Water Footprint Accounting of the Main Crops in Fars Province

Increasing populations, socioeconomic developments, global freshwater withdrawal, dying rivers and high pollution levels are all signs of growing water scarcity. The current status of water resources in Iran and trends rolls over it tend to show the need for demand management and water consumption adjustment. In this regard, creating water footprint accounting by providing the necessary information, provides a platform for identifying virtual water flows, efficient water demand management, increasing the productivity of water types, and reforming business policies. In this study, water footprint was calculated for six crops such as wheat, barley, rice, maize, sugar beet and tomatoes in Fars province. The results showed that according to the data and statistics of 2016-2017, the total water footprint in the production of the studied products, which make up about 60% of the rainfed and irrigated lands of Fars province. It is about 6.6 billion cubic meters per year.