Profitability of Market Garden Production in South Benin: Financial Index of Irrigation Systems on Farmers’ Income

This study looks into the profitability of irrigation systems for market gardeners in South Benin. The coexistence of multiple irrigation systems in market gardening without a clear understanding of their economic effects, combined with the contextual variability of previous studies and the evolving costs of equipment acquisition and operation, justifies the need for an updated analysis of financial profitability in South Benin. This area has good weather for farming, but gardeners are facing changing rainfall due to climate change. The objective of this study is to assess and compare the financial profitability of the main irrigation systems in order to provide evidence-based guidance for producers and policymakers seeking sustainable and cost-effective water management solutions. Total of 729 market gardeners were surveyed chosen with randomization and data about their background in farming, watering practices, and money matters was collected. This data was analyzed using statistical methods under Stata version 15, such as descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, and inferential statistics like t-tests of student, Chi 2 of pearson and analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. The study focused on socioeconomics characteristics description, financial rentability indicators calculation and comparison by irrigation systems. The results show that vegetable growers are profitable no matter the irrigation system used including perforated pipe irrigation, center pivot irrigation, drip irrigation, manual watering other methods than the above, or no method at all. Market gardeners average approximately 374,232 XOF in turnover, 260,548 XOF in value added, 162,626 XOF in gross income, and 159,352 XOF in net income, regardless of irrigation methods. However, their net income varies a lot. The manual watering type turned out to be the most profitable, with drip irrigation coming in second. The study also found that other variables like crop choice, training, and market access also influence the market gardeners’ profit. While this study focuses on short-term profit, more research needs to be done to understand how different watering methods affect long-term profit, water use, and environment.