Factors that Affect the Participation in Irrigation Practice and Its Effects on Rural Household Farm Income: The Case of Boloso Sore Woreda, Wolayta Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted at Boloso Sore Woreda. The woreda lacks in-depth studies factors that affect the participation in irrigation practice and also there was not well known to what extent the households using irrigation water are better-off than those who depend on rain-fed agriculture. This study was focused on to assess factors that affect the participation in irrigation practice and its effects on rural household farm income. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and binary logistic regression analysis were used to analyzing quantitative data. The model result showed that education level, household labor and land holding size had significant positive effect on the use of irrigation water at 5% significance level. However, age and farm distance from river had significant negative effect on the use of irrigation water at 10% and 5% significance level respectively.  Out of the total irrigation user respondents (79.7%) have harvested perennial crops more than two times and grown annual crops two times per year from the same farm. While out of the total irrigation non-user respondents’ household depended on only rain fed agriculture (56.4%) have grown annual crops only one time per year from the same farm. Consequently, the independent sample test result showed that the irrigation user respondents’ household obtained significantly larger mean annual gross farm income than irrigation non-user respondents’ household at 1% significance level. As a result, the irrigation user respondents’ household obtained excess of 17067.98 birr of mean annual gross farm income that obtained by irrigation non-user respondents’ household. According to the finding, in addition to river water it should be better to initiate farmers to develop and use spring water at community level and shallow wale at household level. It is likely to be valuable for future irrigation development. And also the concerned bodies should give emphasis on adult education to improve farmers’ awareness; provision of credit, which improves their financial capital to purchase irrigation technologies and to hire labor which fills the gap of family labor shortage.