Determining the Return and Water Productivity in Drip Irrigation System in Horticultural Production: A Case Study of Horticultural Research Stations in Alborz Province

The main purpose of this study was to determine the return and physical and economical water productivity in the production of horticultural products using drip irrigation system under research conditions in Horticultural Sciences Research Institute (HSRI) in Alborz province during 2016-2019. In this study, the return criteria including; gross income, the percentage of sale return and the percentage of investment return, and also physical and economical productivity analysis were used to measure water productivity. According to the results, during 2017-2019, the average physical productivity of irrigation water in apple and pear genotypes was determined to be 2.75 and 1.7 kg/m3, respectively. The average economic productivity of water resulting from the gross profit of horticultural products in apple and pear genotypes was determined to be 39990.5 and 211486.7 Rials/m3 respectively, in Kamalshahr station. Results also showed that in 2016-2019, the average physical productivity of irrigation water in production of sour cherry, cherry, peach and apple genotypes was 1.08, 0.99, 1.69 and 1.61 kg/m3, respectively, and the average economic productivity of water based on gross profit of horticultural products in the genotypes of sour cherry, cherry, peach and apple were determined to be 106174.8, 95127.8, 25236.3 and 23011.2 Rials/m3, respectively, in Meshkindasht. The results of this study indicated the favorable state of the average economic productivity of water resulted from the profit of the production of apples and pears in Kamal Shahr station compared to the results of studies conducted in some parts of the country. However, in these stations the physical and economic productivity of water in the production of apple, pear and peach, have been generally much lower compared to the average ones resulted in some studied countries. So, investigation of their reasons using comparative studies and identifying strategies to increase water productivity in the production of these products at these research stations is recommended.