centers in the country. The questionnaires are then collected and analyzed. One of the important outcomes of the evaluation is the motivation of the staff of evaluated center in attention to the importance and quality of research in the center and showing its current situation. In addition, the current status of the center will be determined in terms of its possible distance to the level of utility and standards.

Under water scarcity conditions livestock production, because of its high content virtual water, has been one of the challenging issues in the scientific literature in this regard.A few scientific references believe that forage crops production, because of their high water requirements, make pressure on water resources of scarce-water countries.Other references are on this idea that there is to somehow exaggeration on the high water requirements of the livestock productions.Therefore, in most cases the livestock water productivity(LWP), especially when the protein content and nutritional values of livestock products and other services are considered, is comparable with the water productivity(WP) of agricultural crops. However, similar to the issues of improvement of WP in agriculture, the key point of livestock production from limited water resources is the improvement of LWP.LWP is defined as the ratio of the net benefit obtained from livestock products and other services to the water used for such productions and services. Livestock water productivity does not seek to maximise the number of livestock or the production of animal products and services. Rather, it opens opportunities to produce the same benefits with fewer animals and less demand for agricultural water. This paper reviews different views on livestock production under water scarcity circumstances considering WP and LWP improvement issues.It then deals with the definition and concepts of LWP and its methods of estimation and calculations.The paper provides some apparent values of LWP measured in different studies and elaborates the issues, difficulties, and sources of errors in this regard. Livestock production could be indicative of an efficient or inefficient use of water resources depending to the method of estimates,calculation approach, and or selected scale. Paper concludes that for the required links between livestock production and use of water resources, especially in the mixed livestock-farming systems and in basin-scale are not established well.

I Increase in WP require having of a plan on science and technology in the area of agricultural water management. The main objective of this research is to identify science and technology priorities and to select strategic options of water management at field scale. The methodology was based on brain storming meetings consists of the experts of the relevant research institutes and or organizations. It also used the outputs from scientific literature and the methods of strategic planning and SWOT analysis. Considering the current issues and challenges of science and technology in Iran, six main strategies on water management at field scale were identified and prioritized as: 1- Increase in WP, 2- improvement of knowledge, skill, and participation of stakeholders in water technologies, 3-development of base technologies for the efficient use of water at field scale, 4- optimization of cropping pattern and use of agricultural water, 5- development of technologies on use of marginal waters, 6- improvement of Green WP in dryland agriculture. Furthermore, approaches (actions) require for the implementation of the mentioned strategies were identified, prioritized, and finally the cause and effects networks between them were drawn. SWOT analyses were done on the identified weakness- strength and opportunity-threat of water management at field scale. Based on the results from the science and technology aspects the main strategy of invade-growth (SO) should be selected. Based on this main strategy six options for the science and technology of water management at field scale were identified.

Climate change (CC) is an avoidable phenomenon, which is occurring in vast parts of the world, including Iran. Agriculture and crop production are among the sectors, which are affecting from CC. Although food production activities, especially animal protein production, which have high footprints of water, have been some causes, among other important and main causes of CC occurrence. The CC moreover to increasing air temperature and hence crop water requirements, cause crop yield reduction and crop production deficiency. Therefore, considering water shortage crisis in Iran country, and in order to fulfill food security objectives of the growing population, it is necessary to coincide with the CC impacts in agriculture and to take adaptation measures and approaches in these regards. However, there are two main strategies for coinciding with CC: 1. Mitigation of CC and 2. Adaptation to CC. The mitigation strategy deals with reducing greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions, while the adaptation strategy deals with amelioration of unavoidable impacts of CC. It includes a wide range of measures, approaches, and action selected for a vulnerable system. In this paper following an in-depth review of international and national references and policies in the field of agricultural water and food security, visions and strategies of facing with CC from the mentioned aspects are elaborated. Based on results, the following strategies and measures of adapting to CC from the agricultural water management and food security aspects could be categorized as followings: 1-Reducing water consumption during irrigation, 2-  Water conservation and reducing evaporation losses from soil surface, 3-Inceasing crop yield (increasing the numerator of water productivity index-WP), 4- Reducing the economic risk through diversity in revenue, crop insurance, subsidies and other incentives, and 5-Eetablishing early warning systems and providing training and other capacity building on the subject of adaptation to CC. However, from the strategy aspects and based on the benefit to cost ratio, in short-term the managerial measures and approaches of adaptation to CC are more efficient and less costly than the other measures, i.e. infrastructural and even agronomic measures and approaches.

