Determining the Optimum Cropping Pattern in Golestan Dam Irrigation and Drainage Network using Genetic Algorithm

The preparation, formulation and implementation of crop patterns are important activities in the agriculture and food production organizations. According to the significance role of cropping pattern in sustainable production of agricultural and horticultural crops, determining the optimum cropping pattern in irrigation network is necessary. This research objective is maximizing the net profit of farmers using genetic algorithms to determine optimal crop pattern in Golestan dam irrigation and drainage network. This irrigation network has been exploited separately by 4 rural production cooperatives company. For this reason the cropping pattern has been set for each cooperative separately in fall and summer cultures. In fall planting, because of good rainfall and sufficient water, all land area of each cooperative would be cultivated; in this case around 38% remaining excess water would be stored in dam reservoirs. But in the summer planting because of increasing evaporation and decreasing rainfall, irrigation water requirement would be increased, for this reason; the model is taken in an average 34% of the each cooperative area under crops. By using the surplus water of fall planting in summer planting, it can be another 1388 hectares (around 13 %) of land to be planted under irrigated crops and as a result the profit increased up to 37 percent.