JBS Vol 09. Num 1. 2007 - Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for Irrigation Water Under Government Managed Small Scale Irrigation Projects in Bangladesh

The study attempts to determine the economic value of irrigation water in a government managed small scale irrigation project (GMSSIP) by eliciting farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) using contingent valuation method (CVM) in the form of single bounded closed ended WTP questions. Agricultural farmers in the study area, who currently largely depend on privately owned irrigation water supply, were asked for their preferences for a ground water based government managed irrigation water supply project in a small scale household survey. The estimated WTP for use of irrigation water from GMSSIP equals to Taka 1670 (US$ 23.85) per thirty decimal of land per cropping season, which is 12 percent of the average agricultural income of household per cropping season. Comparing estimated WTP for water in an existing government managed irrigation project, the study argues that groundwater irrigation water is highly under-priced in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the study reveals that bid level, respondents’ age, education, family size, number of income sources, ownership of farmland, management system of current irrigation scheme and decision to change cropping patterns if a government managed irrigation scheme is provided, have significant influence on farmers’ WTP for GMSSIP. Based on the empirical findings, the study strongly advocates water policy reform in the agricultural sector in order to enhance efficiency and promote
sustainability in water use.