مقالات رزومه دکتر امیر نورجو

In the current research, with the aim of identifying the most effective techniques to reduce actual water use (Eta) to help restore the lakes of Urmia, Tashk-Bakhtegan, Fars, and Shadgan Wetland in Khuzestan, monitoring was carried out in the crop year 2021-2022 by applying planting techniques at the level of farmers' fields and orchards. In this research, 55, 17, and 18 farms and orchards were considered from Urmia Lake, Tashk-Bakhtegan and Maron-Jarhari basins, respectively. The results showed that the application of all techniques reduced irrigation water by an average of 24.6%, increased yield by an average of 18.3% and water productivity by an average of 60.4% for all the three catchments. However, not all these techniques were effective in reducing the amount of ETa. Farm monitoring showed that the techniques based on "accurate scheduling based on soil and plant indexes along with the modification and optimal management of the existing irrigation system" were able to reduce ETa by an average of 15.5% and improving the efficiency of water productivity (WPET) by an average of 40% in all the three basins. Therefore, the most effective techniques in Urmia Lake basin were use of two-way furrows of rows of trees in surface irrigation and planning drip irrigation based on soil and plant indexes in row crops and trees, which reduced ETa by 18%. Also, there was 21%, reduction in ETa by making irrigation plots under tree shades for pomegranate and pistachio in the Tashk-Bakhtgan Basin, and 13% reduction by making basins around the shading surface of palm trees along with palm leaf mulch, and 14 % reduction by the water flow cutback management method in the strip surface irrigation in the Maron-Jarahi Basin. These were considered as the most important techniques. Finally, it can be stated that paying attention to monitoring techniques at the level of a basin with local participation and promoting them can be effective in protecting the region's ecosystem while establishing sustainable agriculture.

Due to the location of Iran in arid and semi-arid regions and according to the quantitative and qualitative limitations of water resources, optimal management and volumetric delivery of water is important in irrigation and drainage networks. In this regard, it is necessary to estimate the water requirement of crops accurately and provide adequate water to farmers. Remote sensing technology provides facilities that can be used to obtain different layers of information at the lowest cost in the fastest time. Accordingly, many researchers have used remote sensing data to monitor vegetation cover, provide land use maps, estimate crop evapotranspiration and have declared this technology as appropriate tool for such studies. Based on the previous studies, it is observed that low researches has been conducted to investigate the crop evapotranspiration considering the crop water requirement. Therefore, the most important objectives of this study are: provide the cropping pattern and land use maps using Sentinel 2 satellite images, determination of the water requirement for the delivery points of irrigation network, determination of the actual evapotranspiration of the crop cover using SEBAL algorithm and Landsat 8’s images and finally evaluation of the water supply and management in the Mahabad irrigation and drainage network. In order to determine the cropping pattern of the Mahabad irrigation and drainage network, Sentinel 2 images have been used related to the 2018-2019 crop year. The images were examined in terms of the region of syudy and the percentage of cloudiness and after selecting the appropriate images, pre-processing operations including radiometric and atmospheric corrections were applied on them. Then, the NDVI index was calculated based on selected images. On the other hand, after determination of the classification classes, the phenological cycle of crops were examined for each class and spectral pattern of crops was determined during the growing season. Training samples were selected for supervised classification using the existing maps, Google Earth images, creating images with false color composites and considering the growth pattern and some of them were also considered for validation of the classified map. Then, the cropping pattern map was obtained by using the SVM classification algorithm. After generating the crop classification map, the water requirement of the different classes was determined based on the Penman-Montith evapotranspiration method, applying plant coefficients and irrigation application efficiency at the volumetric water delivery points. Finally, the actual evapotranspiration rate of the study area calculated based on the SEBAL algorithm and compared with the net water requirement map. Based on the results, kappa coefficient and overall accuracy of the classified map were determined to be 0.953 and 91%, respectively. The area of the planted agricultural farms was equal to 10594 hectares and 1576 hectares of farms were without planting. The area of orchard farms was equal to 6786 hectares and the area of sugar beet, wheat, alfalfa and corn lands were obtained to 998, 1839, 693 and 278 hectares, respectively. Thus, the net irrigation water requirement was equal to 71 million cubic meters and the gross irrigation water requirement was calculated equal to 161.36 million cubic meters, considering the irrigation efficiency of 44%. On the other hand, the evaluation of the SEBAL evapotranspiration maps during the growing season indicated that the total amount of evapotranspiration was equal to 79.78 million cubic meters, and this amount was 14% higher than the net irrigation water requirement. Finally, according to the crop classification map and based on the comparison of the net irrigation water requirement and evapotranspiration maps, the water consumption in the Mahabad irrigation and drainage network was evaluated. It turned out that in the upstream farms of the network or close to the Mahabad River, the Water consumption was more than net water requirement and downstream areas were faced to deficit irrigation due to lack of sufficient water.Finally, based on the results of this study, it was observed that by using the capabilities of satellite images and remote sensing, it is possible to monitor and evaluate the condition of agricultural farms on a large scale with acceptable accuracy. Also it is possible to improve the management of water supply and water use efficiency in irrigation and drainage networks by creating up-to-date land use maps, determining net and gross irrigation water requirment and comparing with actual evapotranspiration maps.

