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Agriculture is the main consumer of freshwater in the world. The paper described the process of virtual water content and flow in crops. Differences in climatic conditions of different regions in China result in large differences in water consumption during crop growth. The virtual water trade in crops connects water flows within and between regions, linking the actual water consumption with the invisible water trade as a whole. The objective of the paper was supplying the agricultural products virtual water trade evaluation system, determining quantitatively the virtual water flow within the region & regional. Using meteorological and agricultural data from 2003 to 2010, a comprehensive analysis of China's domestic & international virtual water trade of agricultural products has been undertaken. The virtual water for the three primary crops and virtual water trade are discussed. The virtual water content of grain crops in northern & southern China was 1293 m3/t & 942 m3/t, respectively; the national average value was 1117 m3/t; and the regional differences in virtual water content for each crop were significant. China's inter-regional agricultural products virtual water trade was not consistent with water resource endowment expectations. The transfer of crops from northern to southern regions would have a significant impact on the sustainable utilization of water resources and would exacerbate water resources shortages in northern regions. China had a trade surplus in global virtual water trade of agricultural products. The exported agricultural products virtual water amounted to 31.5 billion m3/yr., and the imported amount was 145 billion m3/yr. The net import of virtual water embedded in agricultural products increased from 44 billion m3/yr. in 2003 to 178 billion m3/yr. in 2010. It is further concluded that the trend for agricultural products total virtual water, green water, and blue water is that China is increasing its imports year on year. A large increase in imports of agricultural products has led to a decline in the rate of self-sufficiency in domestic agricultural production. The paper provided the basis for the comprehensive evaluation of crop planting structure adjustment, grain import & export, and the potential of regional water resources development and utilization.

Iranian water authority has recently announced that one of the effective ways to avoid unprecedented high water consumption in Iran’s agriculture sector is to increase water price. This paper analyzes the feasibility of this policy by using a hydro-economic approach with the aim to consider the role of water pricing in agricultural water management. Such an analysis was conducted through comparing price of water consumed for producing selected agricultural crops (i.e. wheat, sugar beets, onion, tomato, barley, potato, corn, alfalfa hay and watermelon) in a case study on two provinces (East Azarbaijan and West Azarbaijan) in Iran to that in the state of California (CA) in the USA. According to the paper, the method uses the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) Index for the first time to analyze the water prices of agricultural crops in the case study due to the specific regional circumstances in the Case Study (i.e. severe fluctuations and continuously changing currency) that prevent using the norm of Nominal Exchange Rate Index (NERI). The results show there is no significant difference between the water price for producing the selected crops in West Azarbaijan (W.AZ) and East Azarbaijan (E.AZ) provinces and that in the state of California if PPP Index is applied. Water price for producing each kilogram of some crops such as wheat, sugar beet, onion and watermelon (except potato and barley) is estimated to be between 60–80 percent of that in the state of California. However, this ratio is ironically equal to 116% for alfalfa hay and 105% for corn. As a result, considering the obtained results, one may realize that the whole problem can be hardly attributed to the low price of agricultural water in our case study and raising agricultural water price would never be effective for reducing water consumption in the studied area unless price adjustment accompanies developing necessary infrastructures. Unlike the views that advocate raising water prices, there are two distinct views: The first declares that agricultural water should be free of charge to the farmers because it returns to the hydrological cycle. The second view stipulates that instead of raising water prices in agriculture sector, the cost of water supply for agriculture should be reduced by new technologies. It is advised that before adjusting agricultural water price, institutional reforms are required based on the experiences of other countries and establishing local water distribution cooperatives.

