Effects of Improved Agricultural Field Practices on Water Productivity and Water Use Efficiency Indices in the Eastern Basin of Lake Urmia

This research was performed to improve water productivity by changing a number of farmers' field practices such as tillage, dimensions of the irrigation borders, using newly released plants varieties, and improving fertilizer management in eight farms located in the Oskoo, Ajabshir, and Bonab cities, all parts of the eastern Uromieh Lake Basin, during 2015-2016 growing season. The adopted farm practices were applied in the treatment farms, while in the control farms, all the farming operations were implemented according to the local traditional practices. In all farms, the flow rates diverted to each farm, the soil moisture content in the root zone during the growing season, and indices related to the growth and yield of crops were measured. The indices of water productivity (WP), water use efficiency (WUE) and water economic productivity (WPe) were calculated. Water consumption was lower up to 9% while crops yields of the treatment farms were higher up to 34%, as compared with the control farms. According to the results, on average, implementation of applied technologies in the treatment farms increased WP, WUE, and WPe by 38%, 31%, and 56 %, respectively, as compared to the control farms.