A typology of irrigated farms as a tool for sustainable agricultural development in irrigation schemes

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose the typology that links the characterization of the irrigated farms with their structural and functional aspects for the context of sustainable irrigated agricultural development.Design/methodology/approachEast Mitidja scheme is selected for this study. About 134 farms are selected from the irrigation scheme. Multiple correspondence and ascendant hierarchical classification are used as data mining tools to characterize the typology of irrigated farms.FindingsThe typology provides a way of understanding the diversity of farms with regard to their socio‐economic environment. It also helps to identify those farms that fall into broad categories of unsustainability. The latest implemented agricultural and irrigation policy has a differential effect on various types of farmers, favoring some and discouraging others. The socio‐economic constraints have prevented the implementation of various development programs. This situation leads to the unsustainable exploitation of the water and land resources and to the promotion of unsustainable irrigation scheme.Practical implicationsThe findings and results may help decision makers to implement appropriate interventions in terms of resources, conditions and interests that are compatible with each identified class of farms.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to explore irrigated agriculture development issues in Algeria using multivariate methods. The typological method can help policymakers to identify priorities. It can also be used to predict how different farmers will likely respond to government programs and policies regarding irrigated agricultural development.

Farm Typology in the Berambadi Watershed (India): Farming Systems Are Determined by Farm Size and Access to Groundwater

“…These included rice, vegetables, fish and off-farm based farming systems. However, the two-step method combining MCA and AHC is subject to generalization for even larger regions [33,40,46,47].…”

“…Laoubi et al [33] used MCA and AHC to develop a typology of irrigated farms in Algeria. Milán et al [47] used MCA and cluster analysis to develop a typology of beef-cattle farms in Spain.…”

“…The combination of multivariate statistical techniques and cluster analysis is widely used in characterization studies and farm-typology studies (e.g., [33,40,46,47], Goswami et al [46] combined principal component analysis with a hierarchical method and a K-means clustering method to develop a typology of farms and economic characteristics in India. Laoubi et al [33] used MCA and AHC to develop a typology of irrigated farms in Algeria.…”

“…This sampling procedure is used to estimate distribution parameters for a heterogeneous population [32,33]. The main advantage of this sampling approach is a better representation of the population than other probability methods like simple random sampling or systematic sampling [33]. Indeed, with stratified sampling, even the smallest subgroup in the population can be represented while selecting a relatively small sample size [34].…”

“…To identify how many and which farms to survey in this agrarian community, we used purposive stratified proportional sampling. This sampling procedure is used to estimate distribution parameters for a heterogeneous population [32,33]. The main advantage of this sampling approach is a better representation of the population than other probability methods like simple random sampling or systematic sampling [33].…”