Evaluation of different water harvesting surface effects for providing of pistachio trees irrigation water demand

Since the most consumed water is in the agricultural sector, available water resources, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, are the main limiting factor for agricultural production. Therefore, by rain water harvesting systems and its proper management, it is possible to compensate part of water shortage in the mentioned region. The purpose of this study was to select the most suitable rain water harvesting techniques based on multi-criteria decision-making system using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and investigation of its effectiveness in supplying the water demand of pistachio gardens. The results of the AHP analysis indicated that the environmental impact criterion with a weight of 0.342 and permanency criterion with a weight of 0.284 were the most effective criteria for selecting of the best rain water harvesting system. Finally, the rain water harvesting system with geomembrane insulator with a weight of 0.371 was selected as the most suitable insulator cover, and two other rain water harvesting systems with plastic and isogam insulator were weighted with the weight of 0.350 and 0.279, respectively in the following priorities. Also, the results showed that from the insulated surface with an area of 800 m2 and an average annual rainfall of 300 mm, it is possible to harvest at least 200 m3 rainwater per year. With this volume of harvested water and the choice of drip irrigation with gravel filter, the annual irrigation water demand of 200 fruitful pistachio trees will be supplied during a crop season. Therefore, due to rainwater harvesting techniques, some parts of irrigation water demands of gardens will be provided in arid and semi-arid regions, as well as maintaining sustainability of production and increasing gardeners' revenues, the double pressure on surface water and underground water will also be reduced.