Open AccessPrivate Tubewell Development and Groundwater Markets in Pakistan: A District-level Analysis
Author(s) -
Ruth Suseela Meinzen-Dick
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
pakistan development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.154
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 0030-9729
DOI - 10.30541/v33i4iipp.857-869
Subject(s) - irrigation , groundwater , waterlogging (archaeology) , water resource management , drainage , irrigation district , agriculture , environmental science , schedule , agricultural economics , geography , economics , engineering , ecology , wetland , geotechnical engineering , management , archaeology , biology
Groundwater irrigation, which was developed in the 1960s toincrease vertical drainage to prevent waterlogging and salinisation incanal commands, has now become a major component of the overallirrigation sector in Pakistan. An estimated 37 percent of totalirrigation supplies at the farm gate comes from groundwater [NESPAK(1991)]. Along with the shift in purpose for groundwater developmentfrom providing drainage to providing irrigation supplies, has come ashift from public to private tubewells as the primary source ofgroundwater in Pakistan. The increase in private tubewells has not onlyincreased the total availability of water for crop production, but alsoprovided farmers with greater control over irrigation supplies. Becausegroundwater from private tubewells is generally not tied to the rigidwarabandi schedule of canal deliveries, water applications can be moreclosely matched to crop requirements. The result is higher yields andhigher economic returns to irrigated agriculture [Meinzen-Di