A turning point in water saving technologies in north Gujarat’s groundwater socio-ecology – a report by Carewater INREM foundation

The study analyses the changes in farming system and socio-economic impacts at the household level through “before-and-after” (longitudinal) comparison of adopters and “with-or-without” (cross sectional) comparison between adopters and non-adopters.

The broader research questions center on -

• Whether adopters accept or use allied water saving practices with drip or sprinkler irrigation, which extend or deepen the use of the tecchnology?
• Whether the adopters bring more land under this technology or expand the area under irrigation after adoption?
• Do the farmers change their cropping pattern towards the high-valued crops simultaneously with the introduction of micro-irrigation?
• What are the changes found after the adoption in the socio-economic status of the farmers?
• What is the influence of intervention among adopters and non-adopters by the way of accepting modern agricultural technologies and agronomic practices?

The study establishes that the water saving technology for minor irrigation not only saves water, energy, and labour inputs but also increases the farm income through higher production per unit of land. Though labour is saved for some agricultural operations but the introduction of the technology has provided an impetus to other ancillary occupations like emergence of large numbers of cold storages for potatoes, and dealerships of micro-irrigation equipments. 

The study concludes that introduction of water saving technologies is like a ‘turning point’ for the farmers of the water scarce area in the long run cultivation system.

Download the report here: