ChapterChapterChapterChapter –––– IIIIIIII

Review of Literature

10

CHAPTER - II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Chapter II provides an exhaustive review related studies conducted in several

parts of the world. This review enables the researcher to study the areas which are

untravelled and plug the loop holes exist in the form of research gaps of this area. The

review is done on the basis of concepts wise classifications arranged in chronological

order.

BENEFITS OF IRRIGATION

Gadgil D.R. (1954)1 in the title on ‘The Industrial Evolution of India in Recent

Times’ studied the economic effects of irrigation and concluded that the total direct

and indirect effects of irrigation projects were very favourable to the farmers. With

irrigation, farmers received higher levels of income and they were able to make

additional investment on cattle, farm implements and on commercial crops like

sugarcane and cotton. Further, it generated additional employment opportunities as

well.

Planning Commission (1964)2 in the study on ‘Criteria for Appraising the

Feasibilities of Irrigation Projects’ during 1958 to 1961 observed that canal irrigation

had helped in promoting greater utilization of land, enlarging the average size of the

farm generating demand for additional farm labour, shifting to new and better

varieties of crops, increasing additional production investment in farm business and

widening the scope for increasing the revenue.

Moorthi T.V. and Mellor W.J. (1972)3 after a study on ‘Cropping Pattern

Yields and Income under Different Sources of Irrigation with Special Reference to

IADP, Aligarh District, Uttar Pradesh’, concluded that farmers with private tube-wells

1 Gadgil D.R. (1954), “The Industrial Evolution of India in Recent Times”, Calcutta: Oxford

University Press, pp. 128-133. 2 Planning Commission, (1964), “Criteria for Appraising the Feasibilities of Irrigation Projects”,

Government of India, New Delhi, p.7. 3 Moorthi T.V. and Mellor W.J. (1972), “Cropping Pattern Yields and Income under Different

Sources of Irrigation with Special Reference to IADP, Aligarh District, Uttar Pradesh”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 27(4), pp.117-125.

11

had better control over water supply in terms of timely availability in adequate

quantity. This resulted in higher cropping intensity, yield, higher crop income and

cultivation of high yielding crops in such farms. This was attributed to the flexibility

factors in quantity and timing available in those farms.

Shukla V.P. (1973)4 in his paper on ‘Well Irrigation – Its Costs and Benefits in

Jabalpur District in Madhya Pradesh’ examined how far irrigation from wells either

through electricity or diesel pumps was profitable in Jabalpur district in Madhya

Pradesh, especially in the context of advanced technology.

Vyas V.S. and Mathai G. (1978)5 in their paper on ‘Farm and Non-farm

Employment in Rural Areas: Perspective for Economic Planning’ confirmed the direct

relationship between irrigation and use of other inputs like fertilizers and chemicals.

They also concluded that it resulted in increased labour use.

Suryawanshi S.D. and Kapase P.M. (1985)6 have analysed in their research

paper on ‘Impact of Chod Irrigation Project on Employment of female Agricultural

Labour’ that agricultural labour and farm cultivation as the main areas of economic

activities for rural women. The National Sample Survey has shown that the

percentage contribution of women in agriculture is higher than men, where most of

the key operations at farm are done by them.

Labour employment depends on many factors such as irrigation potential,

cropping pattern, intensity of cropping and such other labour intensive activities.

Irrigation has proved beneficial to the country in the context of the above. The

findings of their study are i) irrigation facilities gave them better opportunities for

providing education to their children, rather than employing them in agriculture. In

fact due to irrigation both male and female members got higher employment in

agriculture. ii) the cropping pattern was changed and shifted in favour of cash and

labour intensive crops which gave more employment. The authors have suggested that

women have to be involved in the process of modernization and transfer of new

technology.

4 Shukla V.P. (1973), “Well Irrigation – Its Costs and Benefits in Jabalpur District in Madhya

Pradesh”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 28(4), p.235. 5 Vyas V.S. and Mathai G. (1978), “Farm and Non-farm Employment in Rural Areas: Perspective

for Economic Planning”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 28(6, 7), p.85. 6 Suryawanshi S.D. and Kapase P.M. (1985), “Impact of Chod Irrigation Project on Employment of

female Agricultural Labour”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. XL, No. 3, July-September, pp.240-244.

12

However, this paper does not trace the factors underlying the increase in

labour use with irrigation. How is irrigation lead to an increase in cropping intensity, a

change in cropping pattern, a more intensive use of HYVs, and fertilizers, etc. These

changes in turn would affect labour use. Also a disaggregation by farm size, and farm

location (since head-enders usually manage to get a disproportionately large share of

canal water relative to the tail-enders) would have been useful.

Rajesh Sharma and Acharya S.S. (1989)7 studied on ‘Maldistribution of Canal

Water in Command Areas and its Impact on Cropping Pattern and Land-Water Use

Efficiency’. This study was examined the extent of maldistribution of canal water

between head and tail-end farmers, its impact on cropping patterns. The study

pertained to Guda Irrigation Project area in Bundi district of Rajasthan. Linear

programming technique was used to develop optimal cropping plan. The study

indicated that tail-end farmers are at a disadvantage in terms of actual number of

irrigations available to them from the canal. There was great divergence between

existing and optimal cropping plans. It is revealed that equitable distribution of water

between head and tail-end farmers leads to increase in overall efficiency of both land

and water. It is also implied that supplementary source of irrigation should be

advocated and encouraged in canal command areas.

