A Decision Support System for Optimal Use of Irrigation Water and Crop Selection

Abstract

We propose a Decision Support System (DSS) for optimal cropping patterns and irrigation water management. The development of the DSS has three objectives. The first is to use mathematical models in order to optimize cropping decisions and irrigation policies under shortage of water in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The second is to help growers exploit optimally their lands in places suffering from water scarcity. The third is to provide authorities with decision tools for water pricing and allocation. The optimization models are designed to determine which ones among competing crops to select for a given season/year, and how much land and irrigation water to allocate to each selected crop. In particular, some crops may be deliberately under irrigated to save water and hence to maximize the total area to be irrigated. The computer package estimates the expected yield of each of the competing crops in each irrigation level to be considered. Then, it implements the optimization models to provide the optimal cropping decisions as well as the corresponding irrigation policies. While the package is very sophisticated, its implementation is very simple and practical.