javad baghani

The limitation of freshwater resources is an important limitation in the growth and development of the plant, which affects the quantity and quality of production. On the other hand, the increasing population, the development of industries, the increase in cultivated area, and finally the decrease in precipitation, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, make the use of saline water in agriculture inevitable. Melon is a plant that is semi-tolerant to salinity, and different cultivars differ from each other in this respect, and this difference becomes more obvious in high salinities. This research was carried out with the aim of investigating the management of saline and conventional water consumption in late melon cultivation and its effects on the amount of sodium and potassium in plant organs, the physical characteristics of the produced fruit and its storability. In order to investigate the content of elements sodium, potassium and the ratio of potassium to sodium in leaves, stems and roots and the quality of fresh and stored green melons irrigated with salt water, an experiment was conducted in split plot arrangement base on randomized complete block design in three replications at Torgh Mashhad Agricultural Research Station in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. The main plot was the year and sub-plots was included different irrigation treatments: T1: control treatment, irrigation with fresh water (0.6 dS.m-1), T2: irrigation with 3 dS.m-1 salinity, T3: irrigation with 6 dS.m-1  6 salinity, T4: irrigation with 3 dS.m-1  salinity from 40 days after germination to harvest, T5: irrigation with 3 dS.m-1  salinity from 20 days after germination to harvest, T6: irrigation with 6 dS.m-1  salinity from 40 days after germination to harvest and T7: irrigation with 3 dS.m-1  salinity from 20 days after germination to harvest. The results of composite variation showed that the amount of sodium was increased by about 52%, 140% and 47% in the leaf, stem, and roots respectively, in comparison to control by application of T3 treatment. The stem had the greatest decrease in K/Na ratio in comparison to control by applied salinity irrigation, so the application of T3 treatment was decreased K/Na ratio in leaf, stem, and root about 40.2, 65.3, and 27.6 % in comparison to control respectively. The application of the T6 treatment had the lowest flesh weight to the whole fruit and the T5 treatment had the highest Brix of different parts of the fruit. The highest number of melons (9552  per ha-1) and total yield (19.2 ton ha-1) was obtained from the T1 treatment. Combining fresh water with high EC caused a further decrease in the number of melons and the total yield per hectare. Storing fruit for 14 days in cold storage did not have a significant effect on most of the measured traits, but the firmness of the fruit tissue showed a decrease of about 21% and the Brix of the fruit showed an increase of 4.3% in compare of first period in storage. The use of irrigation water with less salinity in the early stages of the plant, such as the four-leaf stage and flowering time, although it caused better plant growth, but with the change (increase) in the salinity of the irrigation water, more stress was applied to the plant. The results showed that irrigation with saline water caused a cumulative increase in sodium and potassium content in leaves, stems and roots. Which was effective on changes in potassium to sodium ratio in root and stem plant. The results of the effect of salinity on the quality parameters of the fruit showed that the increase of salinity from 0.6 dS.m-1 to 3 dS.m-1 caused an increase in the flesh of the fruit to the total weight and Brix of the fruit in all three parts of the tip, middle and the end of the fruit, which indicates that the increase in salinity through the increase in sugar has an effect on the Brix value of the fruit. The results of the traits measured before and after two months of storage in cold storage showed that although applying salinity treatments did not have a significant effect on the firmness of the fruits, the firmness increased only up to a salinity of 3 dS.m-1, but during storage due to the effect environmental conditions and internal reactions of the fruit, the amount of firmness of the fruit decreased slightly and the amount of brix of different parts of the fruit increased significantly.

