Water Productivity in Pistachio Orchards of Iran

Pistachio has a long history in Iran, where it has existed for approximately 3,000 to 4,000 years, and has spread from Iran to other parts of the world. The importance of pistachio production on one hand and the lack of water and climate changes in Iran on the other hand have made it necessary to improve water productivity for this product. This research was conducted in the production hubs of pistachio in Iran. The purpose of the research was to measure the amount of applied water used in orchards' conditions (without interfering in irrigation management) and compare it with the actual requirement. It was also to determine water productivity of pistachio. In the studied hubs which have more than 85% of Iran's pistachio production, 88 orchards were selected and applied irrigation water, yield and some other parameters were measured. Water productivity was also determined. Analysis of variance was applied to investigate the difference in yield, applied irrigation water, and water productivity in pistachio production. The results showed that there was a significant difference in applied irrigation water used and water productivity in the selected orchards. There was no significant difference between yields. The average yield, applied irrigation water, and water productivity were 1764 kg ha^-1, 8057 m³ha^-1, and 0.26 kg m³, respectively. Applied irrigation water in almost all pistachio orchards in Iran was less than the net irrigation requirement. The most important causes of low yields are forced deficit-irrigation, poor orchard management, and small ownership among the others.