Irrigation development and equity implications: the case of India

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the inequity in irrigation distribution in India using a variant of Theil’s entropy measure for the period 1995–2010. The analysis reveals that the level of inequity in irrigation distribution has increased over time. Inequity has declined in canal, tank and well-irrigated systems and increased in the tube well-irrigated system. Decomposition analysis revealed that regional disparities have declined in all sources of irrigation except for tube wells. The role of property rights to groundwater, groundwater markets, energy pricing policy and competitive deepening of wells in worsening the inequity in access to groundwater resources is also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Irrigation development
• sources of inequity
• Theil’s index
• groundwater irrigation
• water–energy nexus
• property rights

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the anonymous reviewers, editor and Mr Subash SP, scientist at the National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, Delhi, for comments and suggestions that helped to improve the quality of the manuscript. They also duly acknowledge the assistance of Mr M. V. Shamnas and Mr Bibin Paulose in the preparation of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.