Publication

Abstract : The alarming water scarcity in the Gujarat state underscores the adoption of water efficient technologies like micro-irrigation. While the promotion of micro irrigation system in Gujarat corresponds with the national mission on micro irrigation, an unequivocal dynamism was observed in the expansion of MIS in the state as compared to the other states. This dynamism in the promotion of the MIS can be attributed to the specific policies and interventions that the state had vigorously adopted and followed in terms of provision of differential subsidies targeted towards the farmers segregated by their socio-economic status as well as the physical and economic water scarcity of the agro-ecological regions. In this regard, this paper aims to examine the role of institutional reforms and subsidy policy interventions in adoption and diffusion of MI across the state in the recent years. While the first part makes a comprehensive review of the state policy and intervention for the promotion of micro irrigation systems in the last decade, the second part of this paper provides a detailed analysis of the trends in the status of adoption of micro irrigation systems under the various subsidy policy and institutional intervention regimes.