Determining the Function of Production and Economic Value of Water Input in Potato Production and Alfalfa in Ardebil Plain

Population growth around the world and rising water demand in most parts of the world have caused many problems in distributing and allocating water resources in different sectors of drinking, industry and agriculture. Ardebil Plain has a shortage of water due to its cold and dry climate in providing water consumption of agriculture. One of the ways that can some extent solve this problem is comprehensive water management, which is an important economic method and values ​​can be balanced between supply and water demand. In this study, the production function was used to determine the economic value of water in the production of potato and alfalfa products. The results showed that the average final production of irrigation water input for potato and alfalfa product was 0.459 and 0.25, with economic value of 11486.86 and 2759.4 Rials per cubic meter respectively. Also, the highest amount of water consumption in potato and alfalfa production was obtained by 14400 cubic meters and 10,000 cubic meters, respectively, and average water consumption, respectively, was 12.03 and 6786.52 cubic meters, respectively. As a result, by informing farmers about the consequences of unnecessary harvesting of water resources and reforming agricultural water prices based on the ultimate value of production, the loss and unnecessary consumption of water in the agricultural sector can be prevented.