The study of farmer's knowledge of irrigation and water issues in Golestan province

The three practical steps that are need to be taken by government agencies in order to increase irrigation efficiency include economic motivation for optimization of water use, modification of existing irrigation systems in the short term and modernization of traditional methods in the long-term plan. The present research aims at identifying farmer's knowledge regarding irrigation and water issues over two years (2008-2009) in the Golestan province. The study was a field survey and the data was collected through interviews with the farmers as well as completion of questionnaires. Results showed that source of water supply for approximately 76% of the farmers was from wells, approximately 18% from rivers, and the rest of them from springs, irrigation networks and small reservoirs. More than 89% of the convenience channels were earth channels, 8 % lining and 3 % pipes. Knowledge among farmers about irrigation scheduling was very limited. Nearly 95% of the farmers do not have any information about the water consumption in their field. Most farmers (93%) produced in a traditional way, transferred water by earth canals and irrigated without land leveling. Only 7% used pressurized irrigation systems. The results also showed that the main causes of water losses in the fields were related to earth channels (26%), topography (29%) and inadequate irrigation (20%). Unreasonable cost of water, the small size of farms, and private possession of water resources were key factors for improving irrigation efficiency.