The climatic zoning of dryland wheat in Eastern Azerbaijan

Since the majority of dryland farming area in eastern Azerbaijan is devoted to wheat production, therefore, climate zoning of dryland wheat was set as the goal of this research. For this reason long term climatic data of 39 meteorological stations inside the province and 7 synoptic stations out of the province were used. The most proper planting date was suggested based on the commencement of rainy season in each part of the province, and the different growth stages of dryland wheat were determined. Using the precipitation data, the climatic isohyetal maps of the following were derived: annual rain, rain during germination, rain during flowering, and rain during seed filling stage. In addition, using temperature data the climatic isothermal maps for germination, thermal stress during flowering and seed filling stages were developed for the province. Finally, these maps were compiled in GIS and afterward the climatic zoning of dryland wheat was derived. The areas with no potential of wheat dryland farming were omitted. The final map showed the most appropriate, appropriate, medium, and poor climatic zoning. The zoning in the map indicated that areas in the north part of the province had the most appropriate climatic conditions for dryland farming. The concentration of medium to poor climatic zoning was located in a strip which was stretched from east to west part of the province.