What works for water conservation? Evidence from a field experiment in India

Kathryn Vasilaky, Aurélie Harou, Katherine Alfredo and Ishita Kapur

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2023, vol. 119, issue C

Abstract: In a randomized field experiment, we test whether training medium scale farmers in an agricultural water reduction practice reduces water use from common aquifers in Haryana, India. We find that training farmers in a water reduction technique, Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), reduced pumping hours by 22% during peak pumping weeks without affecting their yields. In addition, we also incorporate the use of social comparison messages. We argue that farmers will adopt AWD despite flat fee tariffs if farmers own their pumps and if their crops can reach their varietal potential. This is because there are diminishing returns to irrigation and irrigation costs rise as water levels drop.

Keywords: Water use; Training; Meters; Social comparisons (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C92 C93 O13 O33 O55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:119:y:2023:i:c:s0095069623000207

DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2023.102802

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