Pathways and technologies for modern irrigation services: Iran country paper

I.R. Iran, with 8.8 million ha of irrigated area, is fifth in the world with respect to irrigated land. Scarcity of water resources and great difficulty with water accessibility have brought about initiatives of technology building, as well as approaches to agricultural water management by local communities. During recent decades a huge public budget has been invested in order to improve irrigation services. Improving performance of irrigation systems needs proper diagnosis of the problems and a systematic approach towards modernization. Also having been recently developed and modernized, adjustment of the laws and regulations of the water sector has caused management frameworks of irrigation networks to be gradually improved. In general, in addition to the management framework, equipping with modern tools for measuring water flow and applying tools such as geographic information systems and databases have led to the improvement of water distribution and management. Technical, managerial and policies programmes, as well as investment in water resources and irrigation infrastructures in addition to training and education of farmers and field engineers in water saving in agriculture and enhancing water productivity, resulted in positive impacts on better management of limited fresh water in irrigation.