Estimating the amount of irrigation water for plants is one of the important indicators of the planning of the agricultural sector, and the NIAZAB system was created to estimate the water requirement of agricultural and garden plants and has the ability to check the changes in the irrigation and irrigation water requirements of different agricultural and garden plants in the country. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of field measurement of the amount of irrigation water and sugar beet yield in field conditions with the estimation of NIAZAB system in 117 points, 16 cities in 2016. The results of comparing the field measurement results with the estimation of the NIAZAB system showed that the average amount of sugarbeet irrigation water in the field measurement method and the NIAZAB system is equal to 13088 and 13856 cubic meters per hectare, respectively, and the average yield of sugarbeet tubers in the measurement of the farm and the NIAZAB system was 71846 and 64206 kg per hectare, respectively.The average water productivity of sugar beet in field measurement method and NIAZAB system was equal to 5.8 and 4.9 kg/m3, respectively.The comparison results of the statistical analysis showed that the NIAZAB system estimates the amount of sugar beet irrigation water in the city division scale with the root mean normal error of 21% and the agreement coefficient of 0.89 compared to the field measurement and also, it estimates the yield of sugar beet tuber with a root mean normal error of 0.27% and a coefficient of agreement of 0.81 and the water productivity of sugar beet tuber with a root mean normal error of 0.34%. The efficiency coefficients of the model showed that the NIAZAB system provides acceptable results in determining the amount of irrigation water and the productivity of sugar beet water in the fields of the country. It can be concluded that the NIAZAB system has the ability to provide the amount of irrigation water required by the sugar beet plant in the whole country as well as in the agricultural field.Most of the regions of Iran are located in arid and semi-arid climates, the characteristic of this climate is dry and long seasons without rain. In these areas, the lack of water is one of the most important factors limiting the production of agricultural products, in such a situation, the competition for water is increasing with the increase in population, urbanization and industrialization, and on the other hand, the lack of water is aggravated by improper irrigation management in agriculture (Moravejalahkam et al. al., 2022). In the dry climatic conditions of the country, it will not be possible to provide water easily. Therefore, in these conditions, one of the basic solutions for the proportionality between agricultural water resources and uses, considering the economic and social importance of domestic cultivation of strategic crops, which is included in legal documents, including the Law on Increasing the Productivity of the Agricultural Sector and Natural Resources, approved by the Islamic Council of 2010 was also emphasized (APERDRI, 2016). Optimum use of water resources and management of water consumption is of particular importance for sustainable agriculture and increasing the efficiency of water consumption, and the requirement for optimal use of water resources is to know the amount of water needed to produce an economic product. Sugar beet (Beta-rulgaris) is one of the important economic products and supplies 40% of the world's sugar production (Doorenbos et al, 1979). The benefits of sugar beet cultivation are very important in the national economy and in temperate regions where most of the sugar factories are built. Currently, there are suitable conditions for sugar beet growth in many parts of the country, and the cultivation of this plant is done on a relatively large scale. According to the official statistics of Iran's Ministry of Jihad and Agriculture, the area under sugar beet cultivation in 2016 was equal to 142,821 hectares, and the average yield of sugar beet tubers in Iran was reported as 48.8 tons per hectare (Statistics of the Ministry of Jihad and Agriculture, 2016). Sugar beet is the most important source of sugar production in Iran, and sugarcane is in second place. But sugarcane is cultivated only in Khuzestan province due to special weather conditions (Rahimian and Asadi, 2019). Sugar beet is one of the crops that is cultivated on a large scale in the form of irrigation, and the supply of water required by the plant is one of the necessary factors of production (Mountonnet, 2002). The water requirement of the sugar beet plant is different based on different varieties and different regions (Kochaki, 1996). So that it is reported between 250 and 2700 mm in different regions of the world (Ebrahimi Pak 2019).The results of field measurements in 116 farms in 16 cities and eight provinces of the country with different irrigation methods and different irrigation water sources showed that the average irrigation water of sugar beet plant from the measurement method in the fields and the estimated water demand system is equal to 13088 and it was 13856 cubic meters per hectare. The results of the weighted average of sugar beet irrigation water which was estimated by the system equal to 13817.9 cubic meters per hectare and directly measured from the fields equaled 12805 cubic meters per hectare, and it can be concluded for the surface of 140 thousand hectares of sugar beet irrigated lands. The volume of irrigation water estimated by the water requirement system was 1.94 billion cubic meters and the volume of irrigation water measured in the field was equal to 1.79 billion cubic meters. The comparison of the results of the two methods showed that there is a difference of about 7.7% in the country.

Due to the limited water resources in Iran, the optimal use of resources and increasing the physical and economic productivity of water in the production of products to achieve economic growth in the agricultural sector is absolutely necessary. Thus, the objectives of this study were to determine water productivity and profitability of irrigated wheat and forage corn production in different irrigation systems in Alborz province during 2016-2017. The indicators of physical efficiency and economic efficiency were used to estimate the efficiency of water consumption as well as the indices of net profit, product sales yield and percentage of return on investment were used to determine profitability. According to the results, water savings in irrigated wheat production in the drip irrigation compared to the center pivot and fixed classical sprinkler irrigation systems were estimated 6.3 and 22.8 percent and in irrigated forage corn production were estimated 15.2 and 27.6 percent, respectively. Net benefits of crops production in wheat-forage corn rotation in the drip irrigation, center pivot and fixed classical sprinkler irrigation systems were estimated 204.7, 174.2 and 153.2 Iranian million rials/ha, respectively. Economic productivity of per unit of water consumed in crops production in rotation in the drip irrigation, center pivot and fixed classical sprinkler irrigation systems were estimated 16.5, 12.3 and 9.1 Iranian thousand rials/ha, respectively, so that the net benefits and economic productivity of per unit of water consumed in crops production in rotation in the drip irrigation system was more than center pivot and fixed classical sprinkler irrigation systems. Thus, the drip irrigation system was recommended as an economically better irrigation system in the crop production rotation in Karaj.

Accurate estimation of irrigation water quantity, water productivity and irrigation water application efficiency of cultivated wheat in Iran are important and key indicators in agricultural sector planning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the results of field and farm measurements of irrigation water and wheat yield under farmers' management and compare them with estimating the NIAZAB system in 37 Township during a crop season (2016-2017) as well as determining wheat water productivity and application efficiency. The results showed that the average amount of wheat irrigation water measured in the farms and systems were 5710 and 5894 cubic meters per hectare, respectively, and the average grain yield of wheat measured in the farms and systems were 5215 and 4949 kg, respectively. The average water productivity of wheat measured in the farms and NIAZAB system were 1 and 0.9 kg/m3. The results showed that the NIAZAB system with a normal root mean error of 0.19% and agreement coefficient of 0.93 estimates the amount of wheat irrigation water in the township scale and wheat grain yield with a normal root mean error of 0.17% and agreement coefficient of 0.95 and estimates the productivity of wheat water with a normal root mean error of 0.24%, the efficiency of irrigation water application with a normal root mean error of 0.19% and the coefficient of agreement of 0.93. The values of the efficiency coefficient of the model show that the model provides acceptable results in determining the amount of irrigation water and wheat water productivity in the country farms. Therefore, the NIAZAB system can be used to estimate the volume required for the irrigation of plants in Iran and also in the farm water management.

Melon, with the scientific name Cucumis melon L, is an annual plant belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family (Mas, 1986). Melon is one of the most important products, which is rich in absorbable vitamins and minerals needed by the human body. According to the statistics of the World Food Organization (FAO), Iran with the production of 1731 thousand tons of melons in 2018, was the third producer after China (with the production of 12727 thousand tons) and Turkey (with the production of 1754 thousand tons), and the countries of India, Kazakhstan and America are ranked 4th to 6th in the world with 1231, 894 and 872 thousand tons respectively. Improving water productivity in crop production is necessary due to limited water resources in Iran. According to the surveys conducted on the volume of irrigation water (water applied) or the water given by farmers to melon cultivation, there are no accurate and reliable statistics in the country, and no relatively accurate measurement or estimation has been done in the country. On the other, melon cultivation is important in Iran, so it is necessary to study the volume of applied water in production of this product. In iran, development of pressurized irrigation systems has been one of the main programs in developing agricultural sector in the past few decades. Assessing the effects of these systems can be important in increasing of water ues management, national policies and planning. In this article, based on the field data of the research, it is tried to explain the amount of water used and water productivity of melons in the country and the effect of irrigation management (traditional and modern) on the amount of water given to melons.

