Developing of optimum cropping pattern in Mahabad irrigation and drainage network under different irrigation scenarios at farm and network scale

Optimization of cropping pattern can be the best approach to reduce water consumption with maintaining maintain or increasing agricultural productions and consequently increase farmers' incomes. In this research, the cropping pattern of Mahabad irrigation and drainage network (with an approximation area of 12,000 ha) was determined using the PSO optimization algorithm with the objective of increasing the net benefit of the network based on the specified amount of delivered water and increasing water productivity. Optimization was done in 6 treatments of full and deficient irrigation and two strategies of deficient irrigation implementation (H1: in delivered water to the network and farm and H2: in delivered water to the network). Finally, the amount of water consumption, net benefit and economic productivity in the optimal cropping pattern were compared with the present condition. The results showed that in H1 strategy, with water consumption equal to the present condition, the amount of net benefit and economic productivity in the optimum cropping pattern increased about 16.7% compared to the current situation. In H2 strategy, productivity increased compared to the present situation in all treatments. Even by a reduction of about 40% of delivered water to the network, economic productivity increased about 37% compared to the present condition.