determining economic value of water in sugar beet growing in marvdasht district

most regions of iran are confronted with inadequate supply and excessive demand of water in agriculture sector mainly resulting from a high difference between water providing cost and its price. coping with such a challenge needs to determine the water price based on the economic principles and its value in agricultural production. the aim of this study was to determine the economic value of the water using production function analysis throughout the sugar beet growers of marvdasht district. the data was obtained from 50 farmers in 2006 that were selected by a two stage cluster sampling method. the results of production function revealed that inputs water, labor and fertilizer had positive effect on the production. the coefficients showed that 10 percent increase in labor use will increase the production by 1.58 percent. the corresponding figures for water and fertilizer were 3 and 3.4 percent respectively. the final value obtained from each cubic meter of water was obtained 211.6 rials. while the price paid by the producers was only 26.8 rials per cubic meter. the results of the demand function also showed that water price doesn’t affect the water demand significantly while increased product price will raise the water demand.