IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v136y2015icp30-38.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impacts of agricultural water interventions on farm income: An example from the Kothapally watershed, India

Author

Listed:
  • Karlberg, L.
  • Garg, K.K.
  • Barron, J.
  • Wani, S.P.

Abstract

Agricultural water interventions (AWI), e.g. in-situ soil and water conservation strategies, irrigation, and damming of rivers to increase groundwater recharge, have been suggested as important strategies to improve yields in tropical agriculture. Although the biophysical implications of AWIs have been well investigated, the coupling between the biophysical changes and the economic implications thereof is less well understood. In this study we translate the results from a hydrological model, SWAT, on crop yields for different cropping systems with and without agricultural water interventions, to hypothetical farm incomes for a watershed, Kothapally, located in Andhra Pradesh, India. It was found that on average, AWI significantly improved farm incomes by enabling the cultivation of a high value crop during the monsoon season (cotton), supplementary irrigated to bridge dry spells and replacing a traditional crop (sorghum), and also by enhancing the capacity to produce dry season, fully irrigated vegetable crops, in this case exemplified by onion. AWI combined with cotton resulted in more than a doubling of farm incomes compared to traditional sorghum-based systems without AWI during normal and wet years (i.e. for 75% of the years). Interestingly, we observed that the difference between the AWI system and the no intervention system was larger during years of high average rainfall compared to dry years. It was also found that access to irrigation was more important for farm income than crop choice and AWI per se, and thus farms with access irrigation benefitted more from AWI compared to farmers lacking access to irrigation. In conclusion, we suggest that in order to assess equity aspects in terms of farm income generation following the implementation of an AWI project, there is a need for income analyses at the farm level, since income estimates at the watershed level may mask important differences in economic benefits between farms.

