Irrigation Development and Rural Poverty in Gujarat,India: A Disaggregated Analysis

Abstract

There has been renewed interest during recent times in the impact of irrigation development on rural poverty. For long, researchers asked whether irrigation development reduces the poverty of irrigators. However, the question being asked now is: does investing in irrigation—rather than in other public works—help reduce rural poverty in a region? Using Government of Gujarat's 1997 census of Below Poverty Line (BPL) households as well as the Village Amenity Survey of the same year, this paper explores the interplay between irrigation development and rural poverty in 177 predominantly rural talukas, which is an administrative unit with a population of around 100,000-150,000 people, of Gujarat state in western India. Our analysis shows that for the design of poverty-targeting programs, two variables have the highest appeal: primary education infrastructure and improved land productivity through irrigation. It also suggests that, over the long run, irrigation benefits far transcend the command areas of irrigation systems. As a result, irrigation impact studies focused at farm or command area level seriously underestimate overall livelihood impacts of irrigation development. This is because intensively irrigated areas act as magnets that attract rural poverty from their surround, especially from other dry areas. Population pressure on farm lands thus tends to get redistributed according to the carrying capacity of farm lands. Across 177 predominantly rural talukas of Gujarat, we find: a) an inverse relationship between land use intensity and land-man ratio; and b) as land productivity (output/hectare of net sown area) declines, output per rural person declines too, but far more slowly than would have been the case without the “magnet effect.”     

Targeting Irrigation Support to Poor Women and Men

Gendered poverty alleviation is an important aim of many governmental and non-governmental irrigation agencies. This paper argues that the contribution of irrigation agencies to poverty alleviation is optimal if agencies target their support, and vest rights to newly developed irrigated land and water primarily in poor women and men. It is shown that the often-assumed trade-off between poverty alleviation and production growth probably does not exist. Further, agencies themselves play a preponderant role in including or excluding poor women and men in respect of rights in irrigated land and water. This role is especially strong in public irrigation, the focus of this paper. Evidence on the role of public irrigation agencies in allocating irrigated land and water rights is reviewed. Irrigated land is allocated through the site selection of infrastructural intervention, with or without changes in land tenure in the command area. Inclusion and exclusion occur implicitly through three principles of water rights allocation: on the basis of co-investments in infrastructure, on the basis of household composition, and on the basis of type of land rights.     

Irrigation Performance Assessment in Crimea,Ukraine

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the performance of irrigated agriculture decreased drastically in Ukraine, due to problems related to the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. Before formulating recommendations on required actions to modify this problematic situation, insight is needed about (i) whether irrigated agriculture is profitable under a market economy; (ii) to what extent the irrigation costs can be recovered from the farmers; and (iii) where irrigation costs can be reduced. Therefore, an economic performance assessment of irrigated agriculture is performed for the North Crimea Canal (NCC) irrigation system in Crimea, Ukraine on the basis of a number of indicators. A spatial analysis is required, because in the remote parts of NCC water has to be lifted several times before it reaches the field and costs of water delivery consequently vary. Analysing irrigation performance in a spatial environment is an extension of existing work. The analysis shows that (i) irrigated agriculture is profitable under a market economy although costs vary considerably (due to water lifting and irrigation technology used); (ii) the irrigation costs can be recovered by farmers; and (iii) can be reduced substantially at distribution and farm level.     

A New Model for Simulating Supplemental Irrigation and the Hydro-Economic Potential of a Rainwater Harvesting System in Humid Subtropical Climates

Here we have developed a new model to simulate supplemental irrigation and the hydro-economic potential of a rainwater harvesting system in rainfed agricultural areas. Using the model, soil moisture in rainfed crop land, supplemental irrigation requirements, rainwater storage in an on-farm reservoir (OFR) system, and surface and ground water availability were predicted. In an irrigated system, an OFR was used to harvest rainwater during the rainy season, and stored water was applied to cropland as supplemental irrigation (SI). An economic analysis was performed to calculate the benefits due to an OFR irrigation system, and gains from increased crop yield and downstream water availability in the irrigated OFR system were compared with rainfed system (i.e. no OFR). In addition, we calculated the impacts of dry and wet seasons on total value gains (grain and water gains) for irrigated and rainfed conditions and performed a sensitivity analysis to quantify the impacts of model input parameters on total value gains. Analyses showed that the OFR system can produce crop yields three times greater than rainfed agriculture. During a water stress season, the total water use in the irrigated system was 65 % greater than for the rainfed system. Water use efficiency of the irrigated system was 82 % higher than for the rainfed system. In a dry season, the total value gains due to increased crop yield by supplemental irrigation and downstream water availability of the irrigated system were 74 % greater than for the rainfed system, while in a wet season the total value gain of the irrigated system was 14 % greater than for the rainfed system. A precipitation scenario analysis of wet and dry seasons indicated that the benefits of a rainwater harvesting system can be considerably greater in dry seasons than wet seasons.     