In order to determine the volume of water used, yield and water productivity of melon crop with the management of farmers in Khorasan Razavi, Fars, Khuzestan, Semnan and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces in calendar year of 2020, 138 melon farms were selected. In these farms, the volume of applied water by farmers was measured. Water irrigation applied (water used) were compared with the net irrigation requirements estimated by the FAO Penman-Monteith method using meteorological data from the last 10 years, as well as the values of the national water document. In this study, the method of analysis of variance is used to investigate the possible differences in yield, applied water and water productivity in melon production. Data adequacy was assessed by using the method provided by Sarmad et al. (2001). Then, the effect of drip irrigation method on applied water, application efficiency and physical water productivity was investigated in the study areas.

The results showed that the differences in yield, applied water and water productivity indices in melon production were significant in selected provinces (P ≤ 0.01). The average weighted of yield, applied water and water productivity in Iran were 24962 kg / ha, 7117 m3/ha and 3.4 kg / m3, respectively. The total water for irrigating melon in Iran was estimated at 570.8 million cubic meters. The average yield of melon in furrow and tape irrigation was 20,954 and 24,500 (kg/ha), respectively. In other words, the average yield in tape irrigation method was 14.5% more than furrow irrigation method.The average volume of water in furrow and tape irrigation methods was 7940 and 6073 (m3/ha), respectively. The average volume of irrigation water in the tape irrigation method showed a decrease of 23.5% compared to the volume of irrigation water in the furrow method. The average water productivity in furrow and tape irrigation methods was 3 and 4.3 kg/m3 per hectare, respectively. The average water productivity in tape irrigation method showed an increase of 30% compared to the average of furrow irrigation.

The results of this research showed that tape irrigation method can improve yield, water consumption management and water productivity for melon. Also, the results of this study provide useful information on applied irrigation water management indicators in melon production to managers and water decision makers within Iran. The results of this research show that the use of drip irrigation systems (tape irrigation system) for melon cultivation in the country (and other row crops) can increase water productivity and reduce water consumption in the agricultural sector. However, the operation management of these systems in the country has a relatively long distance from the desired level

This project was implemented with the aim of measuring water applied to onion under farmers’ management in 190 selected sites at the production hubs of onion in Iran including Azarbaijan Sharghi, Isfahan, Khusestan, Zanjan, Kerman, Fars, Khorasan Razavi, Khorasan Shomali, and Hormozgan provinces. According to the results, differences between the average volumes of irrigation water in those provinces, different irrigation methods, various sources and salinities of irrigation water and soil, and different onion varieties were significant (p<1%), during the growing season of 2020-2021. The average amount of applied water by farmers in those provinces was 9502, 13273, 9740, 16588, 9618, 13880, 11998, 8438 and 7057 m3/ha, respectively, with the weighted average of 10823 m3/ha. The onion yield in selected sites, varied from 20000 to 90000 kg/ha, with an average of 49980 kg/ha. The measured values were compared with the net irrigation water requirement estimated by the FAO Penman-Monteith method and with the National Water Document values. The results showed that the differences between average volumes of applied water by farmers, yield and irrigation water productivity, and irrigation water plus effective rainfall productivity in the selected sites were significant at 5% probability level. Irrigation water productivity varied from 3.13 to 6.30 kg/m3 and its average was 4.93 kg/m3. The average irrigation water plus effective rainfall productivity for onion in Iran was 4.50 kg/m3. The average net irrigation water requirement in the study areas by the Penman-Monteith method and the National Water Document were 8834 and 6972 m3/ha, respectively. These results showed that the average applied water in surface, sprinkler, and drip irrigation methods were 11453, 12740 and 10317 m3/ha, respectively, with significant (p<5%) difference. These results showed that in drip irrigation method, applied water was 10% lesser while irrigation water plus effective rainfall productivity was 35% higher. Transplanting seedling compared to direct seeding caused 14.7% reduction in applied water and 16.7% increase in water productivity. According to the results of this study, drip irrigation and transplanting method for onion fields is recommended.

Improving irrigation management of wheat fields can reduce water consumption and increase water productivity in Fars province. In order to apply proper irrigation management in wheat farms, it is necessary to have sufficient and accurate information about the status of water consumption and water productivity. Hence, a study was conducted to measure and calculate water productivity in 30 wheat fields in three different climatic regions of Fars province. T-test was used for statistical comparison of the obtained results. Also, the correlation between different factors was examined by determining the correlation coefficient. The results of this study showed that the average amount of water used in wheat fields was equal to 5340 cubic meters per hectare, which is 1064 cubic meters per hectare more than the average water requirement in the experimental year. The amount of water used was significantly different from the long-term water requirement and there was no significant difference in the amount of water used in different irrigation systems. The average amount of irrigation water productivity and total water productivity were 1.25 and 1.04 kg/m3, respectively, but the difference in water productivity in different irrigation systems (surface, sprinkler and drip) was not significant. The difference between irrigation water productivity in hot and cold regions and hot and temperate regions was significant at 5% level. The study of correlation between different factors showed that the cool air in the region, and the length of the growth period were important factors in crop production and the number of irrigations.

