Water Use Efficiency Of Peach Cultivation In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; Using Data Envelopment Analysis

Abstract

Agricultural water resources are dwindling, endangering the economic viability of irrigation systems in Pakistan. As in perspective of shrinking water supplies as well as declining agricultural water productivity, it is essential to enhance farm level effectiveness and make efficient use of existing groundwater sources. This research employed a non-parametric method to assess the extent of technical and irrigation water efficiency in Pakistani Peach cultivation. The average technical efficiency (TE) score for tube-well holders is 0.96, while it is 0.94 for water buyers. The average irrigation water efficiency (IWE) score for tube-well holders is 0.86, while it is 0.72 for water buyers. We discovered that across all farms, 59 percent of tube-well holders and 45 percent of total of water purchasers are TE, while just 36percent of the total of tube-well landlords and 30percent of total of water buyers are efficient in IW use. Peach growers have relatively high levels of technical efficiency, as shown by this research. However, irrigation water efficiency could be significantly improved. According to this study, broadening the importance of extension services in agriculture beyond purely modern agricultural basis to direct growers through costs and benefits evaluation of current production technology would aid in achieving greater levels of efficiency.