The determination of optimal cultivation pattern according to Water Footprint Index(case study: Kermanshah province)

The footprint of water in a product is defined as the used water to produce it. Present study is conducted with the aim of calculating the footprint of water in farm and gardening products in 24 plains of Kermanshah province in the 2015-2016 cultivative year. The function and parameters impressing the calculations were collected using the statistics provided by agricultural organization of Jihad. The aquatic need of plants was extracted by CropWat software and the footprint of products was calculated. Results showed that among the agricultural studied products, of his plain, watermelon, forage corn and Sugar beet were identified as the appropriate products according to average index of water footprint and on the other side, sesame, beans and sunflower were identified as the the most inappropriate products according to the index. In the gardening sector, almond and cherry- sour cherry were identified as the most inappropriate and appropriate products according to the above index, respectively. Among all the plains of Kermanshah, kermansh allocated the most portion of water index footprint in the gardening sector. The footprint of blue water is nearly more than green in studied products; representing the dependence of products to surface and ground water resources. Hence, according to recent droughs and water shortage, water resources must be used accurately and decision must be made for cultivating the products with less water requirement and better performance. Also, the index of water footprint in products can be reduced considerably by measures such as deficit irrigation, mulching and by the use of modern irrigation systems .