Valuation of Underground Waters in Agricultural Stakeholders The study of rice farmers of Ramhormoz city, Khuzestan province

Subject Areas : Research Paper

محسن موسایی ¹ (دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد گچساران)
Mahsa Hossainzadeh ² (Master of Science Islamic Azad University Shushtar branch)
Mehrdad Moradi ³ (Department of Agricultural Economics, yasuj branch, Islamic Azad University, Yasuj, Iran)

Received: 2023-03-14 Accepted : 2023-05-03 Published : 2024-10-07

Keywords: Valuation, Underground water, Rice, Ramhormoz city,

Abstract :

Abstract Introduction: Currently, the agricultural sector is considered to be the major consumer of underground water in this region, among different economic sectors, and due to excessive exploitation of underground water, the annual drop in the level of these waters is significant. Therefore, calculating the economic value of each unit of water and calculating the side effects of over-harvesting water resources is very important. In this study, the determination of the economic value of water, the optimal level of water input use and the effect of changing the groundwater level on the level of social well-being of rice producers in Ramhormoz city are discussed. Method: For this purpose, the appropriate production function was first estimated, and using it, the economic value of water and the optimal limit of water input use were determined. Then, by forming the function of profit or social welfare, the effect of change in the level of underground water on the amount of social welfare of the producers was determined. Findings: The results of this research show that the economic value of water in the study area is 649.54 rials per cubic meter. So that the economic value of each unit of water is more than the cost of extracting each unit, and this difference leads to excessive extraction of underground water and the reduction of the level of underground water, and finally the welfare of rice producers. So that if the underground water level decreases by 0.81 meters, the social benefit of the beneficiaries will decrease by 1110257.61 riyals. Conclusion: This study suggests that in addition to price policies, non-price solutions such as applying restrictions on the amount of water extraction should be used in order to preserve underground water tables.

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