From over to optimal irrigation in paddy production: What determines over-irrigation in Bangladesh?

Islam, Md. Sariful; Tumpa, Shamshunnahar; Afrin, Sonia; Ahsan, Md. Nasif; Haider, Mohammed Ziaul; Das, Debasish Kumar

Date

2021-04-22

Publisher

Springer Link

Abstract

This paper examines the level of optimal irrigation and the determinants of over-irrigation in paddy production since about three-fourth of freshwater withdrawal is used to irrigate paddy plants in Bangladesh. Cobb–Douglas production function reveals that optimal irrigation is 75 × 102 m3 per acre per season. Results show nearly, 39% of water is over-irrigated. It escalates farmer’s irrigation cost by USD 56 per acre and induces additional depletion 60 × 102 million m3 freshwater with substantial welfare loss USD 70–73 million in south-western Bangladesh. Further analyses reveal that farm characteristics, salinity, and irrigational modes determine over-irrigation in the study area. This study suggests that the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technique helps farmers to reduce irrigation substantially and to reach the optimal level. Welfare effects of the AWD technique are 89–93% reduction in over-irrigation 68–71% reduction in ancillary cost.

Keywords

Optimal irrigation; Over-irrigation; Paddy production; Water productivity; Welfare loss

Description

This article was published in Sustainable Water Resources Management [©2012 Published the Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG] and the definite version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-021-00512-0 The Article's website is at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40899-021-00512-0#citeas

Publisher Link

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40899-021-00512-0#citeas Sustainable Water Resources Management

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-021-00512-0

Department

BRAC Institute of Governance and Development

Type

Journal Article

Collections

Publications (Brac Institute of Governance and Development) [104]