Participation and Productivity Water markets provide one of the most promising institutional mechanisms for increasing access to irrigation from groundwater, particularly for tenants and small farmers. Findings indicate that, while large landowners are more likely to own tubewells and pumps, smaller landowners and tenants are more likely to rely on purchases from other farmers' tubewells for access to groundwater. The distance over which water can be transported provides a limitation to water market sales, but lined watercourses increase the distance over which tubewell water can be sold. Unreliability of access to purchased tubewell water was a problem for over half of water buyers in the study areas. Further research is needed on how water markets work in less favorable environments, such as those with salinity, waterlogging, or falling water tables, and to identify policy interventions that are appropriate under each set of circumstances.
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