Pistachio growing area zonation based on climatic parameters in East Azerbijan province

Recent permanent trend of drought in East Azerbaijan province has caused of the reduction in available water resources, a sharp drop in the groundwater levels as well as drying of the Uremia Lake and finally increasing saline lands surrounding the Uremia Lake. Also, the orchards and farm lands which strangely depended on groundwater have been indiscriminately and disproportionately developed related to the current climate condition. Therefore, modification of agricultural patterns is one of the best solutions for efficient water usage in agricultural section and is considered as the only practical solution in relation to the sustainable development of agriculture. This study was conducted in order to determine the suitability for growing pistachio orchards and replacing it with second and third degree gardens. Suitable areas were determined by modeling in ArcGIS software environment based on various affective climate parameters in various stages of plant growth. Results show that about 25 percent of the area is completely suitable, 27 percent is relatively suitable and 48.4 percent is completely unsuitable for pistachio plantation. Also, marginal areas of the Uremia Lake are quite suitable which indicates that the replacement of the orchards of pistachio with high water consuming orchards in the area is fully practical and feasible. The results could provide more reliable basis for agricultural decision-making and planning to provide a new model to replace the pistachio orchards with high water consuming orchards.