Drip method of irrigation (DMI) introduced relatively recently in India has proved to save sizeable water and augment productivity of crops. Studies conducted mostly on high-value fruit crops have confirmed the various benefits of DMI. However, not many studies have brought out the economic and resource impacts of drip irrigation including its benefit-cost pattern using survey data in crops like okra (ladies' fingers) which is an important vegetable crop in India. In this article, we have made an attempt to fill this gap by using farm survey data collected from a water scarce district of Tamil Nadu state. We found from this study that DMI can reduce about 15 per cent of cultivation cost, save about 47 per cent of water resources and electrical energy, and augment about 49 per cent of productivity of okra over the same crop cultivated under conventional flood method of irrigation (FMI). Farmers cultivating okra under DMI are also able to generate an additional farm business income of `72,711/acre over the non-drip adopters. The net present worth and benefit-cost ratio estimated using different discount rates corroborate that investment in drip irrigation is economically highly viable for okra crop cultivating farmers.
In the light of the rapid decline in the irrigation water potential and increasing demand for water from different sectors in India, there is a need of the emergence of small-scale irrigation technology to conserve scarce water resources. Drip irrigation is one such technology that has been introduced to reduce water consumption in the agriculture sector, leading to sustainability of this sector. It allows farmers to cultivate crops without moisture stress even under water-scarce conditions, thereby increasing farm productivity. Earlier studies have analyzed the economics of drip irrigation in the case of high-value crops, which are mostly cultivated by rich farmers. Drip irrigation is also suitable for cultivating vegetable crops that are mostly cultivated by small farmers. However, in the Indian context, research on the effectiveness of drip irrigation is rare for these crops. We show that farmers cultivating green chilli could reduce the use of water by about two-thirds and increase productivity by more than half by adopting the drip irrigation method, compared to the same crop cultivated under conventional flood irrigation. The farm profitability too is impressive. The discounted cash flow analysis shows that the investment in drip irrigation for green chilli cultivation is economically viable even without the state subsidy. Despite such favourable outcomes, poor awareness prevailing among small farmers prevents adoption of drip irrigation. We suggest that there is a need to spread the benefits of cultivating vegetable crops under drip irrigation through a quality extension network on a continuous basis through various means. It would curtail the distress of the small farmers as well.
Considering the fast decline of irrigation potential and increased demand for water from different sectors, many initiatives have been introduced to conserve the scarce water resources in India. One of the methods introduced to save water consumption in agriculture was drip method of irrigation (DMI). It allows the farmers to cultivate the crops without moisture stress even under water scarcity conditions and therefore, DMI is also considered as an useful method for increasing the productivity of crops. Most of the earlier studies have analysed the economics of DMI by taking high value crops such as banana, sugarcane, grapes, etc., which are mostly cultivated by the resourceful farmers. DMI is also highly suitable for vegetable crops, such as red chilli, that are mostly cultivated by small landholders. However, detailed studies are seldom available on this crop using farm level data especially in the Indian context.An attempt is made in this study to fill this gap using farm level data collected from Sivagangai district of Tamil Nadu State. This study shows that farmers can save about 43 per cent of water and increase productivity of red chilli by 39 per cent by adopting drip method of irrigation over the same crop cultivated under conventional flood method of irrigation. The profitability of chilli cultivating farmers under drip method of irrigation is about 205 per cent more than the non-drip adopters. Both NPV and BCR, estimated using the discounted cash flow analysis, show that the drip investment in red chilli cultivation is economically viable even without State's subsidy.
Drip method of irrigation (DMI) has the potential to save substantial water and electrical energy as well as increase the productivity of crops. Studies conducted on different high value crops have confirmed the various benefits of DMI. However, not many studies have researched the income and resource impact of drip irrigation including its benefit–cost pattern using survey data in crops like groundnut, which is an important oilseed crop in India. In this paper, an attempt has been made to fill this gap by using survey data collected from a water-scarce district from Tamil Nadu State in India. The results show that DMI can save about 34% of cultivation cost, 36% of water and electrical energy and increase about 79% of productivity over the same crop cultivated under conventional flood method of irrigation. The drip adopters are also able to generate an additional farm business income of Rs 25,911/acre (1 USD = INR 74.92, 1 acre = 4,047 m2) over the non-drip adopters. The net present worth and benefit–cost ratio estimated using discounted cash flow technique shows that investment in drip irrigation is economically highly viable for groundnut cultivating farmers.
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