Factors Affecting Wheat Water Productivity in Water Users Cooperatives Downstream Lands of Doosti Dam

This research aimed to determine the physical and economic productivity of water in wheat production and the factors affecting the farm water productivity of water user’s cooperatives in the downstream area of Doosti Dam in Sarakhs County Khorasan Razavi Province. In this study, physical productivity through the CPD index (amount of product produced per cubic meter of water consumed) and economic productivity using BPD (income per cubic meter of water consumed) and NBPD (net income per cubic meter of water used) were calculated. The necessary information was collected by completing 274 questionnaires from the farmers who were members of water user cooperatives. The results showed that for wheat products, the CPD index was 1.35 kg/m3, the BPD index was 152920 Rials/m3, and the NBPD index was 94710 Rials/m3. The results of the mean comparison test showed that there was significant difference between the physical and economic water productivity indicators of different groups of respondents according to the level of education, relationship with the extension agent, participation in training courses, the geometric shape of the farm and the number of plots of land owned. The results of the correlation test showed a positive and significant relationship between the variables of agricultural experience, income, the number of active family members in agricultural work, the number of training courses attended, the frequency of referrals to extension agents, the components of social capital, technical and agricultural actions. Also, there was a negative and significant relationship between the variables of the distance from the source to the field and the duration of each irrigation cycle with the CPD, BPD, and NBPD. The regression analysis results showed that the variable of agricultural income with a positive effect played a greater role in predicting the CPD and the variable of the duration of each irrigation round with a negative effect played a greater role in predicting the BPD and NBPD. Due to the negative effect of the Net Benefit Per Drop  duration of each irrigation on the economic productivity of water, it is suggested to carry out irrigation according to wheat needs and with a method that consumes less water.