Navalawala B.N. (1995)8 stated in the article on ‘Waterlogging - Problems and

Solutions’ that drainage is a measure to remove excess water from the soil or from the

soil surface. It is known that canal irrigation upon overuse often leads to rise of water

table and drainage is essential but even today adequate attentions is not being paid to

this while designing and planning of canal irrigation projects. Owing to this neglect,

many irrigation projects in the arid and semi-arid areas have created serious problems

of water logging and of salinity and alkalinity.

Rasis Ahmad (1998)9 in his article on ‘Water for Irrigation-An Overview’

pointed out that for raising productivity of agriculture one has to shift from traditional

7 Rajesh Sharma and Acharya S.S. (1989), “Maldistribution of Canal Water in Command Areas and

its Impact on Cropping Pattern and Land-Water Use Efficiency”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sep. pp.269 - 270.

8 Navalawala B.N. (1995), “Waterlogging – Problems and Solutions”, Yojana, Vol.39, No.11, September 11, p.39.

9 Rasis Ahmad (1998), “Water for Irrigation-An Overview”, edited by Farooq Khan, Water Resource Management Thrust and Challenges, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, p. 195.

13

to modernized and scientific system of farming for which regular supply of water for

irrigation is necessary. In India position is quite different as 2/3 farmers are small and

marginal farmers and most of them continuing traditional system of farming. 2/3

cultivable area is dependent on scanty rainfall and any change in the timing of

monsoon either before time or delayed and excess or less rainfall may cause extensive

damage to crops. The rainfall is thus most unreliable and is marked by wide variations

in different parts and also variation from year to year in the quantity, incidence and

duration. India is served by south-west and the north-east monsoons. Most of the

rainfall i.e. about 73.7 per cent occurs during June-September, while rains amount

only 2.6 per cent; post monsoon rains are about 13.3 per cent and premonsoon rains

about 10.4 per cent. He has mentioned two types of artificial irrigation systems. First

is flow irrigation and the second is lift irrigation. The flow irrigation is dependent on

the surface water and it is collected in rivers and canals. The second type is lift

irrigation, which is very economic and certain source for having adequate water for

irrigation of various crops at proper time.

Roy L.B. et al. (1999)10 described in the title on ‘Farmers’ Participation and

the hare irrigated project’ that generally most farmers do not irrigate during night time

because of the fear from mosquitoes, snake bites, hyenas and other wild animals.

Sometimes as it is expected everywhere, some conflicts arise during irrigation period.

Some farmers used to illegally divert the water from the canal for continuous

irrigation. Then the other farmers will report this matter to the local water

committees. If a person is found guilty of such things, he will be charged up to 50

birrs as per the ‘local water law’. All the farmers will pay revenue to the Government.

Narendra Kumar I. and Chandrasekar Rao G. (2007)11 have analysed in the

title on ‘Impact of Irrigation on Employment’ on the basis of micro study that

irrigation reduces the risk and uncertainty inherent in the rain fed cropping. Irrigation

has a stabilizing impact on agriculture and generates farm employment through higher

levels of cropping intensity adoption of new agricultural strategy, growth of high

10 Roy L.B., Rheenen W.V., Abraham T. and Habte A. (1999), “Farmers participation and the hare

irrigation project”, Integrated Development for Water Supply and Sanitation, 25th WEDC Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, p. 252.

11 Narendra Kumar I. and Chandrasekar Rao G. (2007), “Impact of Irrigation on Employment”, Southern Economist, Vol.46, No.7, August 15, pp.13-14.

14

yielding crops and multiple cropping. Their study pertains to Kurnool district of

Andra Pradesh with the objective of Impact of Canal and Bore Wells irrigation

sources on the farm output and generation of employment relating to the crops like

paddy and cotton. They conclude that there is no significant difference between canal

and bore well irrigation with in the human labour and bullock labour. The important

suggestions as follows: i) The main canals up to farm lands are to be lined cement can

be avoid leakage of water ii) Ground water potentiality will be increased by different

methods like check dams, watersheds and percolation tanks and iii) Micro irrigation is

encouraged at every village level, so that the previous water is to be saved.

Somashekaraiah N.T. and Mahendra Kumar S. (2008)12 in their article, an

attempt has been made to assess the impact of tube well irrigation on resource use

efficiency in agriculture with special reference to paddy cultivation in the study area.

To them, tube well irrigation has made a drastic change in the sample villages.

There has been upward trend in the number of tube wells and a change in the pattern

of tube wells. More and more tube wells have been energized. The cropping pattern

has undergone a forcible change. The traditional crop, ragi has been replaced by

paddy. There has been remarkable increase in the level of income of the farmers and

in the level of employment of the households. The households have also undergone

socio-economic changes. The literacy level has gone up and the banking habits

increased. In short, the life-style of the sample village folks has under gone drastic

changes in recent years due to resource use efficiency.

Vairavan K. (2010)13 said that by adopting the ‘Drip Irