Optimization Solutions for Lincensing Process of New Irrigation Systems

Many problems are encountered in the implementation of new irrigation systems with government subsidy, and the issuance of licenses is not an exception to this rule. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to identify optimal solutions for the process of issuing permits for the implementation of these systems. The statistical population of the research consisted of the applicants who registered their application in the five selected provinces of Hamedan, Fars, Zanjan, Khorasan-Razavi, and Kermanshah during 2019-2021 (N1=150) and the corresponding experts working on licensing new irrigation systems (N2=100). The research method was focus group and in-depth structured interviews. According to the results, the most important problems in the licensing process included: failure to perform work in a suitable and integrated system, the differences in the process of carrying out the project in different provinces, lack of familiarity and insufficient initial justification for the applicants, strictness and delay in determining the assignment of inquiries, and existence of some redundant and eliminable steps during the process. Based on this, the most important proposed solutions are: carrying out all process steps in a smart and integrated system, providing consultation to the applicant at the stage of filing and justification by reviewing the applicant's documents and facilities, removing unnecessary items in the process, paying the subsidy dynamically, applying an intelligent monitoring system with active feedback for all stages and all actors in the plan, and determining the time frame for each action. Within the system, the most important authorities to solve these problems are the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad and Agricultural Jihad Organizations of the provinces; and the external responsible authorities are mainly Plan and Budget Organization, banks, and the agricultural engineering system.