Irrigation efficiency depending on water cost

Abstract

The article provides an analytical review of the achieved crop yields under irrigation in experimental and production conditions. For today, the best production experience in the use of irrigated land indicates that, subject to all agrotechnical requirements, the yield of early grain crops reaches 8-10 t / ha, corn - 10-14 t / ha, oilseeds - 4-6 t / ha, vegetable crops - over 60 t / ha, which is about 90% of their productivity achieved in the experiments of scientific institutions. The comparative assessment of grain production in different climatic zones of Ukraine for the period of the most intense climatic change shows that over the past thirty years, the share of grain production in the Steppe zone has decreased from 45 to 35% of the total in Ukraine. The analysis of service cost for the transportation of water for irrigation in the southern regions of Ukraine is given. It was revealed that, despite a unified standard method for calculating the cost of water transportation, its price varies significantly by operational units of the State Agency for Water Resources of Ukraine. The main factors of fluctuations in the cost and fees for the transportation services of water for irrigation are the budgetary funding level of operating organizations, providing these services, the number of water transfers, the volume of actual irrigation on irrigated lands, the share of irrigated areas in the service area.
 The economic assessment of irrigation efficiency when having different water and other technological costs, taking into account the depreciation of capital investments, indicates that having a water price of 4,0-5,0 UAH/m3, the gross profit from growing the most profitable field crops is 35-40 % higher than the efficiency in rainfed agriculture. At the cost of water is 3,0-3,5 UAH/m3 and the use of the production capacity of the inter-farm irrigation network by 60-70%, financial prerequisites will be created for the effective operation of these networks.

Determination of Water Demand for Irrigation Based on the Climatic Water Balance in the Eastern Forest Steppe of Ukraine in View of the Natural Water Supply

“…The results of the research [5][6] indicate that even today crop cultivation in the entire territory of the steppe and in most of the forest-steppe zone is carried out in conditions of a significant (from 150 to 450-500 mm and more) deficit of the climatic water balance, which necessitates significant expansion of irrigation application as a mandatory element of technologies for highly efficient and sustainable cultivation of most crops. In view of the significant potential of reclaimed land in Ukraine, namely 2178.3 thousand hectares of irrigated land, of which about 540 thousand hectares are actually irrigated, the issue of their effective use remains open and is the main measure of active adaptation of agriculture to climate change [8][9][10][11][12].…”