Determining the economic value of irrigation water and investigating the response of farmers to the reduction of available water resources in the farms of Maroon Dam in Behbahan

The aim of the present study is to determine the economic value of irrigation water and to examine the reaction of consumers (farmers) to the policy of reducing water resources available in Maroon-Behbahan rootstock farms in Khuzestan province. To do this research, the approach to Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP) approach and the State Wide Agricultural Production (SWAP) were used. First, the economic value of water-irrigation in farms covered by Maroon-Behbahan Dam was determined based on the products of the main study area (wheat, corn, cereals and vegetable products). Then, the reaction of farmers to the policy of reducing available water resources under the scenarios of 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% were analyzed and evaluated. Changes in farmers' gross profits and changes in cultivation patterns were examined. The data obtained are related to the 2016-2017 crop year. After solving the model, the economic value of ach cubic meter of irrigation water at the level of Behbahan farms was 2292 Rials. The study found that there is a significant economic difference between each cubic meter of irrigation water and the price of water paid by farmers, and only about 48% of the economic value of water is paid for in terms of production and transportation costs. The results also showed that there is a significant difference between the economic value of irrigation water and the rate of water-payments for farmers, and the decrease in available water increases the economic value of irrigation water and reduces the gross profit of farmers.