Question Statement:
Read the following statement and argument:
"The adoption of drip irrigation has increased crop yields per cubic meter of water by $40\%$ in District A. However, total groundwater extraction in District A has actually increased over the same five-year period."
Which one of the following, if true, best resolves this apparent paradox?
Options:
- (A) Farmers expanded their total cultivated land area and switched to more water-intensive cash crops as irrigation efficiency lowered the marginal cost of water
- (B) The cost of installing drip irrigation systems was heavily subsidized by the regional agriculture department
- (C) Rainfall in District A was slightly below average during two of the five observation years
- (D) Drip irrigation emitters frequently suffer from chemical emitter clogging when using saline groundwater