Estimation of virtual water content of red meat in light and heavy livestock in Khorasan Razavi province

Virtual water can be considered as a solution for the water crisis in arid countries which they have water scarcity. Meat products utilize far more virtual water than plant products. Therefore, estimating the virtual water of livestock products and revealing its information can play an important role in adopting proper management policies to reduce the pressure on water resources. The aim of this study was to determine the virtual water content of boneless meat and the meat without bones. In order for that, virtual water of livestock products of 28 cities located in Khorasan Razavi province was calculated for years 1394, 1395 and 1396. In this study, by calculating the water need of animal feed with CROPWAT software, the amount of virtual water of livestock products was estimated. Calculations revealed the highest and the lowest "virtual water of cow with bones" among all three types of purebred, native and hybrid cows in Bajestan (30523 ) and Quchan (4956 ), respectively and the highest and the lowest "virtual water content of boneless cow" is among the three types of cows in Gonabad (57917 ) and Quchan (7894 ). The highest and the lowest "virtual water of boneless mutton” are in Gonabad (5643 ) and Mashhad (763 ), respectively, and the highest and the lowest "virtual water content of mutton without bones" are in Sabzevar (6446 ) and Mashhad (864 ).