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The water savings and methane reductions from improved irrigation management in Bangladesh

Last registered on January 25, 2018

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The water savings and methane reductions from improved irrigation management in Bangladesh
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002168
Initial registration date
April 20, 2017

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 20, 2017, 10:35 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
January 25, 2018, 4:08 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Tufts University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
International Rice Research Institute
PI Affiliation
Tufts University

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2016-12-15
End date
2019-04-15
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Historically, rice is grown in fields that are flooded during most of the monsoon season. However in recent years, mainly due to the availability of tube well irrigation, rice is increasingly being planted in the dry season using shallow or deep tube well water. This trend has led to an increase in groundwater extraction and depletion of water levels in many rice-producing regions.

Researchers at the International Rice Research Institute have developed a technology called Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) that works on the principle that the rice plant can tolerate up to 30% less water supply during the growing season relative to conventional methods of irrigation. This technique requires embedding a perforated plastic tube to monitor the water level in the rice field, which is irrigated each time the water level falls more than 15 cm below the soil surface.

The goal of the project is to evaluate the effect of AWD relative to conventional flood irrigation in rice. Our main question is: what is the impact of AWD adoption on farm incomes and water savings? How do these impacts vary across different physical and institutional environments such as shallow and deep water tables, pricing regimes for irrigation water and communal vs private tube well ownership? What is the farmer’s private willingness to pay for AWD technology? Because of the positive effect of AWD in reducing the depletion of groundwater stocks and lowering methane emissions from rice fields, there may be a gap between private and social benefits of the technology, necessitating the use of subsidies for widespread adoption by farmers. A critical aim of the study is to estimate both the private benefits via revealed preference and social benefits, where the latter is achieved by estimating direct effects on methane emissions.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chakravorty, Ujjayant, Manzoor Dar and Kyle Emerick. 2018. "The water savings and methane reductions from improved irrigation management in Bangladesh ." AEA RCT Registry. January 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2168-3.0
Former Citation
Chakravorty, Ujjayant, Manzoor Dar and Kyle Emerick. 2018. "The water savings and methane reductions from improved irrigation management in Bangladesh ." AEA RCT Registry. January 25. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2168/history/25295
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2017-01-25
Intervention End Date
2018-04-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Water use, methane emissions, agricultural profits, take-up (demand)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The sample will consist of 10 farmers in each of 400 villages. The 10 farmers are those closes to the tubewell where irrigation water is withdrawn. Farmers in 200 treatment villages will receive the AWD pipe and training on its proper use. Farmers in the 200 control villages will receive neither of these. The randomization is stratified by the Upazila.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Random number generator
Randomization Unit
Village
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
400 villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
4,000 farmers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
10 farmers in each village
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Tufts University
IRB Approval Date
2016-12-06
IRB Approval Number
1610025
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Analysis Plan Year 2

MD5: e61e24c8f64acd7529a146d60eb98426

SHA1: 0a82473b78065565704bde4ac6cf70a6895a68ee

Uploaded At: January 25, 2018

Analysis Plan Year 1

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials