Development of the Pressurized Irrigation Systems Cost Estimator (ISCE) Software with International Innovation by University of Tehran Researchers
play a significant role in reforming credit planning at national and provincial levels." Researchers at the University of Tehran, as potential for its expansion, identifying and modeling the factors influencing system costs will part of a comprehensive and specialized study, have successfully designed and developed software for estimating the costs of pressurized irrigation systems prior to the design and implementation stages, for the first time at both the national and international levels.
According to the Public Relations Department of the University of Tehran, researchers from the Department of Irrigation and Reclamation Engineering at the University of Tehran have achieved significant applied results through a study titled "Cost Modeling of Pressurized Irrigation Systems." This technological achievement plays a fundamental role in optimizing planning processes and managing credits for water and soil projects and represents an important step towards improving the efficiency of irrigation systems and agricultural sustainability.
Dr. Khaled Ahmadaali, a faculty member of the University of Tehran, stated, "With the intensification of the water crisis in Iran and globally, shifting irrigation systems from surface methods to pressurized irrigation systems is one of the most practical and primary solutions for optimal water resource use and increasing water productivity. This approach, adopting an integrated water resource management strategy, can play a key role in the sustainability of water resources. Since the implementation of pressurized irrigation projects for the protection of water and soil resources and the increase of agricultural production is strongly emphasized in upstream documents and the Seventh Development Plan, optimal allocation of credits and having foreknowledge of the costs of implementing irrigation systems are important and necessary.
Dr. Ahmadaali added, "Currently, the allocation of credits to these projects is based on the project area, without considering the environmental factors affecting system costs, such as the characteristics of the water source, soil, crop, climate, management, and more. This current approach lacks acceptable accuracy and leads to inequity and waste of resources. Therefore, one of the most important needs of the Plan and Budget Organization, the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture, the Ministry of Energy, water users, and consulting engineering and contracting companies is the accurate estimation of the costs of these projects before design and implementation. Given the considerable extent of lands under pressurized irrigation and the
Explaining the research process, the faculty member of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, said, "For this purpose, in the first phase, a comprehensive database was prepared, including independent variables (factors affecting cost) and dependent variables (cost of different components of each system) from sprinkler and localized irrigation projects implemented in various parts of the country over a 20-year period, with full details. The dependent variable of this research, the cost of irrigation systems, was divided into 'pumping station and central control system cost,' 'on-farm equipment cost,' 'system and pumping station installation and implementation cost,' and 'total cost.' In the next phase, using various feature selection techniques, we identified the most important and effective features on the cost of different components. For this, feature selection was performed with different algorithms including WCC, LCA, GA, PSO, ACO, ICA, LA, HTS, FOA, DSOS, and CUK."
He added, "In the next stage, using the most effective selected variables, various models including multiple linear regression, support vector regression, artificial neural networks, gene expression programming, genetic algorithm, decision tree, and deep learning were employed to estimate the costs of each component, and based on various statistics, the best models for each component were introduced."
Dr. Ahmadaali said, "After identifying the best features and the best models, the research entered its most important phase: software development. The ISCE (Irrigation Systems Cost Estimator) software is capable of estimating the cost of different components of the system with high accuracy and precision by receiving readily available and easily accessible variables at the pre-design stage of the pressurized irrigation system for both sprinkler and localized irrigation systems. The evaluation and conclusions from the software indicate its potential for development and generalization of results to the international level. The ISCE software, with its few readily available features, can serve as a scientific and technical tool to significantly assist policymakers, managers, researchers, students, consultants, contractors, and other stakeholders concerned with water."
It is noteworthy that the design and development of this software were carried out as part of the doctoral dissertation of Masoud Pourgholam Amiji, under the supervision of Dr. Abdolmajid Liaghat and Dr. Khaled Ahmadaali, and received the highest grade. The results of the research team have been published in several reputable domestic and international scientific journals. An article resulting from this research, titled "A novel early stage drip irrigation system cost estimation model based on management and environmental variables," has been published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports and is available at the following link:
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