IMPACT OF IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT ON VARIOUS INDICATORS OF AGRICULTURAL SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS

Ketevan Chapidze E-mail: [email protected] Visited Lecturer at International Black Sea University Tbilisi, Georgia https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8705-5652 Abstract: (Modern agriculture practices cannot be considered without proper irrigation systems and infrastructure. Besides balancing production fluctuation, Irrigation contributes to increased crop production and productivity in the agriculture sector. As well, irrigated agriculture plays a fundamental role in ensuring food security and self-sufficiency of agricultural products. In recent years, as a result of state investment and rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure in Georgia, the area of irrigated lands has increased significantly. Besides, the Government of Georgia is implementing actions to rehabilitate and modernize existing irrigation infrastructure and bold investments are envisaged for coming years. This paper seeks to analyze the economic effects of additional irrigation investments in Georgia, namely impact on crop yiled and agriculture sector productivity. The quantitative evidence derived through the analytic technique is based on the survey of agricultural holdings – AGRIS. The analysis showed that the use of irrigation technology exerted positive and significant impact on crop yield and increased production in the agriculture sector, indicating that irrigation significantly contributes to the increasing productivity and can play an important role to reduce imports of agricultural products and increase self-sufficiency and food security of the country. These outcomes are expected to improve with the adoption of more efficient irrigation technologies. Furthermore, in conjunction with advancements in modern agro-technical practices, investments in irrigation are likely to lead to enhanced productivity growth. The land consolidation and more prevelance of individual and efficient irrigation systems will partially address productivity issues in agriculture sector, reduce irrigation costs and foster the development of agricultural commercial practices. Keywords: Agriculture; Irrigation, Crop yield; Survey of agricultural holdings, Propensity Score Matching. JEL classification: C49, C54, Q10, Q16.