Water markets can improve water use efficiency through the transfer of water to users who can obtain the highest marginal return from using it. Existing water markets are implemented among farmers or between farmers and urban water companies or hydropower companies. Several studies have shown that farmers may benefit from trading water mainly in countries where water scarcity is increasing and new water supply projects are either very costly or not possible because of environmental concerns. This paper estimates the potential benefits and losses of implementing water market among farmers and between farmers and urban water company in Tunisia. We used linear programming to examine four separate farm models and an aggregate model. The method is applied to an irrigation area of 4500 ha in Northern Tunisia. Results indicate that water trading among farmers would be quite limited and would have a minor impact on farmers’ income. In contrast, the market among farmers and the urban water company offers higher volumes of water trades to urban users and helps increase farmers’ profitability by up to 7.9%. The sale of water to the urban company is accompanied by a decrease in occasional labor by as much as 34.8% and a decrease of up to 17.6% in farmers’ expenditures for inputs and machinery. Additionally, results obtained in this paper show that inter-year storage of irrigation water may be more advantageous than selling water to the urban utility. Whether farmers would opt to sell water or inter-temporarily store it would depend on the establishment of water rights and the empowerment of farmers.

Production of sugar cane on the West Kano Pilot Scheme first began in 1975/76 following the apparent success of cane production on the nearby Ahero Pilot Project. This paper charts the movement from early successes with cane to subsequent difficulties and attempts to provide explanations for this movement. The paper emphasises problems external to the new technology; in particular it highlights the deleterious effects of political influences on the project in the early stages and the inadequate attention paid to marketing and transport issues. In addition it gives reference to the inefficient disbursement of imported supplies of refined sugar and the untimely influence of a bumper unirrigated cane crop in the project area.

The Small holder Sugar Authority (SSA) in Malawi was established with funds from the Malawi Government (MG) and the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) with the objective of increasing small holder involvement in commercial farming in order to generate small holder income. The paper gives a short outline of the background to the project and a description of small holder selection and implemented farm activities. In assessing the performance of the project to date and its future viability the paper highlights the importance of world sugar price projections and yield improvements.

In this paper, we modeled water trading in southern Alberta by incorporating irrigation technologies and crop choices. We consider six irrigation technologies and twelve crops with a variation in land quality to examine the adoption gains from water trading. The results are summarized to account for the gains from water trading and the probability of farmers switching to efficient irrigation technologies to cultivate profitable crops. Simulation results suggest that famers are more likely to follow rational adoption approach in using the gain from water trading to adopt efficient irrigation technologies. This is more likely to occur when the net gain is higher than the cost of adopting an irrigation technology. However, sensitivity analysis shows that high crop price regimes and provision of subsidies on the impact of water trading on technology adoptions could encourage farmers to adopt improved irrigation technologies to produce profitable crops. Effective policies to provide incentives to farmers to adopt efficient irrigation technologies and to improve crop yields may be necessary for the study area.

Forty seven percent of the population of Pakistan is food insecure, access to food is uneven and malnutrition is widespread. In addition, food production depends greatly on irrigation, including the use of substantial volumes of water from already stressed aquifers. Our aim in this paper is to examine the implications of continued population growth on the required production of food and the implied water demand. We examine the historical trends of crop production, water use, food availability and population growth in Pakistan, and project them forward to 2050. Food availability has improved over recent decades, mostly as a result of increasing the area and water use of crops and fodder, and partly as a result of importing more pulses and cooking oils. We show that a continuation of current trends leads to nearly a doubling of the (already unsustainable) groundwater use. There is uncertainty in the magnitude of climate change impacts, but climate change may further exacerbate matters. To avoid further increases of groundwater use, some combination would be required of: more dams and other irrigation infrastructure; increasing crop yields (particularly yields per unit volume of water) at a greater rate than in the past; a change in crop mix away from high water use crops like rice and sugarcane, to crops that use less water; and, exporting less and importing more food. The alternatives appear difficult to implement quickly, so it appears likely that in the short to medium term more groundwater will be consumed, with attendant problems of water quality and sustainability. Our analysis provides new perspectives on past trends and future food and water (including groundwater) challenges.

