Technologies nouvelles en améliorations foncières et réflexions sur leurs retombées économiques

Abstract

New technologies about ground improvements and thoughts on their economical repercussions. After an introduction on the importance of land and water improvement in the world, a synthesis is presented about the main contributions of new technologies at the levels of the preliminary investigations, the execution and the operation and management. At the level of the preliminary investigations, the contribution of electronics and computers is discussed as well for the data acquisition as for the data structuration, namely with the aid of data banks and numerical cartography. At the level of the execution, the laser technique for guidance of earthwork engines is discussed. At the level of operation and management, the support of new technologies consists of an increasing use of electronic sensors for local or remote control and monitoring of soil and plant water status. The laser technique is also used for the guidance of irrigation machines such as the central pivot. On an economical point of vue, these innovations don't seem to improve considerably the agricultural production per unit area, but they increase undoubtedly the productivity of the factor water. This is all the more true when the improved area is large. New technologies lead to scale economics. They are thus in favor of putting the land in common during the stages of investigations and excutions and to keep in common some aspects of the management.