An economic analysis of irrigation in the Souris River Basin on Manitoba

Abstract

Economic uncertainty is a major management problem in the agricultural sector. Yield, price and cost variability are some components of economic uncertainty. In the Souris Basin of Manitoba the variability in crop yields have been the major contributing factor to economic uncertainity. In addition, it can be said that in general yields are relatively low. This is a direct result of the general insufficiency of moisture during the growing season and in some years such situations have cumulated into droughts. This study investigates the economic feasibility of introducing irrigation to the Souris Basin and establishes the optimal farm organizations for selected farm plans. A representative farm was chosen for the Souris Basin for which several hypothetical farm plans were formulated. These facilitated the testing of the various hypotheses which were conceptualized on assumptions relating to the activities to be included, the type of irrigation system and the levels of restraints...