Economic value of irrigation water for major crops in the Ardabil plain, Iran*

The agricultural sector is facing an increasing demand for water in Iran due to the large disparity between the cost of water supply and the price paid by farmers. Therefore, the real price of water neds to be calculated. To this end, in this study the economic value of water was calculated in the case of wheat, potatoes, alfalfa, barley and canola in Ardabil city using cross-sectional data collection for the year 2018, with 1087 questionnaires completed by farmers in the area. Data were analysed using Excel, SPSS and EViews software products. The economic value of irrigation water after analysing the results for wheat, potato, alfalfa, barley and canola crops was 0.026, 0.092, 0.022, 0.0225 and 0.0474 US$/m(3), respectively. Since these calculated economic values are quite high for different crops, production of the crops in question is economically viable and the water consumed economically justified. The price of water supply in the Ardabil plain varies between 0.00877 and 0.0175 US$/m(3), which is significantly different from the real price. Given the price difference between the cost of water supply and the price paid by farmers, incentive schemes can be used so that any farmer who consumes less water will benefit from a discount in the calculation of water prices, resulting in mitigation of water volume consumption.