Abstract
Deficit irrigation (DI) is an agricultural practice in which the volume of irrigation water applied during the crop cycle is below the irrigation requirements for maximum production, the aim of which is to increase irrigation water productivity. Most research on this technique has focused on agronomic strategies while the economic and environmental consequences have received little attention. This study aims to shed some light on this matter and presents preliminary results regarding the implications of DI with respect to the sustainable use of water resources. The analysis is based on the DPSIR analytical framework (Driving force/Pressure/State/Impact/Response) and the microeconomics of DI. The case study focuses on intensive olive groves in the Guadalquivir river basin in Southern Spain (where olive cultivation accounts for 50% of the total irrigated area). The analysis shows that the widespread use of DI practices, which is the farmers’ response to a decreasing net water supply and falling farm incomes (driving force) in the context of a mature water economy, may help to break the DPSIR chain of causality, provided that there are restrictions on any expansion in irrigated area. They can, thus, play a role in achieving sustainable water use. Conversely, demand and supply (regulator) responses involving raising the price of water would lead to higher pressures on the resource and represent a negative driving force in our DPSIR model.
Highlights
To achieve sustainable water management, hydrologic and economic dimensions must be taken into account as part of an integrated management system
The general context is that of a mature water economy, and we focus on the specific case of olive cultivation under deficit irrigation (DI) in the Guadalquivir river basin (RB) in southern Spain
The answers given by farmers regarding their expectations as to water consumption (m3/ha) and yield (k/ha) in three possible region) as defined in Expósito and Berbel [20], the effectiveness of private and public responses defined in Section 2 will be tested
Summary
To achieve sustainable water management, hydrologic and economic dimensions must be taken into account as part of an integrated management system. The specific case of the Guadalquivir river basin (RB) is representative of Mediterranean agriculture and has undergone an intense transformation in the last 50 years, characterised by a significant growth of irrigated areas, a progressive change in the composition of crops and widespread use of deficit irrigation (DI) practices in a context of water scarcity. Against this backdrop, farmers have had to respond to a continued decline in farm incomes, which have decreased by 1.1% annually since the early 1990s, due to the increasing cost of inputs and lower commodity prices [6]. The result has been an increase in water costs (10% real increase for surface water and 15% in the case of groundwater, in the period 1997–2008)
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