Historical aspects of irrigation agriculture and river regulation in the Murraay-Darling Basin,Australia

River regulation in Australia is a feature of the last on hundred years. Irrigation farms were established along the River Murray in the 1880's and on the Murrumbidgee in the first quarter of the twentieth century. These demonstrated that such labour-intensive types of farming were unprofitable in Australia. The additional profits obtained by irrigation farmers were not sufficient to pay for the reservoirs and distributary works required and these had to be paid for by the State. Water was sold to farmers at a price which was only sufficient to maintain the projects. Political pressure led to a further increase in the consturction of reservoirs and the area irrigated in the Murray-Darling basin expanded from 0·6 million hectaers in 1945 to 1·6 million hectares in 1979. As irrigation practices improved, farm profits increased, but the price of water continued to be based on the cost of maintaining the projects. This led to increased profits being built into the price of irrigated land. Low water prices encouraged farmers to over-irrigate and aggravated the problem of rising water tables and salination. It is argued herein, that the efficiency of water usage in irrigation could be improved by transferring the existing water rights from the state of irrigators, and making them transferable from one irrigator to another or from irrigators to other users at prices negotiated in a free market. Such a system would ensure that water was put to its optimum use, reducing wastage and minimizing detrimental effects of over-use. The water price established in such a market could be used to calculate whether the marginal returns from irrigation and other uses were high enough to justify the construction of new projects.     

Irrigation, Productivity and Poverty Linkages in Irrigation Systems in Java, Indonesia

This paper analyzes irrigation-poverty linkages, and determines how and to what extent irrigation contributes to poverty alleviation, and whether there are any spatial patterns in poverty in irrigation systems. It also identifies conditions under which irrigation has greater anti-poverty impacts. The analysis is based on primary data collected during the 2000--2001 agricultural year, from four selected irrigation systems and rainfed areas in Java. The results indicate that irrigation has significant poverty reducing impacts. Poverty varies across irrigation systems and across locations within the systems. In general, crop productivity is relatively higher and poverty is lower in middle parts of the systems compared to head and tail parts. Further, locational differences in poverty are more pronounced in larger systems where locational inequities in water distribution and productivity differences are also high. Crop productivity, the size of landholdings and location of households are important determinants of poverty, in addition to demographic factors such as family size. The smaller the systems with well managed infrastructure, relatively equitable water distribution and diversified cropping patterns supported with market infrastructure, the greater the poverty reducing impacts of irrigation. Overall, the study findings suggest that improving the performance of irrigation systems by enhancing land and water productivity, diversifying cropping patterns and improving water distribution across locations would help reduce poverty in presently low productivity-high poverty parts of the systems.     

Economics of Agricultural Water Conservation: Empirical Analysis and Policy Implications

Climate change and recurrent drought in many of the world's dry places continue to inspire the search for economically attractive measures to conserve water. This study analyzes water conservation practices in irrigated agriculture in a sub-basin in North America's Rio Grande. A method is developed to estimate water savings in irrigated agriculture that result from public subsidies to farmers who convert from surface to drip irrigation. The method accounts for economic incentives affecting farmers' choices on irrigation technology, crop mix, water application, and water depletion. Findings show that farmers will invest in technologies that reduce water applications when faced with lower financial costs for converting to drip irrigation. Subsidies for drip irrigation increase farm income, raise the value of food production, and reduce the amount of water applied to crops. However, an unexpected result is that water conservation subsidies that promote conversion to drip irrigation can increase the demand for water depleted by crops. Our findings show that where water rights exist, water rights administrators will need to guard against increased depletion of the water source in the face of growing subsidies for drip irrigation. Our approach for analyzing water conservation programmes can be applied where water is scarce, irrigation is significant, food security is important, and water conservation policies are under debate.     

