Prioritization of Major Agricultural Crops Cultivation Considering the Energy and Water Costs in Qazvin Plain

Limited water resources and energy, low yield utilization of irrigation networks, increasing population and a growing need for these vital resources reveal the necessity of proper planning for optimum use of water resources. The cropping pattern has a major role in the design of irrigation and drainage networks. Ziaei et al. (2015) compared energy productivity of different crops (wheat and barley) in Sistan and Baluchestan province in Iran. Results showed that the amount of energy productivity for wheat and barley fields were 0.056 and 0.066, respectively. Barley production was more efficient from various aspects of energy consumption rather than wheat in the studied region. Adhikary et al. (2015) prioritized the commonly grown crops based on rainwater use efficiency and their comparative performance during water stress condition in India. Results showed that vegetable crops have higher rainwater use efficiency than cereals and pulses. Among the cereals, maize and finger millet performed better in upland areas while they did better in paddies in low lands. Igwe et al. (2015) examined optimum cropping patterns for selected root and tuber crop based production and resource allocation of smallholder farmers in Abia State, Nigeria, using the linear programming approach. They reported that farmers’ purchasing power would be enhanced given optimal crop production activity combination and land resource allocation. Singh et al. (2001) and Garg and Dadhich (2014) also studied on optimal cropping pattern in Pakistan and China, respectively. The present study was performed to determine the prioritization of cultivating major agricultural crops (wheat, maize, alfalfa and barley) in sprinkler irrigation systems under both subsidized and non-subsidized conditions with respect to energy and water costs using numerical taxonomy method.