Irrigation decision support systems (IDSS) are among the approaches considered a tool in complex decision-making for water resource managers due to the enormous development of computer systems. Modernizing at different levels of water consumption can significantly increase water productivity indicators. Performing these conditions requires technological changes. The primary pillar of any IDSS system is its ability to adapt to environmental changes. This process allows the prediction model to compare predicted values with actual results and adjust automatically. IDSS systems for designing cropping patterns and optimal irrigation programs have the critical capabilities to control and manage optimal irrigation on large levels and water rights. These systems suggest the optimal cultivation pattern and dynamically provide the water consumption optimization schedule. According to previous studies, the most critical challenge of irrigation management is the limited amount of available water, which leads to the complexity of the optimal use of agricultural water in real conditions. One of the most important strategies to save Lake Urmia is to take necessary measures to reduce water consumption in the agricultural sector. One of the primary solutions to reduce water consumption in the agriculture sector is to decrease the loss of valuable and non-useful uses of agricultural water through the improvement of irrigation management. For this purpose, in the present study, the details of the adaptability of a developed IDSS system to improve irrigation management with the conditions of irrigation and drainage network, water and soil resources, climate, and vegetation in Mahabad Plain have been discussed.

To evaluate the IDSS, the downstream farms of the Mahabad irrigation and drainage network located southeast of Lake Urmia were selected. The Mahabad irrigation and drainage network consists of a diversion dam, two main canals, 11 2nd-grade canals, 69 main drains, and 10 water pumping stations. Four sites from the Mahabad irrigation and drainage network were chosen as selected sites. In each site, 20 farms were considered for monitoring the IDSS. The rest of the farms were under the control of the farmer, and only optimal irrigation programs were provided to the farmer by the IDSS. The general framework of the IDSS has been developed to achieve the goal of optimal management of water consumption in agriculture, taking into account the time and amount of water availability using international methods. The IDSS provides the optimal irrigation schedule for the cropping pattern in the farm by using online information on agricultural meteorology, water access conditions of the farm, soil, and crop characteristics, and the type of irrigation system used in the farm. The IDSS can suggest the optimal cropping pattern for farm conditions. During the crop growth period, the farmer can introduce farm events as feedback to the system. In this situation, IDSS simulates new scenarios according to the existing situation in the farm and represents the new optimal irrigation schedule for the next few days.

To adapt the IDSS for irrigation planning the physicochemical characteristics of soil and water, water right,  soil texture, crop characteristics, and etc. were considered. It is possible to update soil and water resource details during the growing season in the system. The information on irrigation systems can be loaded separately in the IDSS. According to the uploaded details, the optimal irrigation schedule was designed. IDSS takes advantage of seven-day agricultural meteorological forecasts, which leads to the maximum use of rainfall in the region and a proper matching between the provided irrigation schedule and the forecast of meteorological information in the coming days. To adapt the IDSS for irrigation planning the physicochemical characteristics of soil and water, water right, soil texture, etc. were considered. The virtual agricultural meteorological station launched by IDSS estimated the minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and sunshine hours with a good degree and relative humidity with a very good degree compared to the regional synoptic station data. Based on statistical indicators, the performance of IDSS for simulating volumetric soil moisture is evaluated as good to very good. Also, IDSS is adapted to the social conditions, the agricultural structure of the study area, and the knowledge level of farmers.

