Abstract
Good management of water resources requires a good allocation of their availability, especially in public irrigated schemes in Tunisia. This paper contributes to a better reallocation of available water resources at the farm and regional levels. A case study was discussed in the Kalâa Kebira region, in the center-east of Tunisia. Regional models based on aggregation and the possibility of water transfer between two irrigated schemes was tested. The results show that a good seasonal allocation is possible with a total regional exchange of 9.60% m3 of water available between these two schemes. This reallocation is beneficial at the regional level, recording an increase of 2.12% in agricultural income and less beneficial, except for farms that are less competitive, in terms of use of water resources. This reallocation also allows for cultural diversity and specification of agricultural farms. Competitiveness in the water use, diversification and specification of agricultural production systems help to preserve natural resources but they also help to satisfy demand of the regional market.Good management of water resources requires a good allocation of their availability, especially in public irrigated schemes in Tunisia. This paper contributes to a better reallocation of available water resources at the farm and regional levels. A case study was discussed in the Kalâa Kebira region, in the center-east of Tunisia. Regional models based on aggregation and the possibility of water transfer between two irrigated schemes was tested. The results show that a good seasonal allocation is possible with a total regional exchange of 9.60% m3 of water available between these two schemes. This reallocation is beneficial at the regional level, recording an increase of 2.12% in agricultural income and less beneficial, except for farms that are less competitive, in terms of use of water resources. This reallocation also allows for cultural diversity and specification of agricultural farms. Competitiveness in the water use, diversification and specification of agricultural production systems help to preserve natural resources but they also help to satisfy demand of the regional market.
Highlights
In Tunisia, water sector, characterized by spatial and temporal scarcity and irregularity, is currently facing major challenges such as an increasing demand
Unlike other countries in the world which have created a market for water, the government of Tunisia has adopted a potential monopoly on water to manage a common resource instead of the privatization of this resource. This potential monopolization is considered to be a privileged mechanism in Tunisia for the management of water resources. It is justified by the importance of the social dimension of the irrigation water needs in a country characterized by a modest economy based on household farming (Livingston, 1993; Young, 1986; Colby, 1990), and social equity, which imposes a water pricing policy is always lower than the real cost of production (Howe et al, 1986; Brookshire et al, 2004)
19.02% to obtain an annual income of about DT 98827.71 against a decline in farm income FT2 of 23.13% with an annual income that does not exceed 53993.2 DT (Table 2). This contradiction expressed by the regional model with water transfer shows a high competitiveness at the farm level FT1 for use of available resources especially irrigation water
Summary
In Tunisia, water sector, characterized by spatial and temporal scarcity and irregularity, is currently facing major challenges such as an increasing demand. This potential monopolization is considered to be a privileged mechanism in Tunisia for the management of water resources It is justified by the importance of the social dimension of the irrigation water needs in a country characterized by a modest economy based on household farming (Livingston, 1993; Young, 1986; Colby, 1990), and social equity, which imposes a water pricing policy is always lower than the real cost of production (Howe et al, 1986; Brookshire et al, 2004). Another research work was carried out by Azizi (2018) on farmers’ behavior towards the demand for irrigation water and the possibility of improving the pumping cost via the increase in the cost of electricity and the improvement collective distribution services These bioeconomic models of positive mathematical programming, integrating the notion of risk in agricultural activity, have succeeded in showing the effectiveness of certain possible strategies or scenarios on agricultural production systems. The rest of the article will be structured in two parts: one part is devoted to the representation of the modeling methodology approach adopted, and the presentation of the study area and the data collected, the last part is devoted to the analysis and discussion of the results and the conclusion
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