Identification and Evaluation of Software and Managerial Issues Influencing Agricultural Water Productivity in Iran

Improvement of water productivity (WP) in the agricultural sector is one of the necessities of sustainable use of water resources, crop production sustainability, water demand reduction, and fulfillment of food security of the increasing population of Iran. Through facilitated brain storming meetings and harvest of the ideas of the experts and resource persons participated from the water and agricultural sectors of the country, the software-managerial (socio-economic and policy–institution) problems, issues, and challenges associated with the improvement of WP in Iran were systematically identified and developed in the form of problem trees. Based on the results, the main socio-economic and policy–institution problems hindering improvement of WP in Iran could be identified in the five following categories namely as: 1) Insufficient accordance of the country’s policies with the WP, 2) lack of proper implemented plans for the integrated management of water supply and demand, 3) lack of proper measures, incentives, and or motivation for investing on the development and of the water resources and O&M of the water infrastructures, 4) low levels of efficiencies in the planning, study, design, and implementation of the country’s water resources and associated infrastructures, and 5) insufficient activities on training and capacity building programs require for the improving of WP.