ECONOMICS OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN SHARKIA GOVERNORATE

Water resources are among the most important determinants of horizontal expansion in Egyptian agriculture. Given the scarcity of these resources on the one hand and the fact that they are relatively stable over time, the widening gap between supply and demand of those resources is increasing and the population is increasing and meeting their needs from various sectors. The problem of rationalizing water consumption and preserving its quality is an urgent national endeavor. As the Egyptian agriculture consumes most of the water resources, the problem of rationalizing the use of water in agriculture has become difficult to achieve in order to achieve the objectives of horizontal agricultural expansion. In this sense, the search for the most appropriate ways to exploit water resources has to be taken into account. The study aimed to identify the method of restructuring some of the irrigation systems in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate and the most important economic and environmental impacts it has caused in the study area through water transfer and distribution systems outside and inside the field through the canal and improved channels. With the aim of working on the best use of water as a rare economic element needs to rationalize its use over time, which helps to achieve the highest possible economic return and the lowest environmental loss possible and maximize the effects of economic and envir
onmental positive and minimize the negative effects in areas developed irrigation systems.      It was also found that the net yield of cultivated acres of land using traditional surface irrigation amounted to about LE 5108, whereas in the land used, the surface irrigation developed was about 7258 pounds, an increase of about 2150 pounds, which is about 42.1% compared to land using traditional surface irrigation. It was found that the marginal income of the wheat crop cultivated in the land using traditional surface irrigation was about LE 3288, whereas the marginal income of the wheat Used for irrigation developer surface about 4227 pounds, an increase of about 939 pounds, with an average of about 22.2% compared Ppalarad used for traditional surface irrigation  and the net yield of cultivated rice fed in land using traditional surface irrigation was about LE 2270, while the ratio of land used for developed irrigation reached LE 4948, an increase of about LE 2678 representing about 117.9% compared to land using tradetional surface irrigation. For the rice crop of the land used for conventional surface irrigation was LE 1635, while the marginal income in land used for surface irrigation was LE 2282, an increase of LE 647, or 39.6% compared to land using conventional surface irrigation.  The increase in net income to average variable costs from about 71.94% for the rice crop cultivated in the land used for traditional surface irrigation was shown to be about 100.92% for the cultivated land used for advanced surface irrigation, an increase of about 29% at a rate of about 68.7 compared to land using traditional surface irrigation.