On‐farm water storage (OFWS) is a farmers' response to mitigating inadequate and variable water supply in canal commands in the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana project in Rajasthan, India. This paper assesses the impact of OFWS on on‐farm performance, based on a sample of farms with and without storage tanks. OFWS facilitated the use of sprinklers, and the use of both together contributed to an improved level of on‐farm water control and timing of inputs, which resulted in an increase in gross irrigated area and crop yields. As a result, the average net value of output per hectare is 56% higher in farms with the new infrastructure. This is a financially viable intervention for farms with an irrigable area larger than 5 ha, with a benefit–cost ratio of 2.2 and internal rate of return of 35%. OFWS can be a catalyst for rejuvenating canal irrigation schemes with low on‐farm performance.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Amarasinghe et al. (2012) studied this question.