Shared centre pivot. An experience of smallholder irrigation in Midwest Brazil
Irrigation enables crop intensification and improves the smallholder's household livelihood. Centre pivot irrigation, a system predominantly used in medium to large individual farms, has recently been promoted for smallholder collective irrigation in developing countries. The objective of this research was to assess the irrigation performance and evolution of shared centre pivot systems at the Itamarati Rural Settlement in the Midwest of Brazil, where around 1000 smallholders were organized in small groups between 2001 and 2004, to farm 85 centre pivots collectively. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in a mixed-approach, and used to characterize the evolution and sustainability of the centre pivots shared. We collected information from published and unpublished reports, and we conducted our own surveys, interviewing twenty-five farm groups and forming focus groups in a 3-year phased process. Irrigation intensity (the ratio of irrigated area over the area equipped for irrigation) declined sharply from 0.75 in 2004/2005–0.12 in 2020. The immediate pressures triggering the abandonment process were: the farmers’ insufficient technical capability, low productivity of the irrigated crops, and high operational and maintenance costs. At the root of these drivers was the incapacity to exert the collective action required by the highly centralized shared centre pivot system. The progressive giving up of collective management and the concentration of land in larger farms seems to be inexorable. The Itamarati experience was a paradigm of a top-down project whose lessons are important for policymakers. We concluded that centralized collective systems are unsustainable unless the community that adopts them has a high sense of union and a capacity for collective action.
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Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-01-01
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Subjects: | Irrigation intensity, Centralized collective irrigation, Centre pivot, Collective action, |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/349318 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85141451231 |
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dig-ias-es-10261-3493182024-05-18T20:43:08Z Shared centre pivot. An experience of smallholder irrigation in Midwest Brazil dos santos Almedida, Alexandro Claudio Mamédio, Mário Roberto Goelzer, Ademar Rodrigues, Lucas Araujo Mateos, Luciano Mateos, Luciano [0000-0002-3046-6448] Irrigation intensity Centralized collective irrigation Centre pivot Collective action Irrigation enables crop intensification and improves the smallholder's household livelihood. Centre pivot irrigation, a system predominantly used in medium to large individual farms, has recently been promoted for smallholder collective irrigation in developing countries. The objective of this research was to assess the irrigation performance and evolution of shared centre pivot systems at the Itamarati Rural Settlement in the Midwest of Brazil, where around 1000 smallholders were organized in small groups between 2001 and 2004, to farm 85 centre pivots collectively. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in a mixed-approach, and used to characterize the evolution and sustainability of the centre pivots shared. We collected information from published and unpublished reports, and we conducted our own surveys, interviewing twenty-five farm groups and forming focus groups in a 3-year phased process. Irrigation intensity (the ratio of irrigated area over the area equipped for irrigation) declined sharply from 0.75 in 2004/2005–0.12 in 2020. The immediate pressures triggering the abandonment process were: the farmers’ insufficient technical capability, low productivity of the irrigated crops, and high operational and maintenance costs. At the root of these drivers was the incapacity to exert the collective action required by the highly centralized shared centre pivot system. The progressive giving up of collective management and the concentration of land in larger farms seems to be inexorable. The Itamarati experience was a paradigm of a top-down project whose lessons are important for policymakers. We concluded that centralized collective systems are unsustainable unless the community that adopts them has a high sense of union and a capacity for collective action. Peer reviewed 2024-03-05T12:33:51Z 2024-03-05T12:33:51Z 2023-01-01 artículo http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 Agricultural Water Management 275: 108028 (2023) 0378-3774 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/349318 10.1016/j.agwat.2022.108028 2-s2.0-85141451231 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85141451231 en Publisher's version https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2022.108028 Sí open application/pdf Elsevier |
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Irrigation intensity Centralized collective irrigation Centre pivot Collective action Irrigation intensity Centralized collective irrigation Centre pivot Collective action |
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Irrigation intensity Centralized collective irrigation Centre pivot Collective action Irrigation intensity Centralized collective irrigation Centre pivot Collective action dos santos Almedida, Alexandro Claudio Mamédio, Mário Roberto Goelzer, Ademar Rodrigues, Lucas Araujo Mateos, Luciano Shared centre pivot. An experience of smallholder irrigation in Midwest Brazil |
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Irrigation enables crop intensification and improves the smallholder's household livelihood. Centre pivot irrigation, a system predominantly used in medium to large individual farms, has recently been promoted for smallholder collective irrigation in developing countries. The objective of this research was to assess the irrigation performance and evolution of shared centre pivot systems at the Itamarati Rural Settlement in the Midwest of Brazil, where around 1000 smallholders were organized in small groups between 2001 and 2004, to farm 85 centre pivots collectively. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in a mixed-approach, and used to characterize the evolution and sustainability of the centre pivots shared. We collected information from published and unpublished reports, and we conducted our own surveys, interviewing twenty-five farm groups and forming focus groups in a 3-year phased process. Irrigation intensity (the ratio of irrigated area over the area equipped for irrigation) declined sharply from 0.75 in 2004/2005–0.12 in 2020. The immediate pressures triggering the abandonment process were: the farmers’ insufficient technical capability, low productivity of the irrigated crops, and high operational and maintenance costs. At the root of these drivers was the incapacity to exert the collective action required by the highly centralized shared centre pivot system. The progressive giving up of collective management and the concentration of land in larger farms seems to be inexorable. The Itamarati experience was a paradigm of a top-down project whose lessons are important for policymakers. We concluded that centralized collective systems are unsustainable unless the community that adopts them has a high sense of union and a capacity for collective action. |
author2 |
Mateos, Luciano [0000-0002-3046-6448] |
author_facet |
Mateos, Luciano [0000-0002-3046-6448] dos santos Almedida, Alexandro Claudio Mamédio, Mário Roberto Goelzer, Ademar Rodrigues, Lucas Araujo Mateos, Luciano |
format |
artículo |
topic_facet |
Irrigation intensity Centralized collective irrigation Centre pivot Collective action |
author |
dos santos Almedida, Alexandro Claudio Mamédio, Mário Roberto Goelzer, Ademar Rodrigues, Lucas Araujo Mateos, Luciano |
author_sort |
dos santos Almedida, Alexandro Claudio |
title |
Shared centre pivot. An experience of smallholder irrigation in Midwest Brazil |
title_short |
Shared centre pivot. An experience of smallholder irrigation in Midwest Brazil |
title_full |
Shared centre pivot. An experience of smallholder irrigation in Midwest Brazil |
title_fullStr |
Shared centre pivot. An experience of smallholder irrigation in Midwest Brazil |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shared centre pivot. An experience of smallholder irrigation in Midwest Brazil |
title_sort |
shared centre pivot. an experience of smallholder irrigation in midwest brazil |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2023-01-01 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/349318 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85141451231 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT dossantosalmedidaalexandroclaudio sharedcentrepivotanexperienceofsmallholderirrigationinmidwestbrazil AT mamediomarioroberto sharedcentrepivotanexperienceofsmallholderirrigationinmidwestbrazil AT goelzerademar sharedcentrepivotanexperienceofsmallholderirrigationinmidwestbrazil AT rodrigueslucasaraujo sharedcentrepivotanexperienceofsmallholderirrigationinmidwestbrazil AT mateosluciano sharedcentrepivotanexperienceofsmallholderirrigationinmidwestbrazil |
_version_ |
1802820016353050624 |