IDSS has up-to-date simulations and is suitable for providing an optimal irrigation schedule within the study area. Determining the effectiveness of IDSS in water consumption showed that the irrigation schedule provided by IDSS reduced the water consumption in the area. In farms that are under the basin irrigation system, the use of irrigation planning provided by IDSS has resulted in an average increase of 13.5% in water consumption and 8.6% in crop yield. The reason for the increase in water requirements in the basin irrigation systems is the high advance time in the farms under monitoring, and to meet the water requirments at the end of the irrigation farms, IDSS has inevitably increased the water consumption. The use of irrigation planning provided by IDSS has been able to reduce water consumption by 41% and 14% and increase the crop yield by 10.3% and 8.6% respectively in farms under drip and sprinkler irrigation systems. Therefore, the potential application of IDSS as an irrigation consultation and the degree to which this system has improved the irrigation management of agricultural farms can be used in most areas of the Lake Urmia basin. Next, it is suggested that IDSS be evaluated for other areas and crop yields, emphasizing the application of IDSS in humid and semi-humid climates.

Over the years, decision support systems (DSS) have emerged as valuable tools for optimizing irrigation scheduling by integrating various data sources, models, and decision-making algorithms. This research implemented and evaluated an irrigation decision support system (IDSS) that can be easily customized and adapted to different conditions and types of irrigation systems. The IDSS was tested in eight farms and gardens located in the Urmia Lake Basin during 1400-1401. This system provides farmers with the actual irrigation requirements of each crop, based on factors such as soil type, growth stage, climatic conditions, weather forecasts, farm or garden shape, water right, and irrigation system type. With this information, farmers can make informed decisions about irrigation. The investigation of two control (Irrigating by farmers) and treatment sections (Irrigating based on IDSS) revealed that implementing the irrigation scheduling provided by the IDSS in the treatment section increased water productivity by 87.3%, 20.7%, and 1.5% in drip, sprinkler, and basin irrigation systems, respectively. Results showed that using the IDSS system for fields and gardens under basin irrigation can lead to more efficient results, but optimizing the basin irrigation system, such as the length of the irrigation plots, should also be considered. Additionally, the research showed that providing an optimal and accurate irrigation scheduling to meet the crops water requirement is necessary to increase agricultural water productivity that using IDSS can be helpful in this regard.

Providing food security in scarcity conditions of water resources requires the optimal management of irrigation water. Estimation or determination of indices of water consumption management, such as water productivity in agricultural productions is one of the most important key in macro-planning for the supply, allocation and consumption of water in different sections such as agricultural section. Therefore, conducting a research at the national level that can lead to the real water productivity in the horticultural production in Iran, is essential and important. According to the production (3.4 million tons), a significant amount of surface and groundwater resources are consumed for apple production. This research was conducted with the aim of determining the amount of consumed water in apple orchards in selected provinces under the management of gardeners at the national level. Findings of this study could assist to the decision on management of water and agriculture.

The selected provinces were East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Ardabil, Isfahan, Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, Fars and Semnan. The water productivity in 145 sites was estimated, in addition to direct measurement of water consumption and crop yield. The factors such as irrigation systems, apple cultivars, gardeners' education, soil texture; and salinity of soil and irrigation water were also measured or recorded in apple orchards. The ANOVA was used to investigate the possible difference between the volume of consumed water, yield, and water productivity in apple production.

The results showed that the difference between the volume of water consumption, crop yield and water productivity was very significant in the orchards from provinces. The volume of consumed water and crop yield in apple orchards over the country averaged 9814 m3 ha-1 and 23.2 t ha-1, respectively. The water index was 2.73 kg m-3 in apple orchards over the country. The lowest and highest water productivity were obtained from the orchards of Fars and Semnan provinces.

Some strategies have been proposed to optimize the consumption of water resources; and to improve apple yield and water productivity in the country's level. The results of the research in apple orchards of selected provinces in Iran revealed that average of water consumption in apple orchards were 9814 m3 ha-1 with the water productivity of 2.73 kg m-3. Application of high-efficiency and well-managed irrigation systems, and other appropriate improving methods of water productivity can lead to optimal use of water resources, improve yield and enhance water productivity in production.

