Name of writer: Qasem Abdou

Occupation: Deputy Minister Assistant for Natural Resources Affairs Title : Effect of Economic Irrigation Efficiency on Agricultural crop Pattern in

Jordan Valley region - Palestine. No. of Words: 490

Abstract:

Jordan Valley or the basket of vegetables for West Bankers, is an agro-ecological zone where

one of the main constrains for developing agricultural sector is the salinization of land and water

abstracted from ground wells. Irrigation with brackish water is a common and dominant practice

in this arid zone.

Greater attention is directing now to hightlighten the issue of economic efficiency of water used

in plant production in this area because water and electricity constitutes 15% of the total input

value of production cycle. In general for all regions, it is found that the economic efficiency

values of irrigating vegetables are more than that of horticultural and field crops. For vegetables,

in Jordan Valley region, protected irrigated paprika exhibits the most efficient use of water (21.4

USD \ cubic meters (CM)), whereas the lowest values were estimated in autumn open irrigated

cucumber (9 US Cents \CM). In the case of field crops, the highest and the lowest values were

recorded for autumn potato (10.2 USD\CM) and dry onions (- 0.46 USD\CM), respectively. For

horticultures planted in Jordan Valleys region, the highest value of the economic efficiency of

water was recorded in irrigated grape (0.78 USD\CM) and the lowest was in date (- 9 US Cents

\CM) despite the positive comparative advantage value of the latter.

If price of water would be tripled in Jordan valley region, the impact on the comparative

advantage of each crop was tested. Despite the negative impact on the comparative advantage of

all crops, the majority of irrigated vegetables would maintain their advantages. In case of the

fruit trees, the comparative advantage would be maintained for the bananas, and would be lost

for orange and date. However the increase of water prices on private prices will jeopardize

farming feasibility and might have substantial impacts agricultural activities.

When the comparative advantage values for 2012 are compared to that recorded in 1999, all

crops in Jordan Valley region shows positive improvements with the exception of spring open

irrigated tomato and autumn open irrigated cucumber. This improvement can be justified by the

progress made by the Palestinian farmers in adopting modern methods and advanced

technologies in irrigation and agricultural practices.

Understanding the relationship between the values of the economic efficiency of water and

comparative advantage of crops (DRC), will lead to a deeper understanding of the economics of

water used in agriculture and will be one of the pillars in improving the water demand

management and agricultural water tariff for fresh and brackish irrigation water in Jordan valley

region. The analysis would help in agricultural water policies reforming in regards to the future

changes in crop patterns in this area and in other regions without compromising the sustainability

of natural resources. The most important and critical constraints limit the application of these

findings is the aggressive measures imposed by the Israeli military occupation such as land

confiscation, demolition of water infrastructures, limitation to accessibility and movement, and

illegal settlements.

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