An Economic Analysis of High Efficiency Irrigation Systems in Punjab, Pakistan.

The growing demand for water resources highlights the need for improved management of this diminishing resource to ensure high water productivity. In order to cope with this situation, it is imperative to make use of available water resources more efficiently through high-efficiency irrigation systems (HEIs). The present study aimed to conduct the economic analysis of high efficiency irrigation systems in Punjab province of Pakistan. We also measured and compared the water productivity of modern and conventional-irrigated farms. We used primary data collected from 120 farmers located in Nurpur Thal, Bhalwal, Sargodha and Lodhran districts of Punjab province. These areas were purposively selected based on relatively higher concentration of HEI infrastructures installed on the farms. Sprinkler irrigation system was mainly installed on wheat crop while the drip irrigation systems were installed on mango orchards. Therefore, one half of the sample consisted of modern and conventional farmers growing wheat crop and the other half of the sample consisted of modern and conventional farmers growing mango orchards. Economic analysis measures of benefit-cost ratio (BCR) and net present value (NPV) were estimated. The results of the study showed that the users of high-efficiency irrigation systems (sprinkler and drip irrigation) earned higher gross margins. The BCR and NPV values showed that installation of HEI systems was an economically feasible option. In addition, water productivity at modern farms was higher than those of conventional farms. Our results showed that most of the farmers using HEIs were large farmers, therefore, we suggest that policy interventions should be directed at increasing the adoption rates among small farmers. This could be done by spreading awareness among the farmers about the economic benefits offered by HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]