Doubling Farmers Income by Drip Irrigation Technique

Drip irrigation has been found to increase farmer yields compared to non irrigated traditional production practices, save 30-40 percent on water usage, and reduce the cost of labor. This typically means that smallholder farmers can more than double their net income within a year. Not all smallholder farmers are the same, and drip irrigation may not be suitable for all smallholder farmers. The upfront costs and technical requirements may be a bridge too far for the most marginalized producers, at least in the early stage of improved technology adoption. There are a number of multinational agricultural corporations that have developed high-quality drip irrigation kits for the smallholder market. But calculating market demand by estimating the number of smallholders operating without access to irrigated water in each market may overstate the potential market demand. While these calculations may accurately profile long-term market potential, there is a sequence of maturity for farmer practices to be considered. Smallholder farmers solely involved in the production of staple crops are not immediately suitable candidates for drip irrigation technology.