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Is The Irrigation Water Demand Really Convex?

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  • Bontemps, Christophe
  • Couture, Stephane
  • Favard, Pascal

Abstract

The seasonal irrigation water demand under uncertainty, which lies at the core of this paper, is still very roughly known. We know, however, that irrigated agriculture accounts for a large proportion of water use, especially in many water-scarce areas. In this paper, we estimate the irrigation water demand, for various climatic conditions characterizing the distribution of the necessarily stochastic, demand functions under uncertainty. We use a dynamic programming model to represent the farmer's decision program under uncertainty. A crop-growth simulation model (EPIC-PHASE), provides the response function to the decisions taken and climatic events and is linked to a CRRA utility function representing the farmer's objective function. This model is used to generate the data allowing the estimation of irrigation water demand by a nonparametric procedure. An application to irrigation water demand is proposed in the South-West of France. We show that the estimated demand functions present four main areas: For very small quantities, where the farmer considers water as an essential input to crop growth, the demand is inelastic. The second area corresponds to mean quantities where the plant has reached a satisfactory level of growth; water is no more an essential input and is not yet a risk reducing input. The farmer is more responsive to change in water price. But, we find a third, non-intuitive, area for larger quantities where the water is a risk reducing input and the demand becomes inelastic again. The last area is classic, the water demand is obviously elastic for important total water quantities. This result is of great importance to analyze a regulation policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Bontemps, Christophe & Couture, Stephane & Favard, Pascal, 2001. "Is The Irrigation Water Demand Really Convex?," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20508, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea01:20508
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.20508
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    1. Varela-Ortega, Consuelo & M. Sumpsi, Jose & Garrido, Alberto & Blanco, Maria & Iglesias, Eva, 1998. "Water pricing policies, public decision making and farmers' response: implications for water policy," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 19(1-2), pages 193-202, September.
    2. Michael R. Moore & Noel R. Gollehon & Marc B. Carey, 1994. "Alternative models of input allocation in multicrop systems: Irrigation water in the Central Plains, United States," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 11(2-3), pages 143-158, December.
    3. Shumway, C. Richard, 1973. "Derived Demand for Irrigation Water: The California Aqueduct," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(2), pages 195-200, December.
    4. Moore, Michael R. & Gollehon, Noel R. & Carey, Marc B., 1994. "Alternative models of input allocation in multicrop systems: irrigation water in the central plains, United States," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 11(2-3), pages 143-158, December.
    5. Michael R. Moore & Noel R. Gollehon & Marc B. Carey, 1994. "Multicrop Production Decisions in Western Irrigated Agriculture: The Role of Water Price," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 76(4), pages 859-874.
    6. Chavas, Jean-Paul & Holt, Matthew T, 1996. "Economic Behavior under Uncertainty: A Joint Analysis of Risk Preferences and Technology," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 329-335, May.
    7. Thomas, Alban & Bontems, Philippe, 1998. "Information Value And Risk Premium In Agricultural Production Under Risk: The Case Of Split Nitrogen Application For Corn," 1998 Annual meeting, August 2-5, Salt Lake City, UT 20844, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    8. Philippe Bontems & Alban Thomas, 2000. "Information Value and Risk Premium in Agricultural Production: The Case of Split Nitrogen Application for Corn," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(1), pages 59-70.
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    Cited by:

    1. de Fraiture, Charlotte & Perry, C. J., 2007. "Why is agricultural water demand unresponsive at low price ranges?," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    2. Phoebe Koundouri, 2003. "Potential for groundwater management: Gisser-Sanchez effect reconsidered," DEOS Working Papers 0307, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    3. Storm, Hugo & Heckelei, Thomas & Heidecke, Claudia, 2010. "Demand Estimation for Irrigation Water in the Moroccan Drâa Valley using Contingent Valuation," Discussion Papers 162895, University of Bonn, Institute for Food and Resource Economics.
    4. de Fraiture, Charlotte & Perry, C. J., 2007. "Why is agricultural water demand unresponsive at low price ranges?," IWMI Books, Reports H040602, International Water Management Institute.

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