To determaine th effect of root inoculation of Rasha grape cultivar with three species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus(G.versiforme, G. etunicatum, G. intraradices) on shoot growth, macro nutrient elements, chlorophyll content, leaf temperature, RWC, soluble sugars and drought symptoms rate under deficiet irrigation condition (75%, 50% and 35% water requirment) a factorial experiment based on RBCD was conducted in Kahriz Horticultural Research Station, Urmia, Iran. Results showed that increasing deficiet irrigation level, reduced shoot growthand fungus inoculation did not have a posetive effect on this trait in comparision with control. Leaf temperature and dry symptoms on leaves was lowest in vines that inoculated with G. versiforme under 35% deficiet irrigation condition. Leaves of vines with this fungus showed the high RWCin all stress tretments, too. By increasing deficiet irrigation level, soluble sugars were decreased in 55% water requirement and then increased in 35% water requirement. Among macro nutrient elements, the highest amount of P (0.14%) was measured in leaves of vines inoculated by G. versiforme.

One of the main causes of drought occurrence in Urmia Lake in recent years was climate change and the development of crops with high water requirements including sugar beet. Water accounting is able to identify water saving opportunities by providing a clear picture of the amount of water used on the field. To this end, the water accounting and performance indicators based on the research results of the sugar beet fields in Miandoab region were extracted using the Aqua Crop model, and the accounting system was implemented based on low irrigation and irrigation duration in the framework of water accounting under field scale. According to the results, the contribution of precipitation from the net inflow in full irrigation with a seven-day rotation was about 8%, and with increased irrigation duration and imply of more low irrigation it amounted to 14%. An assessment of the drainage ratio from the gross inflow current showed that it was close to one in low irrigation interval and nearly all input water into the field was consumed (drained) and no opportunity was made to save water. Also, increase in irrigation duration resulted in an increase in the rate of evacuation of the total water consumption, which is considered as one of the objectives of water management in the field and improves the rate of evacuation process. Investigating the water use productivity indices showed that irrigation improved indices, but reduced the water use efficiency since in low irrigation, the rate of evaporation, which is a non-process loss, was significantly increased. Therefore, success in adopting a low irrigation strategy to save water involves the use of other management practices on the field such as the mulch and drip irrigation application which can control the evaporation.

Polyethylene mulch usually decreases water evaporation from soil surface، control weeds and increase yield crops. In order to study the effects of black mulch on tomato yield، yield components and water consumption efficiency an experiment was conducted in Kahriz Station (Urumia، Iran) for two years (2005-2007). The experiment was carried out at split plot factorial in CBR design with four replication in a loamy silt soil. Experimental treatments were row spacing (100 and 120 cm)، in-row spacing (30 and 40 cm) and black plastic. The treatments of black plastic were: full ridge and half furrow were covered by mulch; full furrow and half ridge were covered by mulch and control (no mulch) respectively. Each plot was irrigated separately. The results indicated that mulch was effective on yield and yield ingredients (weight fruit and fruits number per plant) and interaction on yield ingredients at 1%. The best treatment of mulch for yield increase، earliness and weed control was full ridge and half furrow. Interaction of plant density and mulch affected only earliness and stem length. Water use effeciency (WUE) was increased by using mulch. Water decreased 28. 8 % and 41. 3 % in full ridge and half furrow and full furrow and half ridge respectively in comparison with control. The best treatment according on WUE was full furrow and half ridge covered by mulch and 100×30 sowing pattern with 33 kg. m3.

Sustainable agriculture for producing food is not possible without optimal use of water resources. Because of the limitation of water resources, deficit irrigation would be essential to increase water productivity. In order to evaluate the effects of deficit irrigation on quality and quantity of sugar beet, an experiment was carried out in a farm in Miandoab Agricultural Research Station for 2 years(1999-2000). The experiment was conducted in a split–plot design on the basis of randomized complete blocks with three levels of irrigation (100%, 75% and 50%) and three irrigation intervals (7,10,14 days) in four replications. The analysis of two years results indicated that there was a significant difference at 1% level among deficit irrigation and root yield and sugar yield. Deficit irrigation decreased root yield and sugar yield, but because of the positive effect of deficit irrigation on sugar beet quality, the rate of root yield decrease was more than the rate of sugar yield. D7S100 treatment (irrigation interval 7 days and full irrigation), providing 100% of water need of plant, produced the highest root yield (67.71 t/ha) but in D14550 treatment root yield decreased by 48.7 percent. The effects of deficit irrigation was more on longer irrigation intervals. The results also indicated that the 50 percent levels of irrigation resulted in less root yield and sugar yield which may not be accepted by farmers, Therefore it cannot be recommended. Considering water productivity, and avoiding S50 treatment, treatment D10S75 is recommended for the region. With 28.9% reduction in water use, there was only 23.5% and 16.6% reduction in root yield and sugar yield, respectively.