Determination of virtual water indices and ecological footprint of sugar beet water in villages of Torbat Heydarieh city

Water crisis worldwide and nationwide is serious and critical; therefore, water management in urban, agricultural and industrial areas is regarded as an update issue; however, due to maximum use of water in agriculture, management of irrigation water used for agricultural products has become more important requiring programming and altering irrigation water consumption pattern to enhance the efficiency of irrigation water. Accordingly, in this study the indicator of virtual water of sugar beet is measured in Torbat Heydariyeh. The data and statistics were gathered from agricultural Jihad organization, meteorological organization, and ministry of energy during 2011 to 2019. The model used is ecological water footprint index and other related indicators.The results showed that the amount of virtual sugar beet in normal state was 1.2 m3 / kg and with 35% efficiency was 3.4 m3 / kg. The total amount of virtual water from sugar beet exports from Khorasan Razavi province has been increasing over the years. The green water footprint in sugar beet production is 265 million cubic meters per year, which is about 0.14 of the total water footprint calculated. Also, white water footprint in sugar beet production is 950 million cubic meters per year, which is about 52% of the total estimated water footprint, which is due to the low efficiency of irrigation systems in the region. The higher share of blue footprint than green footprint indicates that there is less rain benefit and greater evapotranspiration. Therefore, using irrigation systems with higher efficiency and reducing sugar beet spring sowing area is recommended in Torbat Heydarieh city.