Estimationof virtual water in major crop products )Case Study Hamedan province(

Food security, drought, environmental protection and industrial development have made Efficient management of water resources.The deficiencyof water supplies and precipitation is a major and undeniable fact in Hamadan province. The concept of virtual water has significant potential to improve water management, particularly in the agricultural sector. Therefore, virtual analysis of the basic agricultural products can help us in policy making and planning for the optimal use of water resources. In order to achieve this goal, the virtual water volume of the basic agricultural products and the volume of virtual water exchanges were calculated in Hamedan province by importing and exporting these products in 2016. The results of this study showed that products such as wheat, barley, alfalfa and corn were Products with low productivity and high virtual water, and Hamedan provincein major products such as wheat, potato, barley, alfalfa, sugar beet, corn and garlicis a virtual water exporter respectively about 33, 395, 34, 33.8, 69, 60 and 18.5 million cubic meters. Virtual water export volume of these products was approximately 665 million cubic meters in 2016. Therefore, because of water scarcity in Hamedan province, it is necessary to reduce the cultivation of crops such as potato, and sugar beet, And Products such as corn fodder and garlic, which require less virtual water and are better adapted to the weather conditions in this province, be cultivated. It is also expected that the importance of virtual water in food security will continuously increase and planners will have more and more effective use of virtual water exchange strategies to reduce the pressure on water resources.