The utilization of water resources and water security in Central Asia are critical to the stability of the region. This paper assesses the water security of the five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) by using the projection pursuit model based on particle swarm optimization (PSO-PEE). The results show that the average annual water consumption in Central Asia is about 1255.57 × 108 m3, and the proportion of agricultural water consumption decreased due in large part to the changes of crop planting structure. For the ecological security, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have improved their status, but Turkmenistan is getting worse. For the quantity security of water resources, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are relatively safe, whereas Uzbekistan is at risk. For the socio-economic conditions, Kazakhstan scored the highest, while Tajikistan and Uzbekistan scored the lowest, water consumption per 10,000 dollars of GDP across all five countries is relatively high but shows a significant decreasing trend. For the water supply and demand security, the status of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are better than that of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan has achieved a relatively safe level (level Ⅱ) and the degree of water security is high. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are only in the basically safe level (level III). Uzbekistan is under significant pressure with regard to water security (level IV), which indicates that the country needs to strictly control population growth and strengthen the comprehensive management of water resources.

This paper examines the adoption of irrigation technologies and the underlying diversity in terms of intensity of adoption in 2 irrigated valleys in Central Chile. Results show a low and narrow range of adoption, with only 30 % of farmers adopting technologies. Through a Latent Class Analysis, 2 types of farmers were identified, a small group comprising moderate to intensive users, and a second one consisting of the majority of farmers mostly constrained in natural capital. Furthermore, the econometric analysis indicates that education, diversification, continuous access to water, and perception of water reliability increase the adoption. Conversely, higher water-land ratios, presence of community reservoirs, and earthen canals reduce the uptake. Overall, the dominance of fruit and horticulture production, access to agricultural credits, and full irrigation of the farm are the main drivers of adoption. The latter is a critical factor, indicating a relative abundance of water resources, which, alongside contextual characteristics, discourages farmers from implementing technologies. The low adoption rate, as well as the hindering factors, will challenge public and private organizations to design and implement policies aiming to improve water reliability and management. To generate incentives and increase awareness on the scarcity of the resource in the light of the predicted reductions in water availability because of climate change will be crucial as well.

The Ogallala Aquifer is the main water resource for irrigated agricultural production in much of Western Kansas. It is hypothesized that as crop price expectations increase, producers will apply more water to increase yields in order to maximize profit. Using field-level panel data on groundwater pumped for irrigation in Western Kansas, this paper examines whether irrigated producers’ groundwater pumping decisions are consistent with the profit maximization framework by empirically testing if crop price expectations have a positive impact on the quantity of groundwater pumped. In general, the empirical results indicate that crop price expectations have no statistically significant impact on the quantity of groundwater pumped per acre. This suggests that groundwater pumping decisions are not consistent with the profit maximization framework and that irrigated producers consider groundwater as a fixed input possibly due to limited availability of groundwater in the area. Our econometric analysis also suggests that only a small portion of rainfall is effective.

The 2011 and 2012 droughts considerably affected the Ogallala Aquifer supplying irrigation water for agricultural production in the US High Plains (HP). Shrinking water resources and growing demand for water create a challenging tradeoff situation. This also poses a question about the value of water and efficient water allocation. Currently, water rates for irrigating crops paid by farmers do not reflect the actual value of water that can be expressed solely as a shadow price. Also studies are missing that would comprehensively compare different states and different crops in one methodological framework. This paper helps to fill this gap. Farm-budget residual valuation is applied to estimate the shadow price of water for irrigation in three High Plains states: Texas, Kansas and Nebraska, for five prevailing crops: corn, cotton, sorghum, soybean, and wheat. Among the analyzed High Plains states the highest shadow price of water was found for wheat production in the Texas Northern High Plains ($865.99/af = $0.70/m 3 ), while the lowest shadow price was found for corn in the Texas Southern High Plains ($5.13/af = $0.004/m 3 ). The study can be helpful to stakeholders and policy makers to evaluate scenarios and tradeoffs between profitable crop production and conservation of water resources.

