ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on the experience of the authors in applying farm-level data collection methods to analyze alternative techniques for improving farm-level irrigation systems in Egypt. The primary users of farm-level data in developed countries are farmers. Collection of farm-level data arid compiling information to improve understanding of small farmer behavior is further complicated by the fact that farmers are often illiterate and may not deal in weights and measures commonly used for analysis. Perhaps no term has greater acceptance among all disciplines included in interdisciplinary water-management investigations than "efficiency." Improved irrigation practices can have equity implications for farmers, depending on their location relative to the water source, the size of their operation, their tenancy status, and the nature of the farm resource endowments. Experiments which focus on a few key variables in the soil-plant-water system are necessary to understand and predict the relationships between those variables in question.
