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Farm size, irrigation practices, and on‐farm irrigation efficiency
Author(s) -
Skaggs R. K.,
Samani Z.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
irrigation and drainage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1531-0361
pISSN - 1531-0353
DOI - 10.1002/ird.148
Subject(s) - irrigation , water conservation , agriculture , irrigation management , water resource management , low flow irrigation systems , deficit irrigation , business , irrigation statistics , environmental science , irrigation district , agricultural economics , geography , economics , agronomy , archaeology , biology
Relationships between farm size, irrigation practices, and on‐farm irrigation efficiency in the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, New Mexico, USA are explored using 2001 water delivery data supplied by the irrigation district. The study area is experiencing rapid population growth, development, and competition for existing water supplies. It is conventionally assumed that in the future water will be transferred from agriculture to other uses. Analysis of pecan orchard water delivery data, fieldwork, and interviews with irrigators found extremely long irrigation durations, inefficient irrigation practices, inadequate on‐farm infrastructure, and lack of interest in making improvements to the current irrigation system or methods on the smallest farms. These findings are attributed to the nature of residential/lifestyle or retirement agriculture. Irrigation practices on large, commercial orchards are notably different from the smallest farms: irrigation event durations are shorter, less water is applied, and the producers are commercially oriented. With respect to future increases in the efficiency of irrigation water usage, large, commercially oriented producers already have a high level of physical efficiency. Small producers appear to view irrigation as a consumptive, recreational, social, or lifestyle activity, rather than an income‐generating pursuit, thus the cost of inducing changes in their practices may be extremely high. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.