Perceptions on irrigation water supply and utilisation by smallholder agricultural enterprises in Vhembe district of Limpopo Province, South Africa

Azwihangwisi Nesamvuni, Khathutshelo A. Tshikolomo (), Ndivhudzannyi S. Mpandeli (), Melanie de Bruyn (), Samkelisiwe Hlophe-Ginindza () and Johan van Niekerk ()
Additional contact information
Khathutshelo A. Tshikolomo: Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa, Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Private Bag X9487, Polokwane, 0700, South Africa
Ndivhudzannyi S. Mpandeli: Water Research Commission of South Africa, Private Bag X03, Gezina, 0031, South Africa
Melanie de Bruyn: Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa
Samkelisiwe Hlophe-Ginindza: Water Research Commission of South Africa, Private Bag X03, Gezina, 0031, South Africa
Johan van Niekerk: Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa

Technium Social Sciences Journal, 2022, vol. 27, issue 1, 968-979

Abstract: The study investigated perceptions on irrigation water supply and utilisation by Smallholder Agricultural Enterprises (SHAEs) in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province. More (55.4%) SHAEs depended on surface water as the main source for irrigation. Surface water supply was ranked moderate in the majority of SHAEs, both for summer (58.6%) and winter (69.7%) irrigation and was regarded as always available (51.3%). Groundwater was the main source in 44.2% of SHAEs and was ranked very high for summer (55.7%) and winter (34.4%) irrigation. Groundwater was perceived to have the advantage of being always available in 83.6% of SHAEs while 64.9% complained about higher pumping costs. One in three (33.9%) SHAEs revealed they irrigated two to four times a day while one in five (18.7%) irrigated once every eight to 14 days. The mean amount of water used to irrigate was estimated at 5 300,88l +/- 20 762,91l. Almost two in three (62.6%) SHAEs experienced competition for water. Statistically, signification association was observed between the main source for irrigation and monthly income (X2 (1) = 7.10, p < 0.013) after the Bonferroni adjustment. It was determined that 51,3% of SHAEs with income </= R5000/month used surface water as the main source for irrigation compared to 69.6% with income > R5000/month.

Keywords: Surface water; Groundwater; Irrigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://techniumscience.com/index.php/socialsciences/article/view/5298/1999 (application/pdf)
https://techniumscience.com/index.php/socialsciences/article/view/5298 (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:tec:journl:v:27:y:2022:i:1:p:968-979

DOI: 10.47577/tssj.v27i1.5298

Access Statistics for this article

Technium Social Sciences Journal is currently edited by Tasente Tanase

More articles in Technium Social Sciences Journal from Technium Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tasente Tanase ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).