Can community drip irrigation projects affect the yield and income of smallholder farmers? evidence from Karnataka, India
Dan Oziel, Tel Aviv University
Please join us for our departmental seminar on the 16th of January from 15:00 to 16:00 at the Porter Auditorium
Water scarcity is becoming a primary constraint on the expansion and sustainability of irrigated agriculture, which is crucial for food security and poverty alleviation in the semi-arid tropics. Achieving agricultural growth while reducing stress on water resources requires a dramatic increase in agricultural water use efficiency but the dissemination of water efficient technologies to farmers in developing countries remains a policy challenge
This research in India is a quasi-experimental based on drip irrigation technology, technology with proven productivity and water saving potential. The Ramthal irrigation project supplies water to 15,000 of smallholder farmers with the goal of transitioning them from seasonal, rain-fed subsistence cereal cultivation, to year-long, diversified market-oriented cultivation
The principal objective of the research is to (1) conduct causally interpretable evaluations of the magnitude and “sustainability” of the impacts of the Ramthal project on agricultural productivity, income, resilience to drought, migration, and social aspects, in comparison to both, rainfed cultivation and traditional irrigation; (2) conduct a careful and policy relevant cost-benefit analysis of the project using detailed information about costs and estimates of the project’s impacts
BIO
Dan Oziel is a PhD student in the Department of Public Policy at Tel Aviv University and a member of the Nitzan Lab for Sustainable Development, directed by Prof. Ram Fishman. He studies development economics in low-income countries, with an emphasis on rural areas. His research focuses on field experiments, innovation applications and technological interventions in aspects of agriculture, water management, climate change, and food security
Alon Shepon
The Department of Environmental Studies
The Porter School of the Environment and Earth Science
Tel Aviv University | website
The Israeli Forum for Sustainable Nutrition
