The landing of parachuted technology: Appropriation of centralised drip irrigation systems by irrigation communities in the Region of Valencia (Spain)

Poblador Noemí, Sanchis-Ibor Carles, Kuper Marcel. 2021. The landing of parachuted technology: Appropriation of centralised drip irrigation systems by irrigation communities in the Region of Valencia (Spain). Water Alternatives, 14 (1) : 228-247.

Quartile : Q3, Sujet : WATER RESOURCES / Quartile : Q4, Sujet : ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Résumé : Drip irrigation technology in existing collective surface irrigation schemes is frequently implemented through top-down policies and black box projects, causing significant changes in agricultural water management, uneven effects on local practices and organisations, and very different reactions in the social structures of irrigation. In this paper, we analyse the institutional co-production of technological change in the case of irrigation for fruit production in the Region of Valencia (Spain) following the implementation of drip irrigation systems in two irrigation communities. The State conceived public subsidy schemes promoting drip irrigation that had to be implemented rapidly. The private sector designed and implemented the new subsidised standardised infrastructure with a logic that was disconnected from collective-action principles. Farmers' representatives opted for a centralised fertigation model that introduced significant rigidity into the irrigation system, hindering the development of polyculture and organic farming. Irrigation communities were then obliged to redesign the irrigation system to make it compatible with their needs and to recover social control over drip irrigation. Our results highlight the importance of human capital and social control in processes of technological change in collective irrigation institutions.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : agriculture biologique, irrigation goutte à goutte, méthode d'irrigation, arbre fruitier, fertigation goutte à goutte, irrigation fertilisante, association d'agriculteurs

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Espagne

Mots-clés libres : Drip irrigation, Water users associations, Centralised fertigation, Organic farming, Valencia

Classification Agris : F06 - Irrigation
F04 - Fertilisation

Champ stratégique Cirad : CTS 2 (2019-) - Transitions agroécologiques

Agences de financement européennes : European Commission

Auteurs et affiliations

• Poblador Noemí
• Sanchis-Ibor Carles, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (ESP)
• Kuper Marcel, CIRAD-ES-UMR G-EAU (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0002-1240-0592

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/597537/)

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