Environmental and economic appraisal of agricultural water desalination use in South Iran: a comparative study of tomato production

Abstract

Desalination plant diffusion in Iran is primarily fuelled by farmers’ strong demand for better quality water; it is not based adequately on research, development, and promotion by agricultural organizations. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare the economic and environmental impacts of water from the desalination plant with conventional water used in tomato production in the Bushehr province. Cost–benefit analysis and life cycle assessment methods were used for economic and environmental impacts assessment. The functional units in this study were two one-hectare tomato farms. One farm was irrigated by desalination plant-produced water and the other was irrigated by well water. The result showed that the cost–benefit ratio in farm with desalination plant and well water was equal to 1.09 and 0.68 without subsidy and 1.35 and 0.87 with subsidy, respectively. Furthermore, results indicated that the environmental impacts of desalinized water were lower than those of conventional water use.