Water Utility Index (WUI), first introduced by D. White (1958), is defined as one kg of crop produced per one cubic meter of water evpotranspired. This concept was later replaced with the more inclusive one of ‘water productivity’ (WP). The objective behind this latter concept was to provide a measure for interpreting the results of field experiments of water consumption used in making proper provisions for irrigation management, detecting opportunities for water saving and enhancing water productivity, and developing water allocation decision-making support systems. In order to address the water crisis at the national level, the present article presents a detailed definition of the index and the challenges facing its application to develop realistic water saving measures. It is claimed that evaluations solely based on the WP Index, in which the water applied (or, water withdrawn) is the denominator (WPAW), are to some extent misleading. It is argued that the index does not represent real amounts of water saved or effectively used, especially when it comes to the assessment of the so-called ‘water-saving irrigation systems (e.g., pressurized irrigation). To overcome this inadequacy, it is initially proposed that the ET-based WP (i.e., WPET), rather than the plain WP index, should be used for this purpose. In a second stage of the study, a simple computational methodology is developed that is based on the currently available and cost-effective data on ETc and crop yields across the nation (as reported in the national document on water or in the statistical reports on agriculture). As an illustration, the data available on the Karkheh River Basin and the WPET values measured for the major crops of wheat, barely, alfalfa, potato, silage maize, clover, grain maize, sugar beet, onion, tomato, cucumber, and watermelon grown in the basin are computed to be 1.32, 1.49, 1.22, 5.74, 7.93, 1.73, 1.37, 6.17, 6.61, 8.24, 5.07, 6.94, and 2.05 kg/m3, respectively, which are then used to calculate the average value of 2.05 kg/m3 for the whole basin. Finally, WP values reported in the literature and measured using the conventional filed methods (i.e., WPAW) for the above crops grown both in the study basin and across the state are used to derive a proper regression relation between WPET and WPAW, which exhibits a satisfactory goodness of fit (R2=0.96). Using this relation, the average value of WPAW for the basin is obtained to be about 1.20 kg/m3, which is consistent with the values reported elsewhere. Based on the above observations, application of the proposed method as a low-cost and reasonably accurate one is recommended for the estimation of WPET and, thereby, WPAW.

Improvement of water productivity (WP) in the agricultural sector is one of the necessities of sustainable use of water resources, crop production sustainability, water demand reduction, and fulfillment of food security of the increasing population of Iran. Through facilitated brain storming meetings and harvest of the ideas of the experts and resource persons participated from the water and agricultural sectors of the country, the software-managerial (socio-economic and policy–institution) problems, issues, and challenges associated with the improvement of WP in Iran were systematically identified and developed in the form of problem trees. Based on the results, the main socio-economic and policy–institution problems hindering improvement of WP in Iran could be identified in the five following categories namely as: 1) Insufficient accordance of the country’s policies with the WP, 2) lack of proper implemented plans for the integrated management of water supply and demand, 3) lack of proper measures, incentives, and or motivation for investing on the development and of the water resources and O&M of the water infrastructures, 4) low levels of efficiencies in the planning, study, design, and implementation of the country’s water resources and associated infrastructures, and 5) insufficient activities on training and capacity building programs require for the improving of WP.

