Water scarcity and adoption of water-saving irrigation technologies in groundwater over-exploited areas in the North China Plain

Water-saving technologies (WSTs) have been publicized for many years in the North China Plain. However, WSTs are not well accepted and farmers have a preference for traditional irrigation technology rather than modern ones. This paper examines determinants of adopting traditional or modern WSTs, especially effects of water scarcity. Using cross-sectional data of 267 farm households, we first categorized households into two groups—poorly endowed and well endowed in terms of a water scarcity index produced by principal component analysis (PCA). Then, a bivariate probit model is used to analyze how water scarcity influences farmers’ technology adoption decisions. The study found that the different factors influence technology adoptions between poorly and well-endowed households. Farm size and membership are found to have a significant effect on the adoption of WSTs only in poorly endowed households. Other factors (education, extensive service, relatives, water scarcity index, and irrigation cost) not only influence the poorly endowed but also have an impact on the well endowed. What is more, different factors are found to affect adoption of traditional technology (furrow irrigation) and modern technology (underground pipes), respectively. It is also found that family labor and plots only significantly influence the adoption of furrow irrigation while information quality and labor-saving potential are significantly associated with the adoption of underground pipes. In particular, off-farm work has a positive effect on adoption of underground pipes but has a negative effect on adoption of furrow irrigation. Therefore, different strategies of WST promotion should be taken to different households and different technologies.