An economic analysis of technology adoption coupled with conjunctive use of ground water in tank command area

Tamil Nadu accounts for about 4% of the land area and 6% of population, but only 3% of country's water resources. The per capita water availability in Tamil Nadu is about 750 m³. There are about 81 reservoirs, 41,127 tanks and 18.21 lakh wells in the state. The major irrigation sources are canals, tanks and wells. Amongst these, tank irrigation is an attractive proposition to farmers because returns from tank irrigated area are higher than those from unirrigated area. At present, tanks are in a very bad state and their performance is declining with large number of tanks tuning out to be defunct. Well irrigation is dominating the tank irrigation signaling the inactiveness of the tank systems for providing reliable water supply. Realizing the importance of tank irrigation, it is crucial to improve the performance of tanks. Planned and coordinated management of surface and groundwater coupled with water management technologies have improved production and standard of living of farmers. The present study has examined the factors which influence adoption of water technology in the tank command. The study is based on primary data collected from sample respondent, and multinomial logit model was used for analysis. The result reveals that farming experience, income from off and non-farm activities and contact with extension agents have positive and significant influence on adoption of technology.