The study of farmers’ knowledge of irrigation and water issues in Golestan province

فصلنامه آب و توسعه پایدار

Article 11, Volume 2, Issue 2 - Serial Number 5, March 2016, Pages 77-84   

Document Type: review paper

DOI: 10.22067/jwsd.v2i2.49684

Authors

Ali Reza Kiani¹; Fariborz Abbasi^{* 2}

¹agricultural engineering department, Golestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and education Center

²Agricultural Engineering Research Institute

Abstract

The three practical steps that are need to be taken by government agencies in order to increase irrigation efficiency include economic motivation for optimization of water use, modification of existing irrigation systems in the short term and modernization of traditional methods in the long-term plan. The present research aims at identifying farmers' knowledge regarding irrigation and water issues over two years (2008-2009) in the Golestan province. The study was a field survey and the data was collected through interviews with the farmers as well as completion of questionnaires. Results showed that source of water supply for approximately 76% of the farmers was from wells, approximately 18% from rivers, and the rest of them from springs, irrigation networks and small reservoirs. More than 89% of the convenience channels were earth channels, 8 % lining and 3 % pipes. Knowledge among farmers about irrigation scheduling was very limited. Nearly 95% of the farmers do not have any information about the water consumption in their field. Most farmers (93%) produced in a traditional way, transferred water by earth canals and irrigated without land leveling. Only 7% used pressurized irrigation systems. The results also showed that the main causes of water losses in the fields were related to earth channels (26%), topography (29%) and inadequate irrigation (20%). Unreasonable cost of water, the small size of farms, and private possession of water resources were key factors for improving irrigation efficiency.

Keywords

Water Resources; Irrigation; Farmers knowledge; Golestan

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