Due to water shortage in the country, improving the irrigation management of potato fields can reduce water consumption and increase the efficiency of this important product. For this purpose, it is necessary to have sufficient and accurate information about the status of applied water and water efficiency in the conditions of farmers' management. Therefore, the amount of applied water, yield, and water efficiency in the conditions of farmers' management in two major potato production areas in Razavi Khorasan province were investigated. The two areas of Fariman and Torbat Heydariyeh with the highest area of cultivation and production of potatoes were selected as pilots cities. The method of irrigation in all fields was the drip method. In experimental farms, irrigation and agronomic characteristics, water source and irrigation network characteristics, required meteorological data, applied water volume, potato yield, and water efficiency in the crop year 2019 were measured. Also, the volume of water used by farmers was compared with the estimated irrigation needs based on meteorological data from 2019 and the last ten years calculated by the Penman-Monteith method. The amount of applied water based on meteorological data in 2019 was about 26% and to 10-year statistics was about 15% more. The results also showed that the volume of applied potato water in the studied farms varied from 9888 to 14573 m3/ha and its average was 11885 m3/ha. Potato yield in selected fields varied from 28600 to 60000 kg/ha and the average was 40399 kg/ha. Water efficiency varied from 2.22 to 5.25 and the average was 3.42 kg/m3

Providing food security in scarcity conditions of water resources requires the optimal management of irrigation water. Estimation or determination of indices of water consumption management, such as water productivity in agricultural productions is one of the most important key in macro-planning for the supply, allocation and consumption of water in different sections such as agricultural section. Therefore, conducting a research at the national level that can lead to the real water productivity in the horticultural production in Iran, is essential and important. According to the production (3.4 million tons), a significant amount of surface and groundwater resources are consumed for apple production. This research was conducted with the aim of determining the amount of consumed water in apple orchards in selected provinces under the management of gardeners at the national level. Findings of this study could assist to the decision on management of water and agriculture.

The selected provinces were East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Ardabil, Isfahan, Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, Fars and Semnan. The water productivity in 145 sites was estimated, in addition to direct measurement of water consumption and crop yield. The factors such as irrigation systems, apple cultivars, gardeners' education, soil texture; and salinity of soil and irrigation water were also measured or recorded in apple orchards. The ANOVA was used to investigate the possible difference between the volume of consumed water, yield, and water productivity in apple production.

The results showed that the difference between the volume of water consumption, crop yield and water productivity was very significant in the orchards from provinces. The volume of consumed water and crop yield in apple orchards over the country averaged 9814 m3 ha-1 and 23.2 t ha-1, respectively. The water index was 2.73 kg m-3 in apple orchards over the country. The lowest and highest water productivity were obtained from the orchards of Fars and Semnan provinces.

Some strategies have been proposed to optimize the consumption of water resources; and to improve apple yield and water productivity in the country's level. The results of the research in apple orchards of selected provinces in Iran revealed that average of water consumption in apple orchards were 9814 m3 ha-1 with the water productivity of 2.73 kg m-3. Application of high-efficiency and well-managed irrigation systems, and other appropriate improving methods of water productivity can lead to optimal use of water resources, improve yield and enhance water productivity in production.

Limited water resources and the need for better water management indicate the importance of precisely determining the applied water of crops and orchards. In this study, applied irrigation water and physical and economical water productivity of wheat were evaluated in Ahwaz and Dasht-e-Azadegan in Khuzestan province. Discharge of flow was measured in each irrigation event using WSC flumes in the randomly selected farms with blocked-end border irrigation method. Results showed that the average applied water in selected farms in Ahwaz and Dasht-e Azadegan were 4837 and 5605 m3/ha, respectively. According to wheat yield for each studied farm in these two regions, the average of water productivity was 1.06 and 0.89 kg/m3, respectively. Net economic water productivity for Ahwaz and Dasht-e-Azadegan were 4756 and 5377 IRR/m3, respectively. Due to setting up and operating costs of the pump, which increases the cost of irrigation operations in farms equipped with pump stations on river water resources, the number of irrigation rounds and irrigation depth in each irrigation round decreased and increased, respectively, relative to farms irrigation canal water resources. Comparing physical, gross, and net economic water productivity showed 15.7, 28.5, and 67.6 percent increase in pump station farms relative to canal farms.

Due to the scarcity of water resources in agriculture, improving the irrigation management of potato fields can reduce applied water and increase the productivity of this important crop. For this purpose, it is necessary to have sufficient and accurate information about the status of applied water and water productivity in the conditions of farmers'' management. Therefore, the amount of water applied and water productivity in the conditions of farmers'' management of the three major potato production areas in Fars province were investigated. Three areas of Abadeh, Eghlid and Khorrambid and three systems of surface, sprinkler and drip irrigation were considered as experimental treatments. T-test was used for statistical comparison of the results. The correlation between different factors was examined by determining the correlation coefficient. Results showed that the differences in applied water, yield and water productivity in different regions were not significant at the level of 5%. The average yield and water productivity were 43.6 tons/ha and 4.87 kg/m3, respectively. The use of sprinkler and drip irrigation systems reduced the applied water by 1100 cubic meters per hectare, increased the yield by 10.5 tons per hectare and increased productivity by about 1.8 kg/m3. However, these differences were not statistically significant at the 5% level. The average amount of water used in potato fields was 9420 m3/ha, which was 3350 m3/ha less than the average required water. If irrigation is based solely on the farmer''s experience and irrigation scheduling is not considered, there may be no difference between applied water in different irrigation systems and the water supplied may be less than required. Therefore, in order to reduce the effects of water stress, increase crop and water productivity, in addition to the irrigation system, serious attention should be paid to field irrigation scheduling and volumetric water delivery

