Water Saving Approaches on Agricultural Consumption in Iran

Mehrzad Ehsani Director General on Operation of Irrigation Structures, Iran’s Water Resources Management Authority

INTRODUCTION

Islamic Republic of Iran



Population:



Area:



Climate:

75 million 165 Mha (18 th in the world); (18 th in the world); Arid & semi-arid; 

Precipitation:

250mm annually; 

History & Civilization:

one of the most ancient countries in the world; 

Irrigated Area:

Around 9 million ha; World ranking the fifth after China, India, USA, and Pakistan,

Annual Precipitation in Iran

The Precipitation is less than 100 mm in more than 50% of to total area of Iran

Per capita renewable water resources

Trend of Population Growth from 1900 to 2010

30 20 10 0 80 70 60 50 40

Trends of per capita renewable water resources

16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Year

Rapid population increase is the most important factor of per capita renewable water decrease in Iran during the last 100 years. Iran’s population increased from 8.6 million in 1900 to 75 million in 2012 that is about 8.7 times as many as the previous 11 decades. The per capita renewable water resources (PCRWR) of the country is decreased from 15000 cubic meters in 1900 to about 1730 cubic meters in 2010.

2. AGRICULTURE

Arable land Cultivated land Irrigated lands Rainfed area Fallow land Agricultural contribution in National GDP Agricultural Job opportunities Live in rural areas

37 Million ha 18.5 Million ha 8.5-9 Million ha 4.3-6.7 Million ha 4.5-5 Million ha 13 percent 3.3 million (23 %) 22.2 million (31 %) 2010 2010 (2006-2010) (2006-2010) (2006-2010) 2007 2009

3. IRRIGATION

ITEM Irrigated lands Share in Food Production Surface Irrigation Localized Irrigation Sprinkler Irrigation Largest Irrigation Network Share 8.5-9 Million ha Around 86% 91.4 % 3.4% (423,385 ha) 5.2 % (604,448 ha) Gilan: 198,000 ha Dez: 125,000 ha Year (2006-2010) (2006-2010) 2011 2011 2011 2012

Location of Irrigation Networks

Role of Irrigation in Food Production

Irrigation plays vital role in food production and improving food security in the country.

Irrigation areas are approximately equal to the rain-fed areas ; however, most of the production comes from the areas under irrigation. For the past 5 years , about 86 percent of Iran total agricultural products are from irrigated farming.

70 000 000 60 000 000 50 000 000 40 000 000 30 000 000 20 000 000 10 000 000 2006 Annual crops production of Irrigated and rain-fed lands 2007 2008

Year

2009 Irrigated 2010 Rainfed 7 000 000 6 000 000 5 000 000 4 000 000 3 000 000 2 000 000 1 000 000 2006 2007 2008

Year

2009 2010 Irrigated Rainfed

Agricultural Production in Iran

Date Name Pistachios Watermelons Apricot Cherries Ranking in World

1 st 2 nd 2 nd 2 nd 3 rd

Name Almonds Grape Tomato Peach Orange Ranking in World

3 rd 7 th 7 th 7 th 8 th

Apple

3 rd

Lemon

9 th

Walnuts,

3 rd

Wheat

11 th Iran Share of Fruits and Vegetables Production in the World is 1.93% which ranked as 8 th in the World ; reported by FAO.

Water Resources

Surface Water R.

Groundwater R.

Water Treatment of City Wastewater and Non conventional Water Total

Water Use

BCM

2009

% 44 51.3

46 53.4

MCM

2022

53 52 % 48.6

47.7

0.7

0.7

4 3.7

96 100 109 100

5. WATER STORAGE & HYDROPOWER

Under Operation Under Construction Under Study Total No.

Total Capacity (MCM) Regulating Volume (MCM)

316 42,560 31,254

Generation (MV)

8,800 132 26,372 11,715 5,648 340 788 46,499 115,431 14,236 57,206 7,532 22,060

Water Saving Approaches

Development plan of Irrigation Systems

Iran government is determined to develop irrigation systems by emphasizing on developing controlled irrigation methods such as pressurized irrigation, greenhouse, and application of pipes instead of open canals.

According to the performed studies, there is the possibility of developing pressurized irrigation for about 4 million hectares in the country. Hence, the government is committed to pay about 85% of total investment as the grant loans and the rest free-interest for investment of pressurized irrigation to persuade farmers to extensively use such methods.

Development plan of Irrigation Systems

Localized and Sprinkler Irrigation

• 20 000

ha

1990 2011

• 1,000,000

ha

• 2,000,000

ha

2015

Irrigation Efficiency •IE: 32 % •FAO

1990 2010

•IE: 45 % •IWRM • IE:?

2020 IWRM:

Iran Water Resources Management Authority

Equipment of irrigation networks to ultrasonic water measurement 

Water delivery to around 2 million irrigation hectares irrigation network (or 15 BCM water will be water) will be managed and controlled constantly.



Applying automation system for better water management

Groundwater Management

Deep and semi-deep wells 640 000 Wells Water fees Energy Price 47 BCM Gauge

Iran’s Subsidized Reform

Subsidized Reform

is the most recent and important policy in water and energy supply and demand: According to this law, real economic value of water and energy shall gradually be estimated and materialized so that the full cost of water and energy in the end of the 5th year of the programm should be covered (domestics and industries).



Energy Price

(Electricity) in Agricultural sector has been increased 3 times in first the phase comparing to previous one.

 Effect of first phase is under study to decide applying the second phase of subsidized reform.

 Increasing investigation.

Water Fee

in agricultural sector is under  In general, around 5% reduction in water consumption has been reported in domestics sector.

Wells Programmable Gauges

•

It is the policy that all the agricultural wells must be equipped to Programmable gauges:

– Share of farmers from groundwater will be determined each year, and Water allocation will be charged on the specific Card! – Farmer will not be able to withdrawal water more then permitted allocation.

– Gauges are completely programmable (monthly or yearly). – In the first step, around 25, 000 wells equipped to Gauge.

INVESTMENT ENVELOPE (US$ million)

Size of project Small-scale irrigation developme nt

Time Frame

Rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation scheme Large Scale Irrigation developme nt Small medium scale hydropower

Short-term Medium term Long-term 1 439 624 26 399 368 44 4 002 1 365 627 381 59 1

Large scale hydropow er

346 72 84

Total

%

2 089 21.2% 811 8.2% 5 994 60.9% 441 4.5% 502 5.1% Total 6 567 2 488 783 9 838 100%

Policy: Increase Farm Size

•

minimum acceptable area of farmers would be 4-10 ha for irrigated land and 10-25 ha in rainfed farms (Avoiding land fragmentation).

•

In order to support landowners to join small holdings above the determined limits, the government would provide special financial and technical privileges to pay the insurance fees of such farmers’ products for at most 5 years after the land integration has taken place.

Approaches

• • • •

Raising Public Awareness

, through media, cartoon, direct training and expansion of farmers.

Issuing license for volume of permitted water allocation according to size of land, crop pattern and water availability for all agricultural land, and control not to use more the permitted.

Financial Support for innovation in technique and technology in water saving in agriculture.

Revising water fees

, (Surface water fee for irrigation network is 1-3 % of produced crops in hectare according to the development of irrigation system).

Conclusions

Technical, Managerial and policies programs, as well as, investment on water resources and irrigation infrastructures in addition with training and education of farmers and field engineers towards water saving in agriculture and enhancing water productivity resulted positive impact on better management of limited fresh water in Iran. In fact, It is not the end, we are in the beginning of long way to achieve management the comprehensive water

Thanks