Indicators and framework for analysing the technical and economic performance of irrigation systems at farm level

In North African countries, irrigation considerably increases production. Given the run-down condition of irrigation equipment, the rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation schemes is a topical question. In addition, some irrigation projects are currently being implemented thus requiring investments, and judicious decisions have to be taken. At the same time farms in North Africa are increasingly confronted with environmental constraints and held accountable for environmental practices. This article proposes an approach to simultaneously take into account the technical, agricultural, economic and environmental objectives at the farm level, considered to be a relevant decision unit. Such indicators enable pertinent comparisons of different water management strategies in private, public and mixed systems. A method is proposed for the calculation of performance indicators from the plot to the farm level. The indicators enable the performance of irrigated systems to be compared in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency. A graphic representation of the indicators enables the synthetic analysis of the results for a given farm thereby making it possible to highlight the weakness of the production system. The method is applied to two farms in the Gharb area in Morocco and two farms in the Mitidja plain in Algeria. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.