One of the modeling methods researchers have considered in various sciences in recent years is artificial neural network modeling. In addition to the artificial neural network and regression models, today, the capabilities of data mining methods have been used to improve the output results of prediction models and field information analysis. Tree models (decision trees) along with decision rules are one of the data mining methods. Tree models are a way of representing a set of rules that lead to a category or value. These models are made by sequentially separating data into separate groups, and the goal in this process is to increase the distance between groups in each separation. Research shows that plant yield is a function of various plant, climatic, and water, and soil management conditions. Therefore, calculating the amount of plant yield and related indices follows complex nonlinear relationships that also have special difficulty in modeling. Considering that the response of irrigated wheat to different inputs in different climates by field method is time-consuming, costly, and in some cases impossible, so the introduction of an efficient model that can predict yield and analyze yield sensitivity to various parameters is a great help. It will be to solve this problem. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the capability of three models of the neural network, tree, and multivariate linear regression in predicting wheat yield based on parameters affecting its yield in major wheat production hubs in the country. The information used in this study includes the volume of water consumption and yield of irrigated wheat and the committees related to these two indicators in irrigated wheat fields under the management of farmers (241 farms) in the provinces of Khuzestan, Fars, Golestan, Hamadan, Kermanshah, Khorasan Razavi, Ardabil, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Semnan, south of Kerman and Qazvin, which were harvested in a field study in the 2016-17 growing season. According to the Ministry of Jihad for Agriculture statistics, these provinces have the highest area under irrigated wheat cultivation in the country and cover about 70% of the area under cultivation and production of this crop in the country. One of the most widely used monitored neural networks is the Perceptron multilayer network with error replication algorithm, which is suitable for a wide range of applications such as pattern recognition, interpolation, prediction, and process modeling. In the present study, in order to develop the neural network, the capabilities of R software with Neuralnet package have been used. After the normalization step, the data were randomized. This step aims to have a set of inputs and outputs in which the input-output categories do not have a special system. After the randomization of the data, the amount of information that should be used in the network training process is determined. This part of the data was considered for training (70%) and another part for network test (30%). Perceptron neural network activator functions in the implementation of network training and testing. The hyperbolic tangent activity function has been used to limit the range of output data from each neuron and the pattern-to-pattern training process. In the present study and the neural network modeling capability, the tree model method has been used to predict wheat yield. Tree modeling is one of the most powerful and common tools for classification and forecasting. The tree model, unlike the neural network model, produces the law. One of the advantages of the decision tree over the neural network is that it is resistant to input data noise. The tree model divides the data into different sections based on binary divisions. Each data partition can be re-subdivided into another binary, and a model fitted to each subdivision. In this research, the capabilities of WEKA software have been used to run a tree model. It is worth noting that after grouping, the prediction model is applied to the grouped data. In this study, the efficiency of three models of the artificial neural network, multivariate linear regression, and tree model to predict the performance of irrigated wheat in major production areas in the country was evaluated based on field information recorded in 241 farms. The results showed that the coefficient of explanation of the model in predicting the yield of wheat production in the model of artificial neural network and a multivariate linear regression model was 0.672 and 0.577, respectively, which was applied by grouping the data by tree method. The coefficient of explanation has been increased to 0.762. The output results of the tree model showed that the major wheat production areas in Iran in terms of water consumption could be divided into four independent groups. Finally, it can be concluded that the tree model, considering the purposeful grouping in the input data, can be used as a powerful tool in estimating irrigated wheat yield in major wheat production areas in Iran. In this study, the need to use data mining methods in analyzing field information and organizing large databases and the usefulness of data mining methods, especially the decision tree in estimating wheat crop yield, were investigated and compared with other forecasting methods. The general results of the research show that purposeful separation of input data into forecasting models can increase the output accuracy of forecasting models. However, it is not possible to provide a general approach to selecting or not selecting a forecasting model in different regions. In some studies, neural networks have shown a high ability to predict the performance of different products, but it is important to note that if there is sufficient data and correct understanding of the factors affecting the dependent variable, the accuracy of the models can be applied by data mining methods. It also improved the neural network. In a general approach, considering the accuracy of estimating the predicted models under study, these techniques can be used to estimate other late-finding characteristics of plants and soil.

Irrigation scheduling is necessary to obtain more crop yield per water. Irrigation scheduling gives the start and the end time of irrigation more accurate and scientific. Fars province is one the main potato cultivation area in Iran. In the present study, a simple and applicable irrigation schedule was obtained for the potato farms in three Fars province cities, Abadeh, Khorrambid, and Eghlid. The potato water requirement and the irrigation time were estimated using physical soil properties, drip irrigation systems properties and FAO Pennman-Montieth equation for 2009-2019. For a loamy soil texture, and supposing an irrigation efficiency of 70 percent, dripper distance of 30 centimeters, dripper flow rate of 2.4 liter per hour, the irrigation time will be 124 minutes. The irrigation frequency for Eghlid, Khorrambid and Abadeh will be 6, 6, and 7 times per a week, respectively. The four irrigation program tables can help farmers and engineers to obtain a suitable potato yield and decrease the used water.

Pistachio production in Iran has a long history. Iran's pistachio quality is unique among the world's producing countries. Increasing water productivity for this strategic product is essential. The water consumed for pistachio in Iran has not been determined. In some parts of the country, researches have been carried out and quantities for pistachio irrigation water application are reported. In order to measure irrigation water application of pistachio under farmers conditions and compare it with water requirement and the national document, this research was conducted from October 2016 for one growing season in some gardens of Khorasan Razavi, Semnan, Kerman and Yazd provinces. In these provinces, 88 gardens were selected and in each of them, irrigation water application (without intervention in their irrigation program), yield, water productivity, and some other parameters were determined. The results showed that water consumption and water productivity in the studied provinces were significantly different. The yields of the gardens of the four provinces were close to each other. The average yield of pistachio, irrigation water application and water productivity were 1764 kg/ha, 8057 m3/ha and 0.26 kg/m3, respectively. The results showed that the amount of water application in all pistachio gardens were less than the nete irrigation water requirement.

