Why Technologies Often Fail to Scale: Policy and Market Failures behind Limited Scaling of Alternate Wetting and Drying in Rice in Bangladesh
Rapid expansion of groundwater use for irrigation for dry season rice production in Bangladesh has led to overuse, deterioration of groundwater quality, increased cost of irrigation, and higher greenhouse gas emissions. The divergence between marginal private and social cost of irrigation due to mar...
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doaj-7b6cf4d8324c4b6b951482e353e1b0ed2020-11-25T03:15:11ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412020-05-01121510151010.3390/w12051510Why Technologies Often Fail to Scale: Policy and Market Failures behind Limited Scaling of Alternate Wetting and Drying in Rice in BangladeshSushil Pandey0Sudhir Yadav1Jon Hellin2Jean Balié3Humnath Bhandari4Arvind Kumar5Manoranjan K. Mondal6International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños 4030, PhilippinesInternational Rice Research Institute, Los Baños 4030, PhilippinesInternational Rice Research Institute, Los Baños 4030, PhilippinesInternational Rice Research Institute, Los Baños 4030, PhilippinesInternational Rice Research Institute, Dhaka 1213, BangladeshInternational Rice Research Institute, Varanasi 221106, IndiaInternational Rice Research Institute, Dhaka 1213, BangladeshRapid expansion of groundwater use for irrigation for dry season rice production in Bangladesh has led to overuse, deterioration of groundwater quality, increased cost of irrigation, and higher greenhouse gas emissions. The divergence between marginal private and social cost of irrigation due to market failures in the presence of these externalities, has resulted in excessive use of groundwater. A combination of policy reforms and improvements in irrigation practices are hence needed to reduce irrigation water use. The paper analyses why an improved irrigation practice, known as “alternate wetting and drying (AWD)” that can potentially reduce irrigation water use substantially, has failed to scale despite widespread testing and promotion in Bangladesh for over a decade. The main reason for this failure to scale is the lack of economic incentives to save water as pricing is based on per unit area irrigated, not on the amount of water used. This paper highlights the dynamics of the water market and pricing in Bangladesh, along with biophysical and social constraints to farmer adoption of AWD. It also proposes changes in policy incentives, new directions for crop and water management research, and institutional reforms for wider adoption of AWD and other water-saving practices.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/5/1510AWDincentivessocial cohesiontechnology adoptionwater management |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Sushil Pandey Sudhir Yadav Jon Hellin Jean Balié Humnath Bhandari Arvind Kumar Manoranjan K. Mondal |
spellingShingle |
Sushil Pandey Sudhir Yadav Jon Hellin Jean Balié Humnath Bhandari Arvind Kumar Manoranjan K. Mondal Why Technologies Often Fail to Scale: Policy and Market Failures behind Limited Scaling of Alternate Wetting and Drying in Rice in Bangladesh Water AWD incentives social cohesion technology adoption water management |
author_facet |
Sushil Pandey Sudhir Yadav Jon Hellin Jean Balié Humnath Bhandari Arvind Kumar Manoranjan K. Mondal |
author_sort |
Sushil Pandey |
title |
Why Technologies Often Fail to Scale: Policy and Market Failures behind Limited Scaling of Alternate Wetting and Drying in Rice in Bangladesh |
title_short |
Why Technologies Often Fail to Scale: Policy and Market Failures behind Limited Scaling of Alternate Wetting and Drying in Rice in Bangladesh |
title_full |
Why Technologies Often Fail to Scale: Policy and Market Failures behind Limited Scaling of Alternate Wetting and Drying in Rice in Bangladesh |
title_fullStr |
Why Technologies Often Fail to Scale: Policy and Market Failures behind Limited Scaling of Alternate Wetting and Drying in Rice in Bangladesh |
title_full_unstemmed |
Why Technologies Often Fail to Scale: Policy and Market Failures behind Limited Scaling of Alternate Wetting and Drying in Rice in Bangladesh |
title_sort |
why technologies often fail to scale: policy and market failures behind limited scaling of alternate wetting and drying in rice in bangladesh |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Water |
issn |
2073-4441 |
publishDate |
2020-05-01 |
description |
Rapid expansion of groundwater use for irrigation for dry season rice production in Bangladesh has led to overuse, deterioration of groundwater quality, increased cost of irrigation, and higher greenhouse gas emissions. The divergence between marginal private and social cost of irrigation due to market failures in the presence of these externalities, has resulted in excessive use of groundwater. A combination of policy reforms and improvements in irrigation practices are hence needed to reduce irrigation water use. The paper analyses why an improved irrigation practice, known as “alternate wetting and drying (AWD)” that can potentially reduce irrigation water use substantially, has failed to scale despite widespread testing and promotion in Bangladesh for over a decade. The main reason for this failure to scale is the lack of economic incentives to save water as pricing is based on per unit area irrigated, not on the amount of water used. This paper highlights the dynamics of the water market and pricing in Bangladesh, along with biophysical and social constraints to farmer adoption of AWD. It also proposes changes in policy incentives, new directions for crop and water management research, and institutional reforms for wider adoption of AWD and other water-saving practices. |
topic |
AWD incentives social cohesion technology adoption water management |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/5/1510 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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