Comparative Study Using a System Dynamics Approach to Innovative Irrigation and Conventional Irrigation Method for Productivity and Efficiency

Abstract

With the achieving time of United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals nearing, the study projects comparison of water saving capacities along and the cost effectiveness of the relatively new technologies with the conventional flooding technique. Pakistan is facing the challenge of water stress which is expected to increase in the coming time. The study incorporates responsive drip irrigation, subsurface drip irrigation, and raised bed irrigation in the context of innovative techniques and compares it with flooding method. The study area of this research is the Potohar region of Pakistan and the data is conceived from a tomato farm of 10,000 sq. m. System dynamics is used as the primary tool modelled for cost-effectiveness analysis of this crop for 25 years. Optimization of these techniques in a combination was made using the mean maximization. This study finds that the highest environmental benefits are provided by responsive drip irrigation whereas, the highest monetary benefits are given by subsurface drip irrigation as compared with the conventional flooding technique.