Investment decisions on pumpsets: a case study of a Saurashtra village

Abstract

Scarcity of capital and of water for cultivation are major problems in agricultural development. Judicious utilisation of both is, therefore, necessary. When in the case of lift-irrigation, wells and pumpsets are co-operatively owned, they are best utilised. But there are cases of non-co-operation among -well owners and this often leads to over-investment in lift-irrigation machinery, viz, to more than one pumpset in a single well. The purpose of this article is to highlight such a situation of over-investment through a case study, and to probe into possible ways of avoiding it.