QUANTIFYING INCOME AND WELFARE GAINS FROM TRANSITIONING RAINFED TO EFFICIENT IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE IN VIDARBHA’S CITRUS–FIELD CROP SYSTEMS: EVIDENCE FROM NAGPUR, KALMESHWAR, KATOL AND NARKHED

Abstract

Rainfed agriculture in Vidarbha is limited more by the timing of rainfall than by the total annual rainfall. In Nagpur district, especially in the citrus belt of Kalmeshwar, Katol and Narkhed, farmers face 10–15-day dry spells during the monsoon, exactly when perennial horticulture (Nagpur mandarin) and Kharif field crops (soybean) need water. This paper develops a transparent, device-level mathematical framework that links (i) FAO-56 based crop water requirement (ETc), (ii) Doorenbos–Kassam yield response to water (Ky), (iii) economic valuation with local prices and annualised micro-irrigation costs, and (iv) rural income multipliers to escalate farm-level gains to Gram Panchayat (GP) level.

Two representative systems are analysed: (a) Nagpur mandarin under scheduled drip irrigation, and (b) soybean with one well-timed protective irrigation. Results indicate that citrus can gain about ₹0.9 lakh/ha in gross returns and about ₹0.7 lakh/ha in net returns after accounting for drip and O&M, primarily because irrigation raises actual ET (ETa) from about 0.80 ETc to 0.95 ETc. Soybean, although lower in value, gains about ₹15,000/ha from one protective irrigation at pod filling. When these farm-level gains are aggregated at GP scale and multiplied by conservative rural multipliers (1.4–1.6), the annual village-level economic impact becomes substantial, justifying Panchayat-level programmes for micro-irrigation, minor lifts, and protective irrigation. The framework is fully auditable, uses standard agricultural water management literature, and is suitable for SCI-type submissions.