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Estimating the marginal value of agricultural irrigation water: A methodology and empirical application to the Berg River Catchment
This study aims to facilitate effective and efficient intersectoral water allocation policy in South Africa, where limited water supplies are increasingly constraining necessary economic development. The study develops an economic model of irrigated agricultural production that recognises the multi-...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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School of Economics
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613226229825537 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Muller, Jacob |
| author2 | Turpie, Jane |
| author_browse | Muller, Jacob Turpie, Jane |
| author_facet | Turpie, Jane Muller, Jacob |
| author_sort | Muller, Jacob |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This study aims to facilitate effective and efficient intersectoral water allocation policy in South Africa, where limited water supplies are increasingly constraining necessary economic development. The study develops an economic model of irrigated agricultural production that recognises the multi-output nature of irrigated agriculture as well as the institutional setting in which commercial irrigation water is allocated in South Africa. The model is then used to econometrically estimate the marginal value of commercial irrigation water in the Berg Water Management Area (WMA), using a Translog functional form, Tobit censored regression model, including controls for heterogeneity, and accounting for heteroscedasticity. The estimates are obtained for 16 irrigated crops in the region and range from an overall mean of 4.84 R/m³ for peaches to 0.14 R/m³ for wheat, but vary significantly between sub-regions and according to soil productivity as well as between crops. Furthermore, the estimates differ substantially from the average value of production per m³ of irrigation water, reflecting a revenue-water elasticity that differs from unity for all crops. The results imply that potential efficiency gains are possible from the intersectoral reallocation of water away from agriculture. A further implication is that reallocation within the agricultural sector would be most efficiently undertaken by farmers themselves, due to the large number factors that affect irrigation water productivity but are unobservable by policymakers or are difficult to account for in the formulation of policy. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25409 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:46.693Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | School of Economics |
| publisherStr | School of Economics |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25409 Estimating the marginal value of agricultural irrigation water: A methodology and empirical application to the Berg River Catchment Muller, Jacob Turpie, Jane Cartwright., Anton Economics This study aims to facilitate effective and efficient intersectoral water allocation policy in South Africa, where limited water supplies are increasingly constraining necessary economic development. The study develops an economic model of irrigated agricultural production that recognises the multi-output nature of irrigated agriculture as well as the institutional setting in which commercial irrigation water is allocated in South Africa. The model is then used to econometrically estimate the marginal value of commercial irrigation water in the Berg Water Management Area (WMA), using a Translog functional form, Tobit censored regression model, including controls for heterogeneity, and accounting for heteroscedasticity. The estimates are obtained for 16 irrigated crops in the region and range from an overall mean of 4.84 R/m³ for peaches to 0.14 R/m³ for wheat, but vary significantly between sub-regions and according to soil productivity as well as between crops. Furthermore, the estimates differ substantially from the average value of production per m³ of irrigation water, reflecting a revenue-water elasticity that differs from unity for all crops. The results imply that potential efficiency gains are possible from the intersectoral reallocation of water away from agriculture. A further implication is that reallocation within the agricultural sector would be most efficiently undertaken by farmers themselves, due to the large number factors that affect irrigation water productivity but are unobservable by policymakers or are difficult to account for in the formulation of policy. 2017-09-26T14:57:20Z 2017-09-26T14:57:20Z 2017 Master Thesis Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25409 eng application/pdf School of Economics Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Economics Muller, Jacob Estimating the marginal value of agricultural irrigation water: A methodology and empirical application to the Berg River Catchment |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Estimating the marginal value of agricultural irrigation water: A methodology and empirical application to the Berg River Catchment |
| title_full | Estimating the marginal value of agricultural irrigation water: A methodology and empirical application to the Berg River Catchment |
| title_fullStr | Estimating the marginal value of agricultural irrigation water: A methodology and empirical application to the Berg River Catchment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimating the marginal value of agricultural irrigation water: A methodology and empirical application to the Berg River Catchment |
| title_short | Estimating the marginal value of agricultural irrigation water: A methodology and empirical application to the Berg River Catchment |
| title_sort | estimating the marginal value of agricultural irrigation water a methodology and empirical application to the berg river catchment |
| topic | Economics |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25409 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mullerjacob estimatingthemarginalvalueofagriculturalirrigationwateramethodologyandempiricalapplicationtothebergrivercatchment |