Selecting the Most Appropriate Irrigation System for Famenin, Qahavand and Razan Plains

Due to the impact of various factors, selecting the best irrigation method for different conditions of the field has become a complex issue (Montazar and Behbahani, 2007). In this study, the best irrigation system selection among the sprinkler systems (including solid set, hand move, wheel move, traveling gun, center pivot, and linear move), trickle systems (including row crop drip, drip, and bubbler) and surface irrigation systems (including basin, border strip and furrow) was done using Charles Burt scoring method (Burt et al., 1999) for Famenin, Qahavand and Razan plains of Hamadan province. Scoring of the systems were performed based on some related properties such as the type of production, type of water source, climate, land, soil, social structure and, conditions of the studied regions. According to the results, the best choices and suitable irrigation methods among the mentioned systems based on their priority in the studied area were; solid set, drip tape and basin methods in sprinkle, trickle and surface irrigation systems respectively. Despite increasing the labor costs due to sprinkler’s displacement, the solid set method with moveable sprinklers due to less investment was selected as an appropriate and advisable system. If surface irrigation system is identified as the suitable choice for an area, the use of low pressure distribution networks and gated pipe systems can improve the irrigation efficiency and reduce the infiltration losses, which should be considered in projects.