Problems associated with the organization and provision of irrigation in the arid regions of Astrakhan Province, Russia, for the efficient use of both water and land are discussed. Recommendations are made for modernizing the structures of irrigated land use on the basis of scientifically based crop rotations. Economic evaluations of the main indicators of irrigated farming efficiency allowed farming systems to be developed for the Province's various natural and climatic zones and according to farm type (for example, meat or dairy farms, and farms devoted to growing cereals, rice, vegetables, cucurbit crops, fodder crops or potatoes).
