5th International Conference on Rain Water Cistern Systems
"Rainwater Catchment for Future Generations"
Keelung, Taiwan, R.O.C. - August 1991

Section 6: Socioeconomic Aspects and Cost Analysis

Page 305

Economics of Flood Irrigated Cereal Hay Production

Ahang Kowsar & Esmail Rahbar
Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Iran

Abstract

Insufficient rainfall makes dry-farming an undependable method of food and feed production in many parts of Iran. Moreover, groundwater (GW) mining for irrigation of crop is threatening the very existence of the desert dwellers. Therefore, augmentation and conservation of GW for later, wise utilization holds the key to the prosperity of the future generations. Flood-water spreading (FWS) is a very easy and economical means of crop production in the arid and semi-arid areas

Flood irrigation of wheat and hay in the e Joonegan County, Mamassani (mean annual precipitation, MAP- 579mm) in 500 ha of rainfed wheatfields during the 1980-81 growing season resulted in substantial gains in grain and hay production. The grain yield on a 40 ha tract ranged 1214-1685 kg ha-1. The highest grain yield in control farms was 700 kg ha-1. T'he forage yield ranged from 1500 kg hasup-1 for Medicago scutellata Mill. to 300 k ha-1 for Trifolium alexand it num L. Improved yield for wheat of up o 3200 kg ha-1 have been reported of up to 4300 kg ha-1, and for medic of up to 3200 kg ha-1 have been reported for more recent years. Disregarding the extra benefits accrued through artificial recharge (AR) and flood mitigation (FM), the benefit to cost ratio (C) was 5.1.

A 650 ha FWS system was constructed in the e SE corner of the Gareh Bygone Plain (MAP=150mm) for barley reduction. The grain yield of individual farms ranged 700-2000 kg ha.-1 with the mean of 1400 kg ha-l in the 1984-85 crop season. The highest grain yield of control plots was 700 kg ha-1, Disregarding the extra benefits accrued through Area of GW,. FM, and forage production in the fallow period, the BCR compounded yearly at 15% for 10 years was 2.2. Should the real cost of irrigated grain and hay production be considered, the BCR would be larger than the reported figures.

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