Nowadays, the use of proper irrigation methods to increase the productivity of water use in the agricultural sector due to the limited water resources is considered essential. The aim of the present research was designed with the economical assessment of irrigation different methods (drip irrigation, center pivot and fixed classical sprinkler irrigation) in using new(solar) and traditional (network) energies in irrigated wheat production. This research carried out in Alborz province in 2016 and 2017. In this research, at first, water requirement of this product was determined by Karaj condition and then, the cost and benefits of irrigation different methods using electricity network and solar power in the production of wheat was determined. For economic analysis in order to selecting the best irrigation method used Partial Budgeting Method. In this method, used Cost and Benefits and Marginal Net Benefits. According to the results, water saving in drip irrigation, center pivot to fixed classical sprinkler irrigation were estimated 22.8 and 17.6 percent, respectively. That means the net Benefits of wheat production in fixed classical sprinkler irrigation, center pivot and drip irrigation using electricity network were estimated 84.6, 85.6 and 90.7 Iranian million rials per ha and using solar power were estimated 72.4, 79.7 and 85.3 Iranian million rials per ha. In general, drip irrigation system using electricity network was recommended as better treatment and economic in wheat production, because, substitution of others systems instead of this method, Marginal Net Benefits in this substitution would decrease.

The present research was conducted in 2017 with the aim of investigating the possibility of using solar energy (photovoltaic systems) compared to energy from national network of electricity in three irrigation systems of Tape, Center pivot, and Fixed classical sprinkler irrigation in Alborz province. At first, 2 dominant crops in the region (wheat and maize) were identified and the water requirement of these crops was determined under Karaj conditions. Then, the energy needed to supply the necessary power in each of the irrigation systems using the electricity network and solar power was determined. Afterwards, the number of solar panels needed to supply this amount of energy and the initial cost for the construction of the solar system was examined, as well as the costs of using the electricity network. Then, by evaluating the crops yield performance in the region and its economic value, the profitability of the products was determined in the region.  The t-test was used to determine the difference between the mean cost and revenue or profit of the systems statistically. According to the economic results in the analysis period, in network electricity with irrigation systems of Fixed classical sprinkler, Center pivot, and Tape irrigation, net present value was estimated as 753.7, 770.3, and 1212.2 Iraniak million Rials, and benefit cost ratio in these systems was estimated at 1.64, 1.67 and 2.1. In solar system with irrigation systems of Fixed classical sprinkler, Center pivot, and Tape irrigation, net present value was estimated as 322.6 , 713, and 988.8 Iraniak million Rials, and benefit cost ratio in these systems was estimated at 1.2, 1.59, and 1.73. Therefore, based on profitability indices, national power network with drip irrigation system treatment is recommended as the better treatment.

Water resource deficiency and the necessity of sustainable production in irrigated lands have attracted much attention to water productivity issues. In this regard, analysis, estimation, and preparation of water productivity map are necessary as an influential factor to recognize cultivation potential in irrigated lands. The aim of this study was to select a proper interpolation method for water productivity and investigate spatial changes in water productivity in Iranian wheat production centers. In this research, 241 field data were used, of which range of water productivity (irrigation water + effective precipitation) was estimated between 0.3 to 2.58 kg.m-3 with the average of 0.79 kg m-3, in 2016-2017 season. Interpolation methods used included Ordinary Kriging, Inverse Distance Method (IDW), and Radial Basis Function (RBF). Cross Validation technic was applied to evaluate methods by statistical measures such as Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Bias Error (MBE), and Mean Absolute Relative Error (MARE). Interpolation methods evaluation showed that between available procedures, typical Kriging method with exponential semi-variogram model had the most proper condition to prepare wheat water productivity zoning map. The results of the spatial analysis of water productivity confirmed that geostatistics could be used with acceptable accuracy (MBE=0.005) to provide water productivity mapping. Results of Cluster analysis of the effective factors (salinity of irrigation water, soil salinity, and crop cultivar) on wheat water productivity index showed that the areas suitable for wheat cultivation were separated into 13 independent groups (at the 5 percent level), such that the highest and lowest mean water productivity of wheat were observed in group 5 (Mean = 0.84 kg.m-3) and group 10 (Mean = 0.41 kg.m-3), respectively.

Precise estimation of the amount of water consumed, irrigation efficiency and water productivity of crops are the most important key indicators in agricultural sector planning of Iran. The figures given for the volume of water used in the agricultural sector are very different and there are serious doubts as to their accuracy. The average of water use efficiency in the country is 1.32 kg/m3 and its annual growth in the last 11 years has been reported to be 0.041 kg/m3 (Abbasi et al., 2017). Therefore, it is necessary to carry out an exploratory work that can be used to quantify the volume of water consumed by various products. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to measure water consumption of wheat directly and to compare wheat water productivity in different irrigation systems under farmers management in Behbahan.

The volume of application water for wheat in different farms during one season (2016-2017) was measured and compared. The measured values were compared with the crop water requirement estimated by the Penman-Monteith and the national document. To determine the volume of water consumed, firstly, the flow rate of the selected water sources was measured, with the appropriate devices (flumes, meter and micro molina). Farm information including cultivated area, soil texture, soil electrical conductivity, electrical conductivity of the irrigation water used, and farm location with GPS were recorded. Other field information such as irrigation method, irrigation water sources (surface, underground), type of irrigation network (modern, traditional) were also recorded. Effective rainfall was calculated by the SCS method. Crop water requirement using the Penman-Monteith method was determined from data of current year and 10-year data for Behbahan city from the nearest meteorological station.

