What determines irrigation efficiency when farmers face extreme weather events? A field survey of the major wheat producing regions in China
© 2018 CAAS. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V Water availability is a major constraint on grain production in China, therefore, improving irrigation efficiency is particularly important when agriculture faces extreme weather events. This paper first calculates irrigation efficiency with a translo...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/72273 |
| _version_ | 1848762706199314432 |
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| author | SONG, C. Oxley, Leslie MA, H. |
| author_facet | SONG, C. Oxley, Leslie MA, H. |
| author_sort | SONG, C. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2018 CAAS. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V Water availability is a major constraint on grain production in China, therefore, improving irrigation efficiency is particularly important when agriculture faces extreme weather events. This paper first calculates irrigation efficiency with a translog stochastic frontier production function and then investigates what happens when extreme weather events occur via a Tobit model. The estimated results reveal several important features of irrigation practices: i) irrigation efficiency is lower when extreme weather events occur; ii) large variations in irrigation efficiency occur across irrigation facilities; iii) the farm plots exhibit an extreme distribution across efficiency levels; and iv) water-saving techniques, technology adoption, and the maintenance of farmers’ economic resilience are major determinants of irrigation efficiency. Based on these results we propose the following recommendations: i) farmers should balance crop yield and water use; undertake relevant training programs and adopt water-saving techniques; ii) local governments and researchers should help farmers to find the optimal level of irrigation water use based on their own circumstances and provide better water-saving techniques and training programs rather than simply encouraging farmers to invest in irrigation facilities in the most extreme weather years; and iii) the income level of farm households should be increased so as to improve their resilience to natural disasters. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:51:49Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-72273 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:51:49Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-722732018-12-13T09:32:08Z What determines irrigation efficiency when farmers face extreme weather events? A field survey of the major wheat producing regions in China SONG, C. Oxley, Leslie MA, H. © 2018 CAAS. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V Water availability is a major constraint on grain production in China, therefore, improving irrigation efficiency is particularly important when agriculture faces extreme weather events. This paper first calculates irrigation efficiency with a translog stochastic frontier production function and then investigates what happens when extreme weather events occur via a Tobit model. The estimated results reveal several important features of irrigation practices: i) irrigation efficiency is lower when extreme weather events occur; ii) large variations in irrigation efficiency occur across irrigation facilities; iii) the farm plots exhibit an extreme distribution across efficiency levels; and iv) water-saving techniques, technology adoption, and the maintenance of farmers’ economic resilience are major determinants of irrigation efficiency. Based on these results we propose the following recommendations: i) farmers should balance crop yield and water use; undertake relevant training programs and adopt water-saving techniques; ii) local governments and researchers should help farmers to find the optimal level of irrigation water use based on their own circumstances and provide better water-saving techniques and training programs rather than simply encouraging farmers to invest in irrigation facilities in the most extreme weather years; and iii) the income level of farm households should be increased so as to improve their resilience to natural disasters. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/72273 10.1016/S2095-3119(18)62006-4 restricted |
| spellingShingle | SONG, C. Oxley, Leslie MA, H. What determines irrigation efficiency when farmers face extreme weather events? A field survey of the major wheat producing regions in China |
| title | What determines irrigation efficiency when farmers face extreme weather events? A field survey of the major wheat producing regions in China |
| title_full | What determines irrigation efficiency when farmers face extreme weather events? A field survey of the major wheat producing regions in China |
| title_fullStr | What determines irrigation efficiency when farmers face extreme weather events? A field survey of the major wheat producing regions in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | What determines irrigation efficiency when farmers face extreme weather events? A field survey of the major wheat producing regions in China |
| title_short | What determines irrigation efficiency when farmers face extreme weather events? A field survey of the major wheat producing regions in China |
| title_sort | what determines irrigation efficiency when farmers face extreme weather events? a field survey of the major wheat producing regions in china |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/72273 |