Managing environmental impacts of water and energy use by a multipurpose cropping pattern optimization

The present study proposes a multipurpose cropping pattern optimization to minimize the environmental impacts of water and energy use on agriculture through the income-energy-river ecosystem nexus approach in different hydrological conditions. The following three main purposes are considered in the optimization model: (1) mitigating greenhouse gas emissions due to farming by considering minimization of agricultural energy consumption; (2) mitigating environmental impacts on the river ecosystem by considering it as the main source for supplying irrigation demand in the case study and (3) maximizing farmers' income. Field studies are carried out in the case study for recording energy inputs to assess average energy use, irrigation demand, production yield and other required parameters for the selected crops. The fuzzy physical habitat simulation is utilized to develop an environmental impact function in the river ecosystem. Based on the results of the case study, the optimization model is able to balance energy use, impacts on the river ecosystem and farmers' income. However, its performance is not best in terms of all the defined purposes. The results indicate that more than 50% of the initial income is provided, while energy use is mitigated by more than 70% on average. Furthermore, the river ecosystem is protected properly.