AN INTEGRATED TERRITORIAL SIMULATION MODEL TO EVALUATE CAP REFORM ON MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE. METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSAL AND FIRST APPLICATIONS IN APULIA REGION (SOUTHERN ITALY)

The implementation of most recent CAP and water policy reforms calls for simulation analytical tools able to quantify socio-economic and environmental impacts that can be different in terms of regions and farm type. This work proposes a territorial mathematical programming model that integrates hundreds of farm models clustered in a single meta-model at regional level that can be easily standardized having the FADN as the main data source. The tool has been experimentally applied to Apulia region and several simulations have been conducted in scenarios differing in terms of agricultural policies (total decoupling, increase of the modulation rate and introduction of a flat rate system for the Single Farm Payment), price of the water resource, market conditions (price of products and cost of inputs). For each simulation, farmers’ choices - cropping patterns and techniques-, the economic assessment of the effects of such choices -revenue, costs and incomes- and environment impacts -use of factors and resulting pressures on natural resources- have been analysed. The results of the analysis show that agricultural policies measures do not affect land use pattern or the agricultural pressure on water resources. But can have major income redistributive effects. On the contrary, water policy and market conditions impact on farmers’ choices, economic performance and environmental pressure.Agricultural policies, Water policy reforms, territorial mathematical programming model., Agricultural and Food Policy, Political Economy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q18, Q25, Q51.,

Economic analysis of the long-term effects of groundwater salinity: bringing the farmer's perspectives into policy

This research estimates the economic losses at the farm level caused by groundwater over-exploitation and by seawater intrusion. The problem of coastal groundwater salinity was tackled by considering its hydrological, agronomic and economic aspects. Economic analysis for competitive use vs. regulated management regimes was carried out, considering constant and adaptive watering techniques. We concentrate on the farmers' perspective of water as an input in agriculture, and assess discounted net present value over a period of 30 years. The ultimate goal of this research is to raise the awareness of farmers and policy makers by demonstrating the economic impacts (from the farmer's point of view) of over-exploitation. Our findings for Apulia Region (Southern Italy) indicate that the slowness of the long-term effect of salinity and the ability of farmers to adapt irrigation profiles suggest broadening the perspective of policy intervention. For an effective management of this common resource, policy makers should follow a more comprehensive approach based on economic analysis

MADFORWATER. Decision Support Tool for wastewater management and for water & land management in agriculture

Here are provided the user guide and the code for a Decision Support Tool (DST) relative to wastewater management and water & land management in agriculture, developed in the MADFORWATER project. The DST is an integrated agro-economic model developed in Tasks 3.3 and 5.3, aimed at integrating water reuse and irrigation technologies with economic instruments into basin-scale strategies to enhance the use of treated wastewater. The hydro-agro-economic DST consists of statements that define the data first, followed by the model and the solution statements. The DST is contained in a computer code constructed with the text editor GAMS IDE. The file has the file extension .gsm and can be read using any text editor. To run the DST, it is necessary to install the GAMS IDE software. The code has been written in order to be usable also with the demo license of GAMS, that can be freely obtained at the following link: https://www.gams.com/download/. At the same link, it is possible to freely download the GAMS software, for Windows, Linux or MAC operating systems. An extremely wide documentation on the use of GAMS, including a relevant library of GAMS codes, is available at this link: https://www.gams.com/31/docs/

Improving water-efficient irrigation: prospects and difficulties of innovative practices

Innovative irrigation practices can enhance water efficiency, gaining an economic advantage while also reducing environmental burdens. In some cases the necessary knowledge has been provided by extension services, helping farmers to adapt and implement viable solutions, thus gaining more benefits from irrigation technology. Often investment in technological improvements has incurred higher water prices, however, without gaining the full potential benefits through water efficiency. Farmers generally lack adequate means and incentives to know crops’ water use, actual irrigation applications, crops’ yield response to different water management practices, and thus current on-farm water-efficiency levels. Those general difficulties are illustrated by our two case studies investigating options, stimuli and difficulties to improve water-efficient practices. The two areas have strong stimuli for improvement but lack a knowledge-exchange system to help farmers and resource managers identify scope for improvements. Partly for this reason, farmers’ responsibility for efficient water management has been displaced to hypothetical prospects, e.g. extra supplies from reuse of treated wastewater or a long-term low water pricing. In both cases a displaced responsibility complements the default assumption that farmers’ irrigation practices already have adequate water-use efficiency. Under current circumstances, agricultural water management will maintain the unknown water-efficiency level and farmers will have weaker incentives to make efforts for more efficient practices. A continuous knowledge-exchange is necessary so that all relevant stakeholders can share greater responsibility across the entire water-supply chain. On this basis, more water-efficient management could combine wider environmental benefits with economic advantage for farmers

Decision Support Tools for wastewater management and for water & land management in agriculture

This deliverable provides the description and the user guides for two Decision Support Tools (DSTs) relative to wastewater management and water & land management in agriculture, developed in the MADFORWATER project. The actual software and codes relative to these two DSTs have been deposited in open access repositories, and the corresponding links are reported in this deliverable. The first DST (Poseidon 2.0) compares different water-reuse options and it shows decision makers implementable solutions for wastewater treatment which comply with local requirements. It was developed in the framework of Task 5.2 of MADFORWATER - Strategies and economic instruments for WW management. Section 2.1 describes the DST and provides the links where it can be downloaded. A dedicated handbook explaining how to use the DST is included in Appendix I. The second DST is an integrated agro-economic model developed in Tasks 3.3 and 5.3, aimed at integrating water reuse and irrigation technologies (developed, tested and implemented in the MADFORWATER project) with economic instruments into basin-scale strategies to enhance the use of treated wastewater. Section 2.2 describes this DST and provides the links where it can be downloaded. A dedicated handbook explaining how to use the DST is included in Appendix II

