The adoption of water-saving irrigation technologies in the Mitidja plain, Algeria: An econometric analysis SAMIR BELAIDI*, FOUED CHEHAT*, MOHAMED AMINE BENMEHAIA** DOI: 10.30682/nm2201d JEL codes: D01, Q12 Abstract This study aims to identify and analyze the major determinants that affect the adoption choice, rate and intensity of water-saving irrigation technologies (sprinkler and drip irrigation techniques) available in the western part of the irrigated perimeter of Mitidja Plain, Algeria. A sample of 136 farmers (28.75%) was randomly selected and surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Three econometric models were used, namely the Logit, Tobit and Poisson regression models. The main fndings of the resulted mod- els indicated that capital constraints (credit access, investment costs and subsidies) along with some human capital aspects (age, educational level) and water extraction cost, are the main determinants expected to infuence the WSIT adoption choice, rate and intensity in the study area. These results will help to prioritize the factors that affect adoption decisions and provide insights for improving the crop and water productivity. Keywords: Water-saving technologies, Water productivity, Irrigated perimeter, West Mitidja, Algeria. 1. Introduction For all of its consumers, including farmers, residential customers and industrial producers, water is a vital and scarce resource. The agri- cultural sector in Algeria is by far the largest user of total water 1 and has the most important contribution in the Algerian economy. It ac- counts about 12.2 percent of the GDP and em- ploys 25 percent of the country’s labor force (Bessaoud et al., 2019). Algeria is one of the southern Mediterranean countries having at the Northern part a Mediterranean humid climate, whereas the rest is located in arid and semi-arid 1 Based on FAO (2015). zones. All over the country, average rainfall is 89 mm/year (FAO, 2015). It became a well-es- tablished fact that an insuffcient irrigation is one of the major constraints of agricultural pro- ductivity in Algeria. Irrigation technologies such as sprinkler or drip irrigation may signifcantly boost the ef- fciency of water use in crops production. The adoption of irrigation technologies in agricul- ture is an important process for both economic and environmental reasons such as increasing farm productivity and saving water resources. Effcient water supply systems, such as drip ir- rigation, can contribute to increasing crop yield * École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique Departement d’Économie Rurale, Algeri, Algeria. ** Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Biskra, Algeria. Corresponding author: s.belaidi@cread.dz