指针式喷灌在广西甘蔗灌溉中的应用探讨

为探求指针式喷灌对广西甘蔗的影响,选择在南宁市宾阳县廖平农场高效节水工程开展大田试验,试验设置指针式喷灌3个处理和无灌溉(CK)1个对比。试验结果表明:采用指针式喷灌能提高糖料蔗的单产,有灌溉设施的蔗区单量6.37 t/亩,比无灌溉蔗区4.02 t/亩多2.35 t/亩;有灌溉设施的蔗区平均含糖分为14.04%,比无灌溉的蔗区14.29%低0.25%。     

Winery wastewater treatment by constructed wetlands and the use of treated wastewater for cash crop production.

A 45 m long, 4 m wide and 1 m deep wetland was constructed at Goudini in 2002 to treat distillery and winery effluent. After the plants were fully established, the wastewater with an average chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 14,000 mg/l was introduced to the wetland system at a rate of 4,050 litres per day. After treatment, wastewater at the outlet had an average COD of 500 mg/l, indicating more than 90% COD removal. After treatment, the wastewater was used to irrigate cash crops as part of poverty alleviation for farm workers. The experiment consisted of four treatment: clean irrigation water with fertilizer applied (B1); clean irrigation water without fertilizer applied (B2); wastewater irrigation with fertilizer applied (B3); and wastewater irrigation without fertilizer applied (B4). These were replicated seven times. Cabbage was cultivated as a cash crop. The results indicated that cabbage could be irrigated with winery wastewater treated by wetlands. The study found that there was significant difference between treatments that were fertilized compared with those that were not fertilized. The results indicated that wastewater irrigation improved the nutritional status of the soil.     

An Integrated Assessment of the Impacts of Changing Climate Variability on Agricultural Productivity and Profitability in an Irrigated Mediterranean Catchment

Climate change is likely to have a profound effect on many agricultural variables, although the extent of its influence will vary over the course of the annual farm management cycle. Consequently, the effect of different and interconnected physical, technical and economic factors must be modeled in order to estimate the effects of climate change on agricultural productivity. Such modeling commonly makes use of indicators that summarize the among environmental factors that are considered when farmers plan their activities. This study uses net evapotranspiration (ET_N), estimated using EPIC, as a proxy index for the physical factors considered by farmers when managing irrigation. Recent trends suggest that the probability distribution function of ET_N may continue to change in the near future due to changes in the irrigation needs of crops. Also, water availability may continue to vary due to changes in the rainfall regime. The impacts of the uncertainties related to these changes on costs are evaluated using a Discrete Stochastic Programming model representing an irrigable Mediterranean area where limited water is supplied from a reservoir. In this context, adaptation to climate change can be best supported by improvements to the collective irrigation systems, rather than by measures aimed at individual farms such as those contained within the rural development policy.     

A Theoretical Analysis of Economic Incentive Policies Encouraging Agricultural Water Conservation

A conceptual model of a representative irrigated farm is formulated to study farm responses to two economic policies commonly suggested to encourage agricultural water conservation, and to characterize the hydrological and economic circumstances in which these responses provide the desired conservation. The economic policies studied are to increase the irrigator's cost of applied water and to subsidize the irrigator's cost of investing in improved on-farm irrigation efficiency. Comparative statics results demonstrate that increasing the cost of applied water may be a more effectual water conservation policy than subsidizing the cost of improved on-farm irrigation efficiency.     

The Economic Impact of Water Evaporation Losses from Water Reservoirs in the Segura Basin,SE Spain

In this paper we assess the economic impact of evaporation losses from great dams (GDs) and on-farm agricultural water reservoirs (AWRs) in the semi-arid Segura River basin, SE Spain. Evaporation losses from water reservoirs reduce the high water use efficiency reached in agriculture by means of other techniques such as well-built water pipes or drip irrigation and have a substantial economic impact. Evaporation losses have been calculated using Class-A pan evaporation data and pan coefficients, whereas their economic impact has been assessed using an economic mathematical programming model that simulates land and water allocation in the different irrigated areas of the basin. Our results show that annual evaporation from GDs and AWRs represents 8.7% of the water currently available for irrigation in the Segura basin. The economic impact of such losses has been estimated in a reduction of 6.3% of the value of agricultural production and 5.4% of the farm net margin. As less water is effectively available for farmers the basin’s irrigated area is reduced in a 7.5%. This impact is greater, in both absolute and relative terms, in the areas accommodating the most intensive and profitable irrigated agriculture. The applied methodology and results could be useful to regional water agencies and collective irrigation schemes for future planning and management, including the assessment of alternatives for reducing evaporation from reservoirs.     