WW management strategies and water & land management strategies in agriculture

The general objective of the MADFORWATER project is to develop integrated technological and management solutions to boost wastewater treatment and treated wastewater efficient reuse for irrigation in selected hydrological basins in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. In particular, Work Package (WP) 5 ‘’ Strategies and economic instruments for basin-scale water resources management’’ aims to develop strategies for wastewater management, water reuse and water & land management in agriculture, tailored to the three studied basins. This WP will make use of two decision support tools (DSTs) to support the development of strategies and economic instruments for wastewater management and water & land management in agriculture. In this deliverable 5.2, the wastewater management strategies and the strategies for water management in agriculture are developed separately. The proposed two types of strategies will then be combined into basin-scale integrated water & land management strategies in the upcoming deliverable 6.1

MADFORWATER. WP5 Strategies and economic instruments for basin-scale water resources management. Treated Wastewater reuse on Citrus in Morocco. Assessing the Economic Feasibility of irrigation and nutrient management strategies

Reuse of treated wastewater (TWW) for irrigation can be an effective strategy in Mediterranean countries to overcome the pressure on freshwater resources if its economic viability is demonstrated. In this work, the assessment of the economic feasibility of irrigation and nutrient management with TWW reuse was carried out in the citrus sector in the Souss Massa region, in Morocco. Considering the effects of TWW reuse on yields, water and fertilizer requirements, a mathematical non-linear optimization model was used to identify the optimal allocation of land and of non-uniform quality irrigation water and to assess the impacts on the economic performance of the citrus sector. Different water price and irrigation technology scenarios have been simulated. Overall results indicated that the re-use of TWW - with a current price higher than the conventional resource - must be subsidized to be proposed as a convenient alternative for irrigation. A reduction in the TWW price from its current level (0.23 Euro / m3) to a level equal to that of fresh water (0.15 Euro / m3) would encourage farmers to use TWW on 59% of the total cultivated area, leading to a 350 mm reduction in quantity of used fresh water per hectare

AN INTEGRATED TERRITORIAL SIMULATION MODEL TO EVALUATE CAP REFORM ON MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE. METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSAL AND FIRST APPLICATIONS IN APULIA REGION (SOUTHERN ITALY)

The implementation of most recent CAP and water policy reforms calls for simulation analytical tools able to quantify socio-economic and environmental impacts that can be different in terms of regions and farm type. This work proposes a territorial mathematical programming model that integrates hundreds of farm models clustered in a single meta-model at regional level that can be easily standardized having the FADN as the main data source. The tool has been experimentally applied to Apulia region and several simulations have been conducted in scenarios differing in terms of agricultural policies (total decoupling, increase of the modulation rate and introduction of a flat rate system for the Single Farm Payment), price of the water resource, market conditions (price of products and cost of inputs). For each simulation, farmers’ choices - cropping patterns and techniques-, the economic assessment of the effects of such choices -revenue, costs and incomes- and environment impacts -use of factors and resulting pressures on natural resources- have been analysed. The results of the analysis show that agricultural policies measures do not affect land use pattern or the agricultural pressure on water resources. But can have major income redistributive effects. On the contrary, water policy and market conditions impact on farmers’ choices, economic performance and environmental pressure

Вопросы к зачету (дневное отделение)

Reuse of treated wastewater (TWW) for irrigation can be an effective strategy in Mediterranean countries to overcome the pressure on freshwater resources if its economic viability is demonstrated. In this work, the assessment of the economic feasibility of irrigation and nutrient management with TWW reuse was carried out in the citrus sector in the Souss Massa region of Morocco. Considering the effects of TWW reuse on yields, water, and fertilizer requirements, a mathematical nonlinear optimization model was used to identify the optimal allocation of land and nonuniform quality irrigation water and to assess the impacts on the economic performance of the citrus sector. Different water price and irrigation technology scenarios have been simulated. Overall results indicated that the reuse of TWW—with a current price higher than the conventional resource—must be subsidized to be proposed as a convenient alternative for irrigation. A reduction in the TWW price from its current level (0.23 Euro/m3 ) to a level equal to that of fresh water (0.15 Euro/m3 ) would encourage farmers to use TWW on 59% of the total cultivated area, leading to a 350 mm reduction in quantity of used fresh water per hectar

Criteri e metodologie per la valutazione del costo opportunità della risorsa idrica

Con l'emanazione del D.L.152/2006, lo stato Italiano recepisce la direttiva comunitaria sulle acque 2000/60/CE. In particolare, nella parte terza dedicata alla tutela delle acque dall'inquinamento e alla gestione delle risorse idriche, e nell'Art. 4, comma tt) costi della risorsa, si fa un esplicito riferimento ai costi opportunità, intesi come “i costi delle mancate opportunità imposte ad altri utenti in conseguenza dello sfruttamento intensivo delle risorse al di là del loro livello di ripristino e ricambio naturale”. Il presente contributo intende fare luce sul concetto di costo opportunità da un punto di vista economico, attraverso una rassegna dei più autorevoli contributi presenti nella letteratura economica, per chiarire la definizione e le possibili applicazioni del costo opportunità nelle scelte economiche con una particolare attenzione all’agricoltura irrigua