8 Labour Indicators
Labour is a resource that is associated with agricultural irrigation. It constitutes one of the major inputs to the system - implementation, moving irrigators, and maintenance. Labour can be sustained in terms of irrigation if the input is minimal – i.e. that the labour costs do not jeopardise the viability of an irrigation system.
The largest labour component is the time spent operating the irrigation system. There is a trade-off between this labour requirement and the cost of the irrigation system. A fully automated system requires low labour but is expensive, e.g. fixed centre-pivot or micro sprinkler systems. A manual system such as hand shift sprinklers is low cost but has a high labour requirement.
8.1 POTENTIAL INDICATORS
- total hours used for irrigation per season;
- time used for routine tasks: e.g. shifting irrigators/resetting border
- hours spent on irrigation system maintenance and breakdown.
8.2 RATIONALE FOR SELECTING INDICATORS
In terms of estimating the labour input into irrigation, it is useful to identify where the time spent on irrigation is being used. For example, if there is a large increase in time spent on the irrigation over the period of a year, then it can be looked at more closely - is it due to maintenance, changing systems, extending the irrigation area? Overall, however, the labour input can be determined quite easily, and used along with indicators from other sections to determine the optimum labour input into irrigation.
The recommended indicator is therefore the total hours spent on irrigation per season - this should be recorded on a daily basis, and ideally would also include time spent on breakdowns, which would be useful in assessing the cost/benefit of purchasing a new irrigator versus maintaining an older one.
8.3 RECOMMENDED INDICATOR
Total hours spent on irrigation per season |
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