ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF IRRIGATION INDUCED LAND DEGRADATION IN A CONJUNCTIVE WATER USE ENVIRONMENT

Being an agrarian economy of Pakistan, increased agricultural productivity is central towards sustainable economic growth, alleviating poverty and ensuring food security in the country. Irrigation plays a significant role in the growth of agriculture particularly crop sector. Irrigation constitutes a mixture of both canal and underground water. The role of groundwater is most important than surface water for irrigation purpose because the dependence on groundwater has been increased which ranged from 65 percent (in the head end) to 90 percent (tail end areas). In Punjab province of Pakistan about 75 percent of the irrigated area is dependent on the pumped/ ground water. The saline groundwater when applied for irrigation purpose causes more salinity in the area which limits the agricultural production and deteriorates the quality of agricultural land. This problem is becoming a serious threat to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the country particularly in the Punjab province, wherein about more than 50 percent of the groundwater is saline causing a huge secondary salinization in the irrigated soils. This study will focus on land degradation issues being occurred due to irrigation induced salinity with saline groundwater in a conjunctive water use environment, regarding its consequent effects on crop productivity, resource use and economic valuation of such degraded land. The study was conducted in the selected areas of Punjab province of Pakistan, having irrigation-induced salinity affected soils (with saline ground water) and the area having good soils (fresh groundwater for conjunctive use) for its comparison. Production Function approach and its decomposition analysis and Logit/ Probit model analysis was used to address the above mentioned objectives of the study. Economic loss per acre per annum of sample farmers was Rs.30238. This was significant amount/income per acre which was not being received to the farmers annually. So, this is the value of land degradation which was being paid by the farmers in saline areas. If these economic losses were measured in overall study areas, it became about Rs.31.5 million per year and similarly these losses were Rs. 232591 million which comes to US $ 2326 million per year in Punjab's agrarian (crop production) economy