Abstract

PEREZ ESPEJO, Rosario; JARA DURAN, Karla Alethya  and  SANTOS BACA, Andrea. Agricultural pollution and costs in the irrigation district 011, Guanajuato. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2011, vol.2, n.spe1, pp.69-84. ISSN 2007-0934.

The present study shows the results of research carried out in the Irrigation District 011, Alto Rio Lerma (DR 011), located in the Lerma Chapala Basin, one of the most polluted in the country. Its aim is to present some factors that have an impact on water quality, including: inappropriate use and low cost of irrigation water and pesticides, the unsustainability of many agricultural practices, low awareness of farmers about the effects of their activity in water resources, a wrong policy of subsidy on electricity, water and pesticides, lack of enforcement of current regulations and limited institutional coordination. We analyzed the use of water for irrigation and insecticides by size producer of corn, sorghum, wheat and barley, in the agricultural cycles 2007-2008 Autumn-Winter and Spring-Summer 2008, production costs obtained for each of these crops. Grain production takes up most of the surface of the DR 011, has a low economic value and uses intensive and inefficient water and pesticides, affecting soil productivity and water quality. The paper concludes that the DR0 11, the size of the production unit determines different agricultural practices and perceptions of environmental problems and that this differentiation should be taken into account in the design of public policy measures to control agricultural water pollution.

Keywords : farmers; grain; irrigation water; soil.

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