Marginal Benefit-Cost Analysis of Irrigation Water in Rice Production

미곡생산(米穀生産)에 있어서 관개용수(灌漑用水)의 한계편익(限界便益)·비용분석(費用分析)

Rice cultivation is not only the main resource of farm income and staple food but also the root of cultural life of Korean people. Korean government has carried out irrigation water development with heavy investment to cope with water shortage in rice fanning as a link of the five years economic development plans. In spite of the continuous accomplishment of irrigation water development, the marginal benefits-costs of irrigation water has not been studied. Owing to the government full support for the operation and maintenance of irrigation facilities, price of irrigation water as a membership fee could not be formed as the municipal and industrial water prices. Accordingly this study is aimed at identifying firstly the marginal benefits-cost of irrigation water, secondly deriving the macro-econometrics models as supply and demand functions of irrigation water and thirdly examining the marginal benefits-cost ratio. The trends of supply and demand prices of irrigation water were estimated annually. Considering the marginal benefits-cost ratio as 1.3, it was identified that additional irrigation water development projects still have an economic feasibility under the present economic situation in Korea.