 32 wheat farms were selected and evaluated, of which 15 farms were irrigated with surface irrigation, 10 farms with sprinkler and 7 farms with drip irrigation systems. The results showed that the yield of wheat varied from 2000 to 6854 kg per hectare. The most water productivity of wheat occurred in a farm with drip irrigation being 2.79 kg/m3. Irrigation application efficiency varied from 22.7 to 99.7%. Updated crop water requirement changed from 373.4 to 517.0 mm. The highest water consumption was measured to be 4626 m3/ha in the farms receiving water from springs. The results of the t-Test analyses showed that the yield in drip irrigation farms (average being 5169 kg/ha) was significantly different as compared to sprinkler and surface irrigation systems with 3574 and 3795 kg/ha, respectively. The results of the comparison of the mean water productivity in the t-Test indicated that drip system with 1.51 kg/m3 of water productivity had the highest values and there was a significant difference with the two sprinkler and surface systems, which respectively had water productivity of 0.90 and 0.88 kg/m3. The Pearson correlation coefficients showed that the trend of changes in the amount of water consumed with the trend of changes in the application efficiency index and water productivity proved uncoordinated and it was significant at 1% level.

 The results of measurements in 32 farms showed that half of the drip irrigation fields were not cultivated on the recommended date range. Therefore, the growth period in this half was less than 140 days. Despite the decline in growing season and the non-observance of planting dates, yield in these farms was over 4000 kg ha-1. Application efficiency in sprinkler irrigation method was more than other irrigation methods. The reason for the high application efficiency in sprinkler irrigation was the backwardness of sowing date on one side and the late harvest of wheat on the other. The surface system with a growth period of 158 days had the highest growth period and has a significant difference with two dripping and sprinkler systems. The surface water system with the volume of water consumed at 4398.7 m3/ha had the highest volume of water consumed and showed a significant difference with the drip system, but this difference was not meaningful compared with the sprinkler system. The volume of water consumed by two systems of drip and sprinkler was measured at 3490.5 and 3863.6 m3/ha, respectively. The backwardness of wheat harvesting time in sprinkler irrigation fields caused the major filling time of the grains to be adjusted to April, which coincided with a higher increase in the air temperature. This led to increased water consumption at this particular time point and caused a significant decrease in water consumption despite the lower consumption of water in the sprinkler system.

The recent drought and the decrease in the ground and surface water resources of the country have raised a change in the surface irrigation methods to new irrigation methods as a useful strategy, in order to increase the water productivity in the present situation. Therefore, this research was carried out with 4 planting patterns and two Drip irrigation tape intervals (60 and 75 cm) in field scale (length 75 meters) and furrow irrigation treatment (control treatment) at Ekbatan station of Hamedan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. The irrigation water requirements was calculated based on the average 10-year weather data of the Hamedan Airport Station using the Penman-Mantis formula. Irrigation intervals were considered as 6 and 12 days for drip and surface irrigation method respectively. The two-year average volume of water used in two irrigation systems, drip and furrow irrigation method was 4026 and 6028 (m3.ha-1), respectively. The Average of water productivity in drip irrigation treatments 1.73 kg.m-3 was calculated. The results showed that drip strip irrigation reduced 33 percent in water consumption and increased 73 percent in water productivity compared to furrow irrigation. Maximum and minimum two-year mean grain yield and water productivity were related to two T1 treatments (four rows of 15 cm spacing on both sides of the strip, with strips of 75 cm spacing) and furrow irrigation of 7443 and 5996 kg.ha-1 and 1.89 and 1 kg. m-3 respectively, which had a statistically significant difference p≤0.01. Therefore, According to critical water conditions in the country and if using drip irrigation (tape) in wheat crop, the distance between the strip of 75 cm and the four rows with a distance of 15 cm from each other around each strip that has the highest yield and water productivity, is recommended.

Despite the importance of determining and measuring the indices of irrigation water management in the agricultural sector for application in macroeconomic planning, these indices have not yet been done in modern and conventional irrigation networks. Therefore, the present study was conducted to compare the indices of irrigation water management (water consumed, water productivity and water application efficiency) in modern and conventional irrigation networks producing silage maize in Iran. The data were obtained by direct measurements from fields in the provinces of Alborz, Tehran, Fars, Khuzestan, Khorasan Razavi, Ardebil, Isfahan and Qazvin, which covered about 70% of areas under cultivation of silage maize in Iran, in more than 100 farms in modern and conventional irrigation networks. Results showed that the differences in water consumption and water productivity indices of modern and conventional irrigation networks were statistically significant to produce silage maize. Consequently, the yield of silage maize measured 50.54 and 54.32 ton ha-1, water consumption measured 6983 and 9085 m3 ha-1 ,water productivity measured 7.46 and 6.26 kg m-3, and water application efficiency measured 73% and 68% under the modern and conventional networks, respectively. These findings indicate that development of modern irrigation networks can promote water productivity and are valuable to be applied in the five-year national development plan and economic programs.

Evaluation of drip irrigation systems is performed to improve systems performance. In order to investigate the performance of drip irrigation system in pistachio orchards of Mahvalat region in Khorasan Razavi province, the drip irrigation systems in operation was evaluated during 2014-2015. At first, the general specifications of the selected irrigation systems were recorded and then emitters discharge and pressure were measured in the operating parts. In each system, one manifold was randomly selected and four lateral pipes located at the beginning, one-third, two thirds, and end of each manifold were selected. Emitters discharges at the beginning, one-third, two thirds and end of each lateral pipes and pressure at the beginning and at the end of the lateral pipes were measured in the all selected manifold pipes. Also, the minimum lateral inlet pressure at each manifold was identified by measuring the flow pressure of the all lateral inlets. Results showed that the water Emission Uniformities of the systems (EU) were within the range of 84.89 to 97.10 percent and the systems performances based on this index were classified as good to excellent. Potential application efficiencies of the low quarter of the systems (PELQs) varied from 63.09 to 77.78 percent. Application efficiencies of low quarter of the systems (AELQs) were in the range of 70.10 to 86.42 percent. Based on PELQs and AELQs indexes, the performance of drip irrigation systems in the studied pistachio orchards were good.

