High Efficiency Irrigation System and Socio-Economic Development for the Farmers of Pakistan

Abstract

This study examine the factors in the adoption of high-efficiency irrigation system (HEIS) for socio-economic development in southern Punjab, Pakistan. Multi-stage sampling is used to select the sample of 400 farmers (200 HEIS adopters and 200 non-adopters) from major districts of south Punjab. The results demonstrated that determinants including average landholding, age, education and awareness of HEIS all had a significant impact on the adoption of HEIS. The adoption rate of HEIS was also found to be impacted by energy crises, operational and maintenance issues, high installation prices and a lack of experienced employees. A higher proportion of participants strongly believed that HEIS might increase agricultural productivity while simultaneously saving water for future use. Additionally, respondents believed that shifting HEIS to high-value crops improves social status, particularly in rural areas. BCR values for wheat, guava and citrus using SI and DI were found to be larger than 1. The SI system NPV values for the wheat crop ranged from Rs. 248034 to Rs. 463191. Similarly, the results are consistent for DI for guava and citrus orchards (BCR > 1 and NPV positive values demonstrate that HEIS project is more economically feasible and viable than TI). Moreover, the benefit-cost ratio demonstrated that, when compared to conventional irrigated growers, the yield and net benefit due to HEIS of a variety of crops, including citrus, wheat, and guava, improved significantly to 48.48%, 70%, 44.83%, 102%, 178% and 107%, respectively. Water productivity of HEIS-irrigated wheat, guava and citrus were calculated as 1.2, 2.6 and 2.5 kg/m3, respectively and increased highly significantly than TI. The findings suggested that government initiatives should focus to enhance adoption rate of HEIS. This could be accomplished by providing modest subsidized HEIS and imparting awareness to farmers about the socioeconomic benefits of HEIS.. KEYWORDS :Agriculture, Cost-benefit, HEIS, Socio-economic development, Sustainable, Water productivity, NPV.