Economic evaluation of the effect of selected crop practices on nonagricultural uses of water

Onishi, H.; Narayanan, A.S.; Takayama, T.; Swanson, E.R.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/89948 Copy

Description

Title

Economic evaluation of the effect of selected crop practices on nonagricultural uses of water

Author(s)

• Onishi, H.
• Narayanan, A.S.
• Takayama, T.
• Swanson, E.R.

Issue Date

1974

Keyword(s)

• Water resource development
• Water resource development--Illinois
• Agriculture
• Water quality
• Sedimentation
• Nitrate contamination
• Crop practices
• Economic analysis
• Linear programming
• Farm income

Geographic Coverage

Illinois (state)

Abstract

Cropping systems may have an unfavorable influence on the quality of nearby surface water. In this study, linear programming methods were used to assess the impact of improvements in certain water quality characteristics on economically optimal crop systems. Thus, the effect of crop practices on water quality is analyzed indirectly by assuming that farmers would alter their cropping practices in the most economical way in order to conform to various water-quality constraints. A 1,200-acre watershed was used to illustrate the procedure. Sediment entering the reservoir was treated as a variable constraint on maximization of farm income. Requiring successively lower amounts of sediment to enter the reservoir caused farm income to decrease at an increasing rate. The analysis was enlarged to include a constraint on nitrate in the leachate below the root zone. This phase of the analysis also included a charge for removing at least some of the sediment entering the reservoir. As the nitrate limit on the leachate was lowered, farm income decreased at an increasing rate. The requirement of removal of the sediment by itself had little or no effect on the nitrate concentration in the leachate. Extensions of the procedure for use in other situations are suggested.

Publisher

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Water Resources Center

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/89948

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

• U.S. Geological Survey
• U.S. Department of the Interior

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 1974 held by the authors

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