Virtual Water Trading and economic value of water in irrigated Cotton production at Iran

In this study, spatial and temporal distribution of water footprint components have been estimated in irrigated cotton production. The economic value of water footprint has been calculated during 2005 to 2017 and the results have been compared with the wheat crop in the producing provinces. The results showed that the average ecological footprint of water in the mentioned product is 4019 m3/ton, which is the share of green, blue and gray water footprint is 2.3%, 87.6% and 10.1, respectively. Khorasan Jonoubi province (5716 m3/ton) and Alborz province (2235.5 m3/ton) have the highest and lowest water footprints in Iran, respectively. The average economic value of water footprint in Iran is 0.37 USD/m3, which is the highest (0.62 USD/m3) and the lowest (0.24 USD/m3) in Alborz and Khorasan Jonoubi, respectively. Meanwhile, in terms of the economic value of the footprint, Iran is the third largest producer of cotton (after China and Greece). Comparison of footprint and its economic value with wheat shows that the value of water in cotton is higher in all provinces, but in Alborz, Golestan, Mazandaran and Ardabil provinces, the difference is much more noticeable. Finally, the results of this study showed that the volume of virtual water used in cotton production in Iran is 278 MCM and considering the per capita consumption of cotton in Iran (600MCM), the average annual 322 MCM (50.5 thousand ton Cotton) is imported from other countries in the form of virtual water with a value of $ 70 million per year.