Management of modern irrigation systems in Oman: Allocative vs. irrigation efficiency

Irrigation efficiency as a standard engineering measure has been traditionally used to assess water use management. Allocative efficiency as applied in production economics theory provides an alternative measure of irrigation performance. Both concepts are used in this study to investigate water efficiency levels for irrigated crops in the Batinah region of Oman under modern irrigation methods. While irrigation efficiency focuses on the technical aspect of water management, allocative efficiency is more directed to the economic aspects and has bearing on the economic sustainability of the system. Both estimates of irrigation efficiency and allocative efficiency show the presence of inefficiencies as a result of underuse of water resources. In a few cases, however, allocative efficiency show the possibility of overuse of irrigation water which could be the result of small-sized farms using water more extensively.