Optimization of Agricultural Cropping Pattern in order to Water Use Management in Gorgan

Agricultural development depends on the optimal use of resources and the optimal use of resources depends on the optimal allocation of agricultural land to different crops. Every farmer cultivates different crops during a growing season, but there is no certainty that this cropping pattern used by the farmer is the optimal cropping pattern. Considering the importance and role of optimal cultivation pattern in the sustainable production of agricultural products, the purpose of this study is to present the optimal cultivation pattern of crops in Gorgan under three scenarios: optimization of economic efficiency, production maximization and simultaneous maximization of economic efficiency and production with emphasis on Water consumption management. In this regard, in order to achieve the optimal cultivation pattern with the desired goals, the genetic algorithm was used and to obtain the need for irrigation, CROPWAT software was used. The studied crops include wheat, barley, and rice, soybeans, sunflower, beans, and cotton and fodder corn. The results showed that the current cultivation pattern of the region was not optimal. Based on the results of optimization with a genetic algorithm, forage corn crop has been removed from the crop pattern and the area under rice cultivation has decreased compared to the current crop pattern in the region, in all optimization scenarios. The area under sunflower and soybean crops increased in all three scenarios and replaced rice and fodder corn crops. Wheat and soybean crops have the highest area under cultivation in optimization scenarios and the lowest area under cultivation in all three scenarios is related to cotton. In the current situation, the total water consumption is 213.626 × 106 m3, which decreases to 234.277 × 106 m3 after optimization.