Suggested Citation

  • Karlberg, L. & Garg, K.K. & Barron, J. & Wani, S.P., 2015. "Impacts of agricultural water interventions on farm income: An example from the Kothapally watershed, India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 30-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:136:y:2015:i:c:p:30-38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2015.02.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X15000189
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agsy.2015.02.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hope, R.A., 2007. "Evaluating Social Impacts of Watershed Development in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1436-1449, August.
    2. DeTar, W.R., 2008. "Yield and growth characteristics for cotton under various irrigation regimes on sandy soil," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 69-76, January.
    3. Michael Carter & Christopher Barrett, 2006. "The economics of poverty traps and persistent poverty: An asset-based approach," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 178-199.
    4. Antle, John M. & Stoorvogel, Jetse J. & Valdivia, Roberto O., 2006. "Multiple equilibria, soil conservation investments, and the resilience of agricultural systems," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 477-492, August.
    5. David Tilman & Kenneth G. Cassman & Pamela A. Matson & Rosamond Naylor & Stephen Polasky, 2002. "Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices," Nature, Nature, vol. 418(6898), pages 671-677, August.
    6. Fox, P. & Rockstrom, J., 2003. "Supplemental irrigation for dry-spell mitigation of rainfed agriculture in the Sahel," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 29-50, June.
    7. Kerr, John & George, P.J. & Pangare, Ganesh & Pangare, Vasudha Lokur, 2000. "An evaluation of dryland watershed development projects in India:," EPTD discussion papers 68, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Rockström, Johan & Karlberg, Louise & Wani, Suhas P. & Barron, Jennie & Hatibu, Nuhu & Oweis, Theib & Bruggeman, Adriana & Farahani, Jalali & Qiang, Zhu, 2010. "Managing water in rainfed agriculture--The need for a paradigm shift," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 543-550, April.
    9. Kerr, John, 2002. "Watershed development projects in India: an evaluation," Research reports 127, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dev, Inder & Singh, Ramesh & Garg, Kaushal K. & Ram, Asha & Singh, Deepak & Kumar, Naresh & Dhyani, S.K. & Singh, Anand & Anantha, K.H. & Akuraju, VenkataRadha & Dixit, Sreenath & Tewari, R.K. & Dwive, 2022. "Transforming livestock productivity through watershed interventions: A case study of Parasai-Sindh watershed in Bundelkhand region of Central India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    2. Falk, Thomas & Kumar, Shalander & Srigiri, Srinivasa, 2019. "Experimental games for developing institutional capacity to manage common water infrastructure in India," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 260-269.
    3. Vamsi Krishna Vema & K. P. Sudheer & A. N. Rohith & I. Chaubey, 2022. "Impact of water conservation structures on the agricultural productivity in the context of climate change," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(5), pages 1627-1644, March.
    4. CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE)., 2017. "Enabling sustainable, productive smallholder farming systems through improved land and water management," IWMI Water Policy Briefings 311132, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Anantha, K.H. & Garg, Kaushal K. & Barron, Jennie & Dixit, Sreenath & Venkataradha, A. & Singh, Ramesh & Whitbread, Anthony M., 2021. "Impact of best management practices on sustainable crop production and climate resilience in smallholder farming systems of South Asia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Datta, Nirupam, 2015. "Evaluating Impacts of Watershed Development Program on Agricultural Productivity, Income, and Livelihood in Bhalki Watershed of Bardhaman District, West Bengal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 443-456.
    2. Hanjra, Munir A. & Qureshi, M. Ejaz, 2010. "Global water crisis and future food security in an era of climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 365-377, October.
    3. Glendenning, C.J. & van Ogtrop, F.F. & Mishra, A.K. & Vervoort, R.W., 2012. "Balancing watershed and local scale impacts of rain water harvesting in India—A review," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-13.
    4. Parvathi, Priyanka & Waibel, Hermann, 2015. "Household Welfare Impacts of Black Papper Certification in Kerala, India," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212614, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Geerts, Sam & Raes, Dirk, 2009. "Deficit irrigation as an on-farm strategy to maximize crop water productivity in dry areas," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(9), pages 1275-1284, September.
    6. Bouma, Jetske A. & Hegde, Seema S. & Lasage, Ralph, 2016. "Assessing the returns to water harvesting: A meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 100-109.
    7. Zongo, Beteo & Diarra, Abdoulaye & Barbier, Bruno & Zorom, Malicki & Yacouba, Hamma & Dogot, Thomas, 2015. "Farmers’ Practices And Willingness To Adopt Supplemental Irrigation In Burkina Faso," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 3(01), pages 1-17, January.
    8. Solomon Asfaw & Nancy McCarthy & Leslie Lipper & Aslihan Arslan & Andrea Cattaneo, 2016. "What determines farmers’ adaptive capacity? Empirical evidence from Malawi," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(3), pages 643-664, June.
    9. Geerts, S. & Raes, D. & Garcia, M. & Taboada, C. & Miranda, R. & Cusicanqui, J. & Mhizha, T. & Vacher, J., 2009. "Modeling the potential for closing quinoa yield gaps under varying water availability in the Bolivian Altiplano," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 1652-1658, November.
    10. Parvathi, Priyanka & Waibel, Hermann, 2016. "Organic Agriculture and Fair Trade: A Happy Marriage? A Case Study of Certified Smallholder Black Pepper Farmers in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 206-220.
    11. Shaikh M. S. U. Eskander & Sam Fankhauser, 2022. "Income Diversification and Income Inequality: Household Responses to the 2013 Floods in Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, January.
    12. Elisa Morri & Riccardo Santolini, 2021. "Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Sustainable Land Use Management by Nature-Based Solution (NbS) in the Common Agricultural Policy Actions: A Case Study on the Foglia River Basin (Marche Region, It," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-23, December.
    13. Shackleton, C.M. & Garekae, H. & Sardeshpande, M. & Sinasson Sanni, G. & Twine, W.C., 2024. "Non-timber forest products as poverty traps: Fact or fiction?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    14. Alejandro de la Fuente & Eduardo Ortiz-Juárez & Carlos Rodríguez-Castelán, 2018. "Living on the edge: vulnerability to poverty and public transfers in Mexico," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 10-27, January.
    15. Bethelhem Legesse Debela, 2017. "Factors Affecting Differences in Livestock Asset Ownership Between Male- and Female-Headed Households in Northern Ethiopia," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 328-347, April.
    16. Brian Walsh & Stéphane Hallegatte, 2020. "Measuring Natural Risks in the Philippines: Socioeconomic Resilience and Wellbeing Losses," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 249-293, July.
    17. Trivelli, C. & Clausen, J. & Vargas, S., 2017. "IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 9 - Social protection and inclusive rural transformation," IFAD Research Series 280047, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    18. Katarina Arvidsson Segerkvist & Helena Hansson & Ulf Sonesson & Stefan Gunnarsson, 2021. "A Systematic Mapping of Current Literature on Sustainability at Farm-Level in Beef and Lamb Meat Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-14, February.
    19. Hualin Xie & Yingqian Huang & Qianru Chen & Yanwei Zhang & Qing Wu, 2019. "Prospects for Agricultural Sustainable Intensification: A Review of Research," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-27, October.
    20. Smith, Helen F. & Sullivan, Caroline A., 2014. "Ecosystem services within agricultural landscapes—Farmers' perceptions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 72-80.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:136:y:2015:i:c:p:30-38. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.