Economic value of water for irrigation in São Francisco River Basin, Brazil
Abstract Agriculture is the economic activity which uses water the most in Brazil, particularly in São Francisco River Basin, where water withdrawals for irrigation granted by water authorities amount to 22.3 billion m3 per year, a number which is close to 81% of the total withdrawal. On the other h...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Applied Water Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-022-01678-4 |
| _version_ | 1817988303362719744 |
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| author | Pedro Lucas Cosmo de Brito José Paulo Soares de Azevedo |
| author_facet | Pedro Lucas Cosmo de Brito José Paulo Soares de Azevedo |
| author_sort | Pedro Lucas Cosmo de Brito |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Agriculture is the economic activity which uses water the most in Brazil, particularly in São Francisco River Basin, where water withdrawals for irrigation granted by water authorities amount to 22.3 billion m3 per year, a number which is close to 81% of the total withdrawal. On the other hand, bulk water in Brazil is underpriced. Water charges for agricultural users neither reflect the economic value of water nor induce a rational and efficient use of water resources, two key concepts of the Brazilian water law. Even so, it is common for irrigators to complain about the water prices charged for their use of bulk water. To throw some light on the real impact of charging water in the agriculture sector, this article evaluates the economic value of irrigation water in the São Francisco River basin through the shadow price approach, calculated by using the Residual Value Method. The analysis was performed for the top ten major São Francisco River basin crops in water use terms, namely corn, soybean, mango, beans, coffee bean, banana, cotton, sugar cane, papaya and rice. Results for the 2019 harvests show that except for sugar cane, all water shadow prices were positive, notably mango, beans and papaya. This paper also evaluated water shadow prices interannual variation from 2014 to 2019 for six crops. Except for sugarcane, the other crops have been profitable most of the time in the last 6 years. A wide fluctuation in the shadow price of water was observed over these years due to variations in sales prices and costs of production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:33:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e7e755b5799d45c0a8bec98e68cc2bc4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2190-5487 2190-5495 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:33:33Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Water Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-e7e755b5799d45c0a8bec98e68cc2bc42022-12-22T02:22:29ZengSpringerOpenApplied Water Science2190-54872190-54952022-05-0112711310.1007/s13201-022-01678-4Economic value of water for irrigation in São Francisco River Basin, BrazilPedro Lucas Cosmo de Brito0José Paulo Soares de Azevedo1Department of Civil Engineering, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro (COPPE/UFRJ), Cidade UniversitáriaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro (COPPE/UFRJ), Cidade UniversitáriaAbstract Agriculture is the economic activity which uses water the most in Brazil, particularly in São Francisco River Basin, where water withdrawals for irrigation granted by water authorities amount to 22.3 billion m3 per year, a number which is close to 81% of the total withdrawal. On the other hand, bulk water in Brazil is underpriced. Water charges for agricultural users neither reflect the economic value of water nor induce a rational and efficient use of water resources, two key concepts of the Brazilian water law. Even so, it is common for irrigators to complain about the water prices charged for their use of bulk water. To throw some light on the real impact of charging water in the agriculture sector, this article evaluates the economic value of irrigation water in the São Francisco River basin through the shadow price approach, calculated by using the Residual Value Method. The analysis was performed for the top ten major São Francisco River basin crops in water use terms, namely corn, soybean, mango, beans, coffee bean, banana, cotton, sugar cane, papaya and rice. Results for the 2019 harvests show that except for sugar cane, all water shadow prices were positive, notably mango, beans and papaya. This paper also evaluated water shadow prices interannual variation from 2014 to 2019 for six crops. Except for sugarcane, the other crops have been profitable most of the time in the last 6 years. A wide fluctuation in the shadow price of water was observed over these years due to variations in sales prices and costs of production.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-022-01678-4AgricultureBulk waterWater chargesCharging water |
| spellingShingle | Pedro Lucas Cosmo de Brito José Paulo Soares de Azevedo Economic value of water for irrigation in São Francisco River Basin, Brazil Applied Water Science Agriculture Bulk water Water charges Charging water |
| title | Economic value of water for irrigation in São Francisco River Basin, Brazil |
| title_full | Economic value of water for irrigation in São Francisco River Basin, Brazil |
| title_fullStr | Economic value of water for irrigation in São Francisco River Basin, Brazil |
| title_full_unstemmed | Economic value of water for irrigation in São Francisco River Basin, Brazil |
| title_short | Economic value of water for irrigation in São Francisco River Basin, Brazil |
| title_sort | economic value of water for irrigation in sao francisco river basin brazil |
| topic | Agriculture Bulk water Water charges Charging water |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-022-01678-4 |
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