Nexus of Crop Water Productivity to Sources of Irrigation Water: the Case of Wheat Farms in Egypt and Sudan

EasyChair Preprint 11285, version 2

Abstract

This study aims to compare the impacts of irrigation from the Nile and underground water sources on water productivity (WP) of wheat for enhanced food security and efficient utilization of water resources in Egypt and Sudan. Endogenous switching regression was applied to data from a purposive random sample of 1,272 wheat growing farms to identify the determinants of resource selection and its impact WP in both countries.

Results show that 23% and 3% of wheat farms are irrigated from underground water with an average WP of 0.899 and 0.137 kg per m³ of wheat in Egypt and Sudan, respectively. Higher level of WP by 0.039 kg/m³ was significantly attributed to irrigation from the Nile in Egypt while the gain was 0.072 kg/ m³ in the favor of pumping underground water in Sudan. Adoption of improved production technologies such as the recommended number and interval of irrigations and the use of recommended input levels were significant determinants of WP in both countries. Membership in cooperatives and large schemes was leads to higher levels of irrigation water withdrawal from the Nile water in Egypt while adoption of irrigation technologies, wheat area percentage and adequacy of Nile water supply are significant determinants of underground water pumping for wheat production in Sudan. The study recommends focused utilization of underground water and introduction of water saving techniques in Sudan and efficient planning to blend Nile and underground water for wheat self-sufficiency in Egypt.

Keyphrases: Egypt, Endogenous Switching Regression, Sudan, water productivity, wheat

@booklet{EasyChair:11285,
  author    = {Elrashid Abdallah Fageer and Enas Mohamed Abbas Salih and Yigezu A. Yigezu},
  title     = {Nexus of Crop Water Productivity to Sources of Irrigation Water: the Case of Wheat Farms in Egypt and Sudan},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 11285},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2023}}