Climate suitability changes of East Azerbaijan province for strategic crops of Wheat and Barley cultivation in recent decades

Considering the climate suitability in cropping pattern selection is vital in maintaining food security. In this study, the climate suitability of East Azerbaijan Province, north east of Iran, for the cultivation of strategic crops of wheat and barley during four decades 1980 to 2000s was evaluated. Land units were classified based on the covered area of each synoptic weather station using Thiessen method. Climate suitability for rainfed and irrigated wheat and barley was evaluated according to their climatic requirements using the square root-parametric method. Results revealed that during the recent four decades, the climate suitability class for irrigated studied crops was very suitable across the province, but in case of rainfed cultivation, various suitability classes including moderate to unsuitable were observed in different regions. The results confirmed that despite of some unfavorable effects of climate change on suitability of region for both crops cultivation, these impacts might be compensated, to some extent, by technology or management improvements. According to this study, determination of an optimum cropping pattern, adjusting agronomic practices and changing of rainfed wheat to barley in this province may be recommended.