Introduction:
Estahban, a county in Fars Province, Iran, known for its extensive orchards primarily devoted to rain-fed fig cultivation. In recent years, decrease in rainfall has resulted in inadequate water availability for these orchards, prompting many farmers to resort to intensive irrigation practices. Previous research has indicated that the impact of water stress on fig trees is a significant topic that requires further research. Given the importance of determining the water needs of fig trees and the economic viability of fig production in the Estahban region, this study aimed to investigate the effects of varying irrigation water volumes on these trees. The analysis focused on the quantity, quality, and economic aspects of the produced yield. Ultimately, suitable strategies were proposed to protect the trees from the risk of drying out and to ensure economically viable production.
 Methods:
This study was executed using a randomized complete block design in four replications and five treatments, applied to Sabz variety of fig trees. The experiments were conducted at the Estahban Fig Research Station, over a two-year period. The irrigation treatments were set at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the estimated water requirements, calculated using the Penman-Monteith method. Measurements were taken for both quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the figs, and water productivity was assessed, alongside an economic evaluation of the different irrigation levels. This economic analysis was conducted under two scenarios: one that considered the actual value of water and one that did not. Statistical data analysis was carried out using SAS 9.13 software, with mean comparisons among the various treatments performed via Duncan's test.  Considering that the amount of rainfall in the first and second years differed significantly (448 and 73 millimeters), the volume of water applied in these two years also showed a notable disparity. In fact, the first year was characterized as a wet year, while the second year was classified as a dry year. Consequently, it is evident that the irrigation water levels in the two experimental years had a significant difference.
 Results:
The findings indicated that increasing the irrigation rate, while remaining within the plant's water requirement range, led to enhancements in the vegetative, physiological, and both quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the figs. The optimal condition was observed in the non-stress treatment (100% water requirement), which necessitated 5.8 cubic meters of water per tree. A comparison of the average quantitative and qualitative traits of fig fruit revealed that an increase in irrigation levels led to a significant rise in the diameter of fresh fruit, the percentage of early fruits, the number of pollinated inflorescences, yield, and the weight of individual fig fruits. Consequently, treatment 5 (100% water requirement) was identified as the most effective treatment. Furthermore, the various irrigation levels did not have a significant impact on the traits of mid-season fruit percentage, the number of unripe and unpollinated fruits. The crop yields for the no-irrigation and full irrigation treatments were recorded at 3119 and 7671 grams per tree, respectively. In the first year, the water productivity for the second treatment was 1.32 kilograms per cubic meter, significantly higher than that of the other treatments. However, in the second year and over the two-year average, the control treatment without irrigation exhibited the highest water productivity values at 4.01 and 2.52 kilograms per cubic meter, respectively. This indicates that with increased irrigation water, the water productivity decreased. Furthermore, the economic evaluation results under standard conditions, which did not account for the actual value of water, revealed that the more irrigated treatments yielded greater net benefits compared to the other treatments, with no significant difference in the benefit-cost ratio (ranging from 2.49 to 2.31). Nevertheless, economic analyses that accounted for the actual value of water revealed that the more irrigated treatments lacked economic priority, with a significant difference in the benefit-cost ratio among the treatments ranging from 2.46 to 1.20. The most economically advantageous treatment was identified as the rain-fed treatment.
 Conclusion:
This research indicated that the actual value of water is a crucial factor in the economic evaluation of irrigation practices in rain-fed fig orchards, significantly influencing the outcomes achieved. Given that farmers typically do not incur the true cost of water, irrigation appears to be economically advantageous for them; however, it is not deemed cost-effective when considering the limited water resources at the national macro level.