Price and Non-Price Policies Effects of Irrigation Water on Cropping Pattern and Gross Profit of Farmers in Shahdad County

Reduction of atmospheric precipitation and excess exploitation of groundwater resources in Shahdad plain caused severe changes in the system of water resources use in this region. Water is one of the most important inputs for agricultural production and efficient management of this rare resource is one of the most important fields of agricultural development. The purpose of this research is to identify the effects of price and non-price policies of irrigation water on the cropping pattern and gross profit of farmers in the Shahdad county of Kerman province. Irrigation water price policy (increasing costs of water extraction by increasing the cost of consumed electricity) and the non-price policy for irrigation water (reducing available water for farmers) was assumed with default, 5, 10 and 15 percent. To achieve these goals, a positive mathematical programming model with quadratic cost function and the Production Function with Constant Elasticity of Substitution was used. The required data were collected using simple random sampling method and completed 106 questionnaires in 2016-17. The results showed that by adopting a price policy for irrigation water, the areas under cultivation of products with less water consumption would increase and the areas under cultivation of other selected crops would be reduced. Gross profit model under scenario 100% increase in the costs of water extraction, decreased by 26%. Adopting a non-price policy for irrigation water under the 15% scenario has led to a reduction in areas under cultivation of all selected products and the gross profit model, by applying this scenario, is reduced by 48%. Therefore, the adoption of complementary policies such as rising prices of crops, the use of varieties with high yield and the use of new irrigation systems is suggested in conjunction with this policy.