The national imbalance between supply and water demand is one of the most important issues of water resources management, especially in the agricultural sector. On the other hand, international exchange of agricultural products and virtual water trade, which is defined as the water embedded in goods, can be regarded as a means to manage water resources. Sugar beet is one of the products produced with high water demands and low productivity in the country. Using the Cropwat software, we calculated the amount of pure water demand and the virtual water associated to production of sugar beet, sugarcane, and the corresponding produced sugar in this study. We also investigated the virtual water exchange and its dependency on other countries. In this study, it was shown that in the case of importing sugar from other countries, about 13 billion cubic meters of water would be saved during 2005 – 2014, but, Iran would become a totally sugar importer during that period. In that period, the major origins of importing sugar were from UAE, Brazil, Switzerland, England and India. Care should be taken considering the long-term effects of virtual water import due to increasing of the country water dependency on other countries, which could be under different risks of security and climate change. The concept of virtual water trade is expected to be embedded in export/import policy making as an important issue in terms of water and food security.

A major challenge facing sustainable agricultural production is that of selecting cropping patterns that observe the restrictions on such natural local capacities as soil, climate, and renewable water resources. This important issue has also been reflected with due emphasis in the state laws and national documents on water and agriculture as evidenced by the number  of laws and national documents (13) approved/adopted on the cropping pattern issue, standing second only to that of “Efficient use of water” (with 25 laws/documents). In this paper, a comprehensive analytical review and a SWOT analysis are initially conducted of the laws and national documents on cropping pattern practices before recommendations and suggestions are formulated for the practical implementation of a national cropping scheme at the state level. Among the important conclusions to be drawn from this review is that despite the legally binding requirements (such as The Enhancing Productivity in Agriculture and Natural Resources Sectors Act), no serious and effective measures have yet been taken in this filed except in such cases as greenhouse crop production and extraterritorial farming. In the few cases where actions have been taken, they have been mostly restricted to those within a specific sector in the absence of an integrated approach or coordination with other sectors or organizations involved. It is also observed that little attention has been paid in the relevant laws and regulations to capacity building and training on cropping pattern issues while the published research and field studies in the this area are quite scant as well. Another area neglected in the development of a national cropping scheme is the inclusion of indigenous and under-utilized crops in such schemes, or introduction of exotic crops with low water demand but high economic value for adaptation to the present climate at the state level that ensure sustainable agricultural production. Finally, a long time has elapsed since these laws and legal documents were adopted/passed during which time the climate has drastically changed and new farm technologies have emerged. These considerations necessarily require revisions in the existing laws and regulations or development of brand new ones.

Considering the severe water shortage crisis for producing agricultural products, the concept of real water saving in agriculture has been introduced recently. The reason behind this is that many researchers have realized that many approaches which are used for water saving in agriculture (e.g., improving irrigation efficiency, and even improving agricultural water productivity-WP) rely on the development of modern water-saving irrigation methods such as pressurized irrigation. These systems, when required conditions or relevant context are not fulfilled, may not lead to real water savings and may even cause an increase in water consumption. Examples of these arguments, discussion, and pieces of evidence are provided in the latest book published by FAO. In this analytical paper following explanation of the concepts, terms, the visions on real water saving, and effectiveness of modern irrigation technologies in this regard, all the activities relevant to improving WP, with the objective of water saving in agriculture, are elaborated and discussed. The paper concludes that for the purpose of recognition and selection of technical and economical approaches effective on water demand and use, water accounting framework should be set in a specific basin. Also in parallel to the attention to the development of pressurized irrigation systems in Iran, other approaches and measures, such as agronomic practices for reducing ET in agriculture (e.g. use of mulches, conservation agriculture, and proper crop rotation, etc.) should be selected. Finally, for achieving real water saving, the WP index should be evaluated based on ET and not based on applied water to the field. This should be the necessary criteria in selecting irrigation systems and other measures in regards to their effectiveness on real water savings in agriculture.