The Effect of Water Price under Different Scenarios of Water Allocation on the Economical Productivity of Cropping Pattern in Baghmalek Plain

The price of water in agriculture plays an important role in the water allocation management. Therefore, the optimum strategies of cropping pattern could be designed when water price analysis are considered in a predetermined economic framework. In the present study, a programming model was developed using the genetic algorithm for optimal water allocation in the eastern north of Khuzestan province that is suffering from water deficit. Maximization of benefit per cost ratio was defined as the objective function by a linear equation and the feasible domain of the problem was limited to water resources, cultivated lands, irrigation systems, and economic parameter constraints. In the developed optimization scheduling, there is the set of solutions with the great potential to maximize the net income of cropping pattern in the water shortage condition. Three scenarios of water price including 0, 200, and 500 Rials/m3 have been considered to compare the allocated water, water use efficiency, and net benefit per drop indices for each crop. The results show that by imposing deficit irrigation and an increase in costs, the volume of allocated water together with the efficiency of water usage for tomatoes is increased by 7% and 0.07 Kg/m3, respectively. Furthermore, the same conditions lead to an increase in the cultivated area of wheat and maize. Analysis of evaluation indices indicated that by increasing the price of water, the model decreased the allocated water in vegetables and increased the water usage efficiency and benefit per cost ratio in beans.