A risk farmers have to cope with is annual changes in the availability of irrigation water. In this paper the relationship between irrigation water allocated to farmers and the incomes they derive in the Coleambally Irrigation Areas (CIA) in Australia is quantified. It is shown empirically that farmers reduce the area cropped when faced with reduced water availability. Increasing the availability of water does not necessarily lead to more stable (less volatile) income streams, as it offers the opportunity to include more water intensive, yet also more risky, crops in the cropping pattern (e.g. rice). However, it does lead to an overall increase in incomes. It was found that rice is the dominant crop for all levels of risk aversion, as shown by a stochastic dominance approach and by the stochastic efficiency with respect to a function. The optimal farm plan portfolio besides rice also includes a substantial amount of wheat if irrigators are somewhat risk averse, while more risk-averse farmers prefer more maize in their farm crop plans. The relative reduction in expected income from the optimal farm plan chosen, given a rather risk averse farmer, compared to the expected income of the optimal farm plan chosen by a risk neutral farmer, is approximately 9%.

The main aim of this paper is to examine the impact of changing external conditions on irrigation water institutions in northern China. To this end, we perform a case study analysis of the impact of output market development on irrigation water transactions, using survey data collected among 315 households in Minle County, Zhangye City, Gansu Province, covering the year 2009. Households in this region possess tradable water use rights. Moreover, a major agro-processing company has recently been established and the local government intervenes in the allocation of water to stimulate farmers to grow a cash crop for that company. Despite these favourable enabling and driving factors, we find that market water trade is virtually absent. Instead, we observe that reciprocal water use arrangements (water swaps) have emerged at a limited scale. We argue that factors other than an improvement in the output market (such as producer ignorance, centrally set prices, trust) need to be considered, if improvement in the market for irrigation water is to occur.

Although the ways in which farmers access irrigation services in areas that rely on groundwater have changed over the past decade, little empirical work has measured the impact of these changes. This is surprising given the potential effects—both positive and negative. In this paper we explore the impacts of the emergence of the markets for irrigation services from groundwater on agricultural production – including crop water use and crop yields – and farmer income in northern China. From a survey of 35 randomly sampled villages and 338 households in two provinces (Hebei and Henan Provinces) in 2001 and 2004, we show that when farmers access water from markets for irrigation services, they significantly reduce water use, compared with farmers who have their own tubewells. However, there is no significant difference between the volume of water used by farmers who access irrigation services provided by the village, and the volume used by farmers who access water from markets for irrigation services. Importantly, although water use decreases, we find little effect on either agricultural productivity (yields) or income.

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) were introduced in response to the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) which states that all EU countries must reduce the nitrate in drinking water to a maximum of 50 mg/l. Farmers within a designated NVZ must adhere to strict rules over the timing and application of nitrogen from organic and inorganic sources. In Scotland, four NVZ regions were designated in 2003, covering around 14% of the land area and affecting over 12,000 farmers. This paper outlines the results of a recent study to understand farmer activities in response to and attitudes towards NVZ regulations in Scotland. A telephone survey was administered, obtaining a response of 184 farmers, supplemented by four workshops held in each NVZ region. This explored, both quantitatively and qualitatively, farmer behaviour and attitudes. The bulk of farmers have made little capital investment since the 2003 designation. Few farmers have invested in increased slurry storage facilities, nor begun to transport more slurry off-farm, claiming to have had enough storage capacity before designation to cover the imposed closed period. Farmer attitudes indicate a mostly negative view towards the perceived environmental benefits, water management and compliance. This can be explained by a number of concerns raised by farmers towards the scientific basis for designations. Furthermore, farmers viewed the restrictions placed on farming practices within NVZs as too inflexible. Given the mostly sceptical perceptions demonstrated by the farmers we call for a more integrated approach to water management at the catchment level. There is a role for policy-makers to provide clearer information over the science and purpose of the designations and also to invest in the transfer of technologies, in particular N-use software which is specifically tailored to NVZ regulations. Also, critical to this would be the development of transparent indicators of water quality. This may start to embed nitrogen pollution impacts within the farmer's cultural framework of decision-making.

