Abstract:
Water is a scare resource in Vavuniya district, where majority of the households is depending on agriculture.
Improved water management techniques are needed to optimize yields. Objective of the study was to analyze the cost
and returns of basin and sprinkler irrigation systems and to quantify the water used under sprinkler irrigation
systems and basin irrigation. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the data from the randomly selected
thirty farm households in basin and sprinkler irrigation systems in Nedunkerny area. Discounted cash flow technique
was used to find out the economic viability of investment in sprinkler irrigation. The study showed that the average
crop productivity was 4089 kg/ac under basin irrigation whereas it was 5000 kg/ac under sprinkler irrigation. The
field water use efficiency for basin irrigation was 1 .8 9 kg/m3 and for sprinkler irrigation, it was 2.89 kg/m. 3 Sprinkler
irrigation system saved the energy consumption by about 402 kwh/acre compared with basin irrigation. The profit of
the onion crop cultivated under sprinkler irrigation was higher by about Rs. 65648/acre than the corresponding
profit earned by basin irrigation. Sprinkler irrigation reduced the cost of irrigation by about 20% , cost of labour by
38% and pesticides cost by 31% . Moreover, compared to basin irrigation, sprinkler irrigation saved 45% in fuel and
23% in fertilizer cost. The net present worth, benefit-cost ratio and internal rate of return showed that the investment
in sprinkler irrigation was economically viable even without subsidy. Therefore, the area with basin irrigation would
be substituted by sprinkler irrigation which would lead to the use of water in an efficient manner.
