The objective of this study was to assess the drought risk management in the region under
study. The SPI method was adopted for drought monitoring in Hamadan Province, Iran. The
temporal and spatial extent of the area vulnerable to drought was delineated using AEZ
model, GIS and other softwares. Five zones were recognized based on the drought severity
index. Selection of compatible crops with respect to climate and land production capability of
a region specially in drought condition is one of the effective elements to increase the water
productivity in agriculture, based on Agro-ecological Zoning (AEZ) model, developed by
FAO, suitable spatial extension of wheat cultivation, which is the main crop in Hamadan
Province, were delineated. According to this study the most suitable lands potentially
available for wheat production are located in the north-east region and a part of the central
region, where as, least suitable ones can be observed in the north-east and the south – east
regions. The results of the risk analysis study show that south-east, north and central regions
are susceptible to longest duration intense droughts where as long duration droughts are
intensive in north, west and south-east regions. The overlaid and integrated maps of risks
with the maps obtained after applying the AEZ model resulted into the map of spatial
suitability of potential crop production for each class of risk (longest duration and most
intensive durations). This enables the decision makers to define spatial p