Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal
Irrigation with electric pumps is cheaper than with diesel pumps in West Bengal where electricity and diesel are unsubsidised, and where pump owners typically irrigate their winter rice crop and often sell water to farmers who do not own pumps. Using purposefully selected primary data, we examine wh...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Informa UK Limited
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113573 |
| _version_ | 1855519559138672640 |
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| author | Buisson, Marie-Charlotte Balasubramanya, Soumya Stifel, D. |
| author_browse | Balasubramanya, Soumya Buisson, Marie-Charlotte Stifel, D. |
| author_facet | Buisson, Marie-Charlotte Balasubramanya, Soumya Stifel, D. |
| author_sort | Buisson, Marie-Charlotte |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Irrigation with electric pumps is cheaper than with diesel pumps in West Bengal where electricity and diesel are unsubsidised, and where pump owners typically irrigate their winter rice crop and often sell water to farmers who do not own pumps. Using purposefully selected primary data, we examine whether electric-pump owners have greater water access and rice production during the monsoon and winter seasons compared to diesel-pump owners and water buyers. We also examine whether electric pump-owners provide greater access to irrigation services through water sales. We find that electric-pump ownership increased agricultural outputs both at the extensive and intensive margins in both seasons. The number of clients served by electric-pump owners was greater than those served by diesel-pump owners, but there was only a small difference in total irrigated areas, suggesting that electric-pump owners sell water to farmers with smaller land holdings. The evidence indicates that in an environment where inadequate irrigation has been one of the factors constraining agriculture, electric pumps have the potential to support agricultural growth and generate pro-poor side effects. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace113573 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Informa UK Limited |
| publisherStr | Informa UK Limited |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1135732024-06-26T11:43:30Z Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal Buisson, Marie-Charlotte Balasubramanya, Soumya Stifel, D. pumps electricity groundwater agricultural production rice water market irrigation practices cropping patterns crop yield farmers monsoons energy policies development Irrigation with electric pumps is cheaper than with diesel pumps in West Bengal where electricity and diesel are unsubsidised, and where pump owners typically irrigate their winter rice crop and often sell water to farmers who do not own pumps. Using purposefully selected primary data, we examine whether electric-pump owners have greater water access and rice production during the monsoon and winter seasons compared to diesel-pump owners and water buyers. We also examine whether electric pump-owners provide greater access to irrigation services through water sales. We find that electric-pump ownership increased agricultural outputs both at the extensive and intensive margins in both seasons. The number of clients served by electric-pump owners was greater than those served by diesel-pump owners, but there was only a small difference in total irrigated areas, suggesting that electric-pump owners sell water to farmers with smaller land holdings. The evidence indicates that in an environment where inadequate irrigation has been one of the factors constraining agriculture, electric pumps have the potential to support agricultural growth and generate pro-poor side effects. 2021-11-02 2021-04-28T08:38:35Z 2021-04-28T08:38:35Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113573 en Open Access Informa UK Limited Buisson, Marie-Charlotte; Balasubramanya, Soumya; Stifel, D. 2021. Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal. Journal of Development Studies, 57(11):1893-1911. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2021.1906862] |
| spellingShingle | pumps electricity groundwater agricultural production rice water market irrigation practices cropping patterns crop yield farmers monsoons energy policies development Buisson, Marie-Charlotte Balasubramanya, Soumya Stifel, D. Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal |
| title | Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal |
| title_full | Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal |
| title_fullStr | Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal |
| title_full_unstemmed | Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal |
| title_short | Electric pumps, groundwater, agriculture and water buyers: evidence from West Bengal |
| title_sort | electric pumps groundwater agriculture and water buyers evidence from west bengal |
| topic | pumps electricity groundwater agricultural production rice water market irrigation practices cropping patterns crop yield farmers monsoons energy policies development |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113573 |
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