基于光学和雷达遥感信息的灌溉信号分析及灌溉面积提取方法研究-以华北平原灵寿县磁右灌区为例

目前,灌溉面积主要通过调查统计方式获取,时效性和准确性较差,而在灌区用水管理中迫切需要掌握实际灌溉面积及其空间分布和动态变化等信息。为此,本文开展基于雷达遥感信息的灌溉信号探测识别及次灌面积提取方法研究。首先,使用水云模型结合实测土壤水分数据进行模拟,量化灌溉事件导致后向散射系数的变化。然后,提出一种基于时序差值和局部阈值法的实际灌溉面积提取方法,使用高频次的哨兵1号雷达卫星遥感数据开展华北平原灵寿县磁右灌区灌溉面积提取,并结合灌区实地调查资料对提取结果进行验证。结果表明:使用水云模型模拟显示春季小麦地块的灌溉事件可导致C波段的雷达后向散射系数变化超过1 dB,灌溉信号可被绝对辐射精度优于1 dB的雷达卫星探测;基于时序雷达后向散射系数分析显示,灌溉事件导致C波段雷达后向散射系数呈现明显的先增大后减小的时域特征,与降水事件不同,灌溉事件导致雷达后向散射系数呈现明显的局地变化特征。以本文提出的方法提取研究区的灌溉面积,结合实地调查样本检验,结果表明灌溉面积的总体提取精度为76.6%。小麦返青期第一次渠灌面积约为9.20万亩,小麦拔节期第二次渠灌面积约为10.64万亩。此外,由于井灌区和渠灌区存在明显的时差,基于雷达遥感信息可对不同水源的灌溉区进行探测,研究区井灌面积约为3.9万亩。基于高频次的雷达遥感信息可对灌区的灌溉事件进行探测,本文提出的方法可为区域次灌溉面积调查和流域水资源管理等应用提供技术支撑。     

运城地区万亩自流灌区节水灌溉对策研究

从水源工程、输水工程、田间工程和灌溉管理现状分析入手 ,提出适合运城地区万亩以上自流灌区的节水灌溉对策。对其它同类型的灌区节水也具有一定的参考价值     

Salinity and Sodicity in Pakistan's Punjab: A Threat to Sustainability of Irrigated Agriculture?

The development of groundwater for irrigation in Pakistan's Punjab has lowered water tables and markedly reduced the extent of waterlogged lands. However, the incidence of salinity has not been reduced at the same rate. This paper review s IIM I's research studies in Pakistan, in which over the last five years soil and tubewell water samples have been collected at several research sites. Electrical con ductivity of the saturated soil extract (ECe) and sodium adsorption ratio (SA R) w ere foun d to be significantly higher in irrigated areas that have limited access to canal w ater of good quality. There are indications that farmers use irrigation water from tubew ells to minimize the effects of salinity, e.g. by increasing the frequency of application w hen crops show signs of salt-induced water stress. Evidence is presented that farm ers are n ot succeeding in the same way with respect to sodicity.     

Reclaimed municipal wastewater as source of water and nutrients for plant nurseries.

A three year experimental activity was carried out to evaluate the possibility of reusing Reclaimed Wastewater (RWW) in Pistoia's nursery area (Central Italy). The research was aimed at: 1. identifying the best tertiary treatment facilities in order to make the effluent in compliance with the current Italian legislation for RWW reuse, 2. evaluating the effects of RWW irrigation on some ornamental, 3. quantifying fertilizing value and environmental impacts of RWW irrigation. In this paper the results of the last year experimental activity are presented. Experimental results indicated that filtration and disinfection with peracetic acid plus UV were very effective in indicator bacteria removal; as a matter of fact, neither Escherichia coli nor Total Coliforms were detected in any samples of pilot plant effluent. Results of an agronomical experiment indicated the suitability of the tertiary effluent for the irrigation: at the end of the growing season a higher (or equal) total dry mass was detected in RWW irrigated plants than well-water (WW) irrigated ones. Finally, the tertiary effluent can be considered as an important source of fertilizer for container-grown plants. As a matter of fact RWW irrigation showed to be able to replace at least one of the traditional fertilization treatments.     

