Impact of Irrigation on India’s Dairy Economy

Abhishek Rajan and Tushaar Shah
Additional contact information
Abhishek Rajan: Research Consultant, IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program, Anand 388001, India
Tushaar Shah: Emeritus Scientist, International Water Management Institute, Anand 388001, India

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-12

Abstract: This paper explores the impact of irrigation on India’s mixed crop-based dairy production system. It uses a four-equation recursive regression model to outline the impact of water applied under different modes (groundwater irrigation, surface water irrigation, and rainfall) on the bovine herd efficiency and dairy output. The results of the model show that rain-fed areas account for 47% of the total value of milk output, whereas area under groundwater irrigation and surface water irrigation account for 38% and 15%, respectively. Of all the different irrigation modes, groundwater irrigated areas have the most efficient bovine herd for milk production. The addition of one hectare of groundwater in an irrigated area adds around Indian Rupees (INR) 20,000 (~US $448) to the gross value of milk output of a district, which is twice the addition of one hectare of surface water in an irrigated area and five times the addition of one hectare of rainfed area. Based on the results of the model, the paper suggests that expanding well irrigation in the groundwater-abundant eastern and central tribal belt of India can yield a positive impact on milk production.

Keywords: mixed farming system; milk production; irrigation; groundwater; dairy intensification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/3/53/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/3/53/ (text/html)

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:gam:jagris:v:10:y:2020:i:3:p:53-:d:325663

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().