Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 PhD Student at University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Gorgan, I.R. Iran
2 Professor, Department of Watershed, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, I.R. Iran.
3 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, I.R. Iran
Abstract
Agriculture sector is the main consumer of water in the world. In productive sectors like
agriculture, water is considered as a valuable mediatory commodity or production input.
Demand for agriculture water comes from consumers› (agriculture products›) behavior. This
study aims to evaluate water use optimality in Pomegranate Arbors at the Charkhab village in
the Yazd province. The data was randomly collected from 95 people of 153 beneficiaries in
the study area. This study surveys water demand variations in the case of one percent change
in water procurement expenses in Yazd. Elasticity estimation revealed that pomegranate
producers› sensitivity to agriculture water price changes is high. To be specific, one percent
increase in the price of agriculture water would decrease water demand by 24.32 percent
amongst pomegranate producers in Yazd. Production elasticity of water input was obtained
0.0565 which is located in the third part of production region and means over-consumption of
water by producers due to its low price. Given high demand for water in this arid area having
appropriate polices in water pricing for optimal water consumption is needed.
Keywords
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