Irrigation Uniformity Effect on Land and Water Allocation tion

ABSTRACT THE optimal allocation of available land and water to a single irrigated crop is explored. Analytical solu-tions are developed for simple production and distribu-tion functions. Emphasis is placed on the effect that water distribution uniformity has on the decisions taken. Three general situations become apparent: (a) limiting water, when all water should be used for irrigation; (b) limiting land, when all available land should be irri-gated; and (c) limiting crop, when it is not justified to ir-rigate the given crop. For any given production function, the optimal seasonal water application may vary widely, depending on the price system, the availability of land and water, and the uniformity of water application. The returns for improving the uniformity coefficient are strongly affected by the curvature of the production function, but only slightly by the relative availability of land and water.