The economics of terminal irrigation development : a case study of the Mayang Irrigation System, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The aims of the study are to make a micro-level analysis of the economics of the rehabilitation and improvement of terminal irrigation systems in Indonesia and to examine the common theory that farmers are unwilling and incapable of executing the rehabilitation of the system. Following an introductory chapter , Chapter 2 describes the general condition of the Kayang irrigation System, of which the survey was conducted. The conditions described are climate, topography, soils, farming systems, and irrigation and water management systems. Chapter 3 gives a detailed description of the sampling techniques and the methodology followed in this study. The basic approach of this study was a comparative approach, comparing the two 'similar' tertiary units, one was the Government Pilot Tertiary Demonstration Unit (PTP), and the other was the unimproved tertiary unit (Non-PTP). An evaluation of the condition of the terminal irrigation systems in the two areas indicated that the condition was substantially better in the PTP area. Eut in the non-PTP area, farmers have also rehabilitated the terminal system and the on-farm water supply was considered sufficient for paddy in the wet season and in secondary crops for the dry season. This is clearly inconsistent with the common theory that farmers are unwilling and incapable of executing the rehabilitation of the systems. The change of Tertiary units into Pilot Tertiary Demonstration Units (PTP) did not make any significant difference as far as the cropping pattern and cropping intensity are concerned. But in the dry season, paddy was planted more widely in the PTP area, indicating that the terminal irrigation improvement could achieve a considerable amount of water saving. A comparison of farm inputs and output of paddy, soybean and tobacco production in the two areas showed that farm inputs and output were generally higher in the PTP area . An attempt has been made to determine to what extent this increase could be attributed to the terminal irrigation improvement. To investigate these questions , a production function model was constructed and the results are presented and discussed in Chapter 4. The results indicate that the increase in per hectare paddy and soyben production is simply due to the greater use of fertilizer in paddy and to labour in soybean production. But for tobacco in the dry season, the impact of terminal irrigation improvement on output was significant. Chapter 5 deals with the analysis of allocative efficiency of inputs used for the crops in the areas. The allocative efficiency index was used in the study and it is presented as the ratio of marginal value productivity of inputs with their respective prices , therefore indicating the efficiency of the utilization of inputs in the production process. The comparison of the allocative efficiency index of inputs between the PTP and the non-PTP areas on paddy, soybean and tobacco production suggested that the degree of efficiency of input allocation in the two areas were generally at about the same level . The summary and conclusion are presented in Chapter 6. The results , though tentative , are generally consistent with recent studies (Taylor et al 1979) and statistically reliable . The empirical evidence suggests that terminal irrigation system improvement is more important for crop product ion where the water supply is limited . The achieved results , however, do not suffice to draw strong conclusions due to limited data and methodology. Show more