Abstract
Arid oasis agriculture faces growing pressure to improve productivity while reducing water and energy use, raising concerns about whether irrigation modernization effectively enhances eco-efficiency under severe resource constraints. This study examines the technical and eco-efficiency of irrigated agriculture in arid oases, with a focus on Moroccan date palm farming. The objective is to evaluate how different irrigation systems shape productive and environmental performance and to identify the magnitude and sources of inefficiency. The analysis relies on farm-level survey data from 330 date palm farms in the Errachidia province and applies an input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model under variable returns to scale, integrating an undesirable output capturing energy consumption related to irrigation. Results show marked efficiency gaps between irrigation systems: average technical efficiency reaches 0.789 for farms using localized irrigation compared with 0.549 under gravity irrigation, implying potential input savings of about 21% and 45%, respectively. Eco-efficiency outcomes indicate that localized irrigation reduces average water use (8,089 vs. 17,442 m3/ha) and energy consumption (2,180 vs. 3,420 kWh/ha), yet substantial inefficiencies persist even among modernized farms. Overall, the findings demonstrate that technological upgrading alone does not guarantee eco-efficiency gains and that management practices and contextual constraints play a decisive role. By jointly addressing productivity and environmental pressures at the farm level, this study contributes to the literature on eco-efficiency measurement in arid agriculture and provides policy-relevant insights for designing irrigation modernization strategies aligned with sustainability objectives.
Keywords
References
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