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The dynamics of phase farming in dryland salinity abatement
Author(s) -
Mueller Ute,
Schilizzi Steven,
Tran Tuyêt
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
australian journal of agricultural and resource economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.683
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-8489
pISSN - 1364-985X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8489.00068
Subject(s) - dryland salinity , agriculture , salinity , agroforestry , control (management) , phase (matter) , environmental science , agricultural engineering , geography , hydrology (agriculture) , economics , ecology , soil water , soil science , engineering , soil fertility , biology , chemistry , geotechnical engineering , management , archaeology , organic chemistry , soil biodiversity
In Australia, soil salinisation has become a major concern. One way to deal with the problem is for farmers to plant trees or regenerate native bush. However, doing so raises several questions which involve optimal switching times, when switching involves a cost in the form of up‐front investments. Optimality conditions are derived for the three‐stage problem, and applied to dryland salinity control in Western Australia. Optimal management practices are found to be very sensitive to farmers’ discount rates and to the speed at which the watertable rises or falls.