Sensitivity Analysis of Coupled Hydro-Economic Models: Quantifying Climate Change Uncertainty for Decision-Making

The paper assessed the sensitivity of an integrated hydro-economic model, to provide a quantitative range of uncertainty in the impacts of climate change on water balance components and water use in the agricultural sector of Apulia region located in a semi-arid Mediterranean climate area in southern Italy. Results show that the impacts of climate change are expressed in the future by an increase in the net irrigation requirements (NIRs) of all crops. Total cultivated land is reduced by 8.5 % in the future, and the percentage of irrigated land decreases from 31 to 22 % of total agricultural land. Reduction in the irrigated land, together with the variation in the cropping pattern and the adoption of the different irrigation techniques, led to a decrease in water demand for irrigation across the entire region. The sensitivity analysis shows that the groundwater recharge has the lowest correlation to climatic parameters. Results are addressed to the scientific community and decision makers to support the design of adequate adaptation policies for efficient water management under the severe drought conditions that are likely to occur in the region according to climate change projections.     

Optimum Abstraction of Groundwater for Sustaining Groundwater Level and Reducing Irrigation Cost

Adaptation to increasing irrigation cost due to declination of groundwater level is a major challenge in groundwater dependent irrigated region. The objective of this study is to estimate the optimum abstraction of groundwater for irrigation for sustainable management of groundwater resources in Northwest Bangladesh. A data-driven model using a support vector machine (SVM) has been developed to estimate the optimum abstraction of groundwater for irrigation and a multiple-linear regression (MLR)-based model has been developed to estimate the reduction of the irrigation cost due to the elevation of the groundwater level. The application of the SVM model revealed that the groundwater level in the area can be kept within the suction lift of a shallow tube-well by reducing pre-monsoon groundwater-dependent irrigated agriculture by 40%. Adaptive measures, such as reducing the overuse of water for irrigation and rescheduling harvesting, can keep the minimum level of groundwater within the reach of shallow tube-wells by reducing only 10% of groundwater-based irrigated agriculture. The elevation of the groundwater level through those adaptive measures can reduce the irrigation cost by 2.07 × 10³ Bangladesh Taka (BDT) per hectare in Northwest Bangladesh, where the crop production cost is increasing due to the decline of the groundwater level. It is expected that the study would help in policy planning for the sustainable management of groundwater resources in the region.     

Assessment of irrigation schemes in Turkey with irrigation Ratio and relative water supply

Abstract:

Irrigation management is among the key factors for the sustainability of irrigated agriculture. In Turkey, irrigation management is becoming increasingly important due to the scarcity of water resources and degrading environmental conditions. In this paper, we compiled a large data set that compromise of water supply, crop types, crop water requirement, and irrigated and command areas that are SHW‐operated (State Hydraulic Works) and transferred irrigation schemes (the schemes transferred from SHW to non‐profit organizations, i.e., water users’ associations) for the five years (1996 to 2000). This data set was used to calculate two irrigation performance indicators: Irrigation ratio (IR) and relative water supply (RWS). ANOVA test results indicated that the differences in the IR and RWS among the years were statistically not significant, whereas a statistically significant difference was found between the SHW‐operated and transferred irrigation schemes. The average values of the irrigation ratios for the transferred irrigation schemes were always higher than that of the SHW‐operated schemes, but the opposite was true for the RWS. This suggest that the transfer of the SHW‐operated schemes to the water use associations must be initiated and encouraged, in addition to the set up of legal procedures for participatory irrigation management, in order to cope with the possible operation and maintenance (O&M) problems of irrigation schemes.     

确保粮食安全和环境可持续发展的水土资源利用

主要讨论灌溉农业所面临的挑战.随着人均可用水量的不断下降,灌溉农业必须提高水资源利用效率,同时进一步采用有利于环境的经营和管理方式.灌溉界面临的压力是如何通过提高作物产量和用水效率来实现生产率的最大化.今后的发展方向是以更加高效率、有成效的方式利用水资源,而实现从"提高每滴水的粮食产量"向"少用水,多产粮"的转变,则有助于该目标的实现.为了尽可能减小外在因素的影响,将来的努力方向是在全面性和整体性上下工夫.