Economic Analysis of the Controlled Drainage System: A Case Study of a Vegetable Farm in Ontario, Canada

Water availability for crop production in many parts of the world, including Eastern Canada, is important, including availability to the root zone of the crops. Water table management is suggested to overcome these issues, if adopted by producers. But such adoption decisions often depend on the financial returns to producers. In this study, financial returns of a controlled drainage system were estimated over a subsurface drainage system using a private accounting stance. The BMP provided an additional return to producer of CAD $10,287 per ha over the life of the project, associated with a benefit-cost ratio of 1.6, making it financially desirable on economic grounds.