Agriculture consumes about 70% of water available in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Domestic and industrial users utilize 30% of the water supply. Water resource managers are considering the policy of reallocating a portion of the water supply from agriculture to other uses. It is believed that increasing irrigation water prices could influence water consumption and thus make water available for non-agricultural (more economic) uses. This paper examines the impacts of water pricing on agricultural water consumption and farming profitability and provides some guidelines for policy makers regarding water pricing as a tool to manage scarce water resources. We estimate a regression model describing agricultural water consumption as a function of water prices, irrigated land area, farm income, and irrigation frequency, using data collected in a survey of about 150 farmers in the Tulkarm district. We conclude that irrigation water prices are perceived as high and comprise a large portion of total farming expenses. Therefore, attempts to increase irrigation water prices in the Tulkarm district might jeopardize farming feasibility and might have substantial impacts on agricultural water consumption. Nevertheless, many farmers would continue farming even if the water prices were increased beyond their willingness to pay threshold.

Using a binary logistic regression model, this paper evaluates the determinants of farmers’ decisions to adopt rainwater harvesting and supplementary irrigation technology (RHSIT) and its elasticity of adoption in the rain-fed farming systems, based on a survey of 218 farmers in the semiarid areas of Loess Plateau in 2005. The results indicate that 12 variables are significant in explaining farmers’ adoption decisions. Farmers’ educational background, active labor force size, contact with extension, participation in the Grain-for-Green project, and positive attitudes towards RHSIT are some of the variables that have significantly positive effects on adoption of RHSIT, while farmer's age and distance from water storage tanks to farmers’ dwellings have significantly negative correlation with adoption. The probability of adoption also increases with increased targeting of institutional variables: credit obtained, assistance obtained, and technical training received. Farmers in villages that have more erosion problems are more likely to adopt RHSIT. Besides, the model indicates that a 1 unit increase in the diversity of irrigated crops grown by a household, especially high-value crops, results in a 6.98 times increase in the probability of RHSIT adoption. Variables such as family size, off-farm activity, level of family income, risk preference, and land tenure do not significantly influence adoption. This information will help prioritize the factors that affect adoption decisions and provide insight on pathways to increase the adoption of RHSIT.

The main objective of this paper is to estimate the willingness of farmers to pay for groundwater resources under different conditions of water supply regimes. Information available on water supplies, areas under irrigation and market conditions were the basis of the calculations. In order to identify solutions that maximize the total net income subject to resource restraints, parametric linear programming models were used to derive farmers’ willingness to pay for irrigation water. Results showed that there is potential to decrease water consumption and to reallocate it in an optimal way. Optimal reallocation increased the net agricultural income in the study area. The water demand for agriculture reacts to increasing water prices in a quite elastic manner over a long interval, whereas it reacts inelastic in the case of a decrease of the overall water supply by 15%. Farmers are willing to pay two and a half times the prevailing price of groundwater. The results show that the water values in the region are underestimated and the decision makers can impose a price level for groundwater from US$ 0.14 to 0.35/m 3 without having any impact on the cropping pattern or the planted area.

DSSIPM is a decision support system that was developed to improve planning and management in large irrigation schemes. Paper I provided a description of the system, including its structure, databases and procedures. Here, the application of DSSIPM to the Odivelas irrigation scheme is described, a case study in the Alentejo region of Portugal. The results obtained suggest that the introduction of irrigation is likely to increase crop diversity and the income of farmers. Analysis indicates that the performance of irrigated areas will be affected by such diverse factors as crop prices, subsidies, the availability of water, land taxes and the price of water, the existence of markets for non-traditional crops, the size of fields and the technological skills of farmers. The development priorities for improving the economic performance of agriculture in the Odivelas region were identified. They include developing marketing and processing facilities, reformulating water prices and land taxes, improving water distribution, developing extension services, providing irrigation equipment and farm machinery to rent, and modifying land tenancy legislation.

This paper considers whether now is an appropriate time to invest in irrigation given that the technical performance of many irrigation schemes is below standard and that the outlook for agricultural markets looks bleak. Agricultural producers, in developing countries and elsewhere, are on a technological “treadmill” where falling commodity prices force the adoption of cost reducing technology such as new irrigation schemes or new methods of irrigation. However, there are many problems that are associated with the introduction of new technology. Some problems are not caused by the technology itself but by a failure to understand fully pertinent institutional issues. A call is made, therefore, for a higher socio political input into planning of new irrigation projects.