This research was conducted with the aim of field studies to measure direct and farm water consumption of wheat under farm management in a cropping season (2016-2017) in 21 farms in Behbahan. The measured values of the net water requirement were calculated using the Penman-Monteith method (updated national water document) and also compared with the values of the national water document. The application efficiency in all fields varied from 22.7 to 99.7 percent. The average water productivity of wheat water in fields with sprinkler and surface irrigation systems in Behbahan was 0.92 kg/m3.The highest water consumption in the fields under the springs was calculated to be 4626 m3/ha. The results of the comparison of the mean water requirement in the t-test showed that mean of the national document and the updated document had a significant difference of 483.4 and 455.0 mm, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficients showed that the changes in the volume of water consumed had significant changes at 1% level and not related to the trend of changes in application efficiency and water use productivity. Also, increase of consumed water in studied fields resulted in decreasing water productivity.

Production and growth of plants in many parts of the world due to degradation and water scarcity have been limited and particularly, in recent decades, agriculture is faced with stress. In the most parts of Iran, especially in the Khorasan Razavi province, drought is a fact and water is very important. Due to melon cultivation in this province, and the conditions of quality and quantity of water resources and water used to produce the melon product in this province, any research done on the use of saline and brackish waters is statistically significant. To study the effects of different water salinity and water management on some of the agronomic traits of late summer melon with drip irrigation, an experiment with 7 treatments and 3 repetitions was conducted in a randomized complete block design, in Torogh station, Mashhad. The irrigation treatments were: 1- fresh water from planting to harvesting, 2- water (3 dS/m) from planting to harvesting, 3- water (6 dS/m) from planting to harvesting, 4- water (6 dS/m) from 20 days after plantation to harvesting, 5-water (6 dS/m) from 40 days after plantation to harvesting, 6-water (3 dS/m) from 20 days after plantation to harvesting, 7-water (6 dS/m) from 40 days after plantation to harvesting. Row spacing and plant spacing were 3 m and 60 cm, respectively and the pipe type had 6 liters per hour per unit of meters in the drip irrigation system. Finally, the amount of salinity water, number of male and female flowers, number of seed germination, dry leave's weight, leaf area, chlorophyll (with SPAD) etc. were measured and all data were analyzed by using MSTAT-C software and all averages of data, were compared by using the Duncan test. Results and Discussion The results of analysis of data showed the following: Number of seeds germination: Salinity in water irrigation had no significant effects on the number of seed germination. However, there was the most number of seed germinations in the fresh water treatments. However, with increased water salinity, the time of seed germination reduced. The maximum delay in germination of seeds was in the treatment that was irrigated with fresh water from the beginning of cultivation. Number of flowers: First, the male flowers appeared and after 5 to 7 days, the appearance of female flowers began. The effect of irrigation treatments on female flower appearance was significant. With increased water salinity, the number of male flowers decreased. There was the lowest male flower in the treatment that was irrigated with saline water from the beginning, but there was no significant difference among the other treatments. Root, steam and leaves: The effect of saline irrigation water on dried leaves’ weight and dry root weight was significant at 1% and 5% levels, respectively. Fresh treatment and salinity treatment have the least and the most root dries weight, respectively (irrigated from the beginning with fresh or saline water). Two treatments that were irrigated with fresh and brackish water from thebeginning of cultivation have the highest leaf growth. The same trend was true for steams. In general, in all treatments, after applying different quality water to the end of the growing season, the trend of plant growth was similar to the others. Chlorophyll: One of the most common measurements made by plant scientists is the determination of Chlorophyll concentration. The SPAD index was used for comparison of chlorophylls. With an increase of the salt in irrigation water, the SPAD index was also increased. The maximum and minimum SPAD was in the treatments that were irrigated with saline water (treatment A) and fresh water (treatment C) from the beginning of cultivation, respectively. Yield: With increasing the salinity of water, the total yield decreased. Salinity in irrigation water had a significant effect (at the 5% level) on total yield. The mean yield of brackish and salinity irrigation water treatments were 17.5% and 26% less than the fresh water irrigation treatment, respectively.These differences were significant. However, there was no significant difference between the yield of cases using brackish or salt water. The results showed the following: Salinity in irrigation water had no significant effect on the number of seed germinations. However, there was the most number of seed germinations in the fresh water treatments, but by raising the salinity of water, the time of seed germination was reduced. With increasing the salinity of water, the number of male flowers decreased. There was the lowest male flower in the treatment that were irrigated with salt water from the beginning, but there was no significant difference between the other treatments. The effect of salinity water on leaf dry weight and dry root was significant at 1% and 5% levels, respectively. Fresh and salinity treatments have the least and the most root dry weight, respectively (irrigated from the beginning with fresh or salt water). Two treatments that were irrigated with fresh and brackish water from the beginning of cultivation have the highest leaf growth. The same trend was true for steams. Two treatments that were irrigated with fresh and brackish water from the beginning of cultivation have the highest leaves areas. And they had significant difference with other irrigation treatments. With an increase in the salt in irrigation water, the SPAD index also increased. The mean yield of brackish and salinity water irrigation treatments were 17.5% and 26% less than that of fresh water irrigation treatment, respectively.These differences were significant. But there was no significant difference between the yield of brackish and salt water.