Forecasting deficit irrigation adoption using a mixed stakeholder assessment methodology

Francisco Alcon, Sorada Tapsuwan, J. Martinez-Paz, Roy Brouwer () and María D. de Miguel

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2014, vol. 83, issue C, 183-193

Abstract: Although Deficit Irrigation (DI) can help farmers achieve significant water savings, its adoption is still limited. This study aims to identify the factors that affect DI adoption decisions in a water-scarce area, namely, south-eastern Spain, and to evaluate the importance of these factors. The factors were derived from the literature and personal interviews with regional irrigation water managers and other stakeholders. First, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis was used as the overarching framework to evaluate the various technical, social–political and environmental factors influencing DI adoption in an integrative manner. Second, a two-round Delphi survey was used to validate the SWOT items. The results reveal that the strengths and opportunities of DI adoption are given more weight than its weakness and threats. The technique's capacity for water saving and the specific water scarcity context appear to be the most important reasons for DI implementation. However, knowledge and awareness levels are low across different stakeholder groups, implying a need for improved promotion of the adoption of DI through scientific knowledge transfer. Water policies that promote the adoption of DI are considered an important way forward to ensure the long-term availability and sustainable use of water in agriculture in extreme drought-prone areas.

Keywords: Irrigation; Technology; Adoption; Spain; Stakeholders; SWOT; Delphi (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162513001558
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:83:y:2014:i:c:p:183-193

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2013.07.003

Access Statistics for this article

Technological Forecasting and Social Change is currently edited by Fred Phillips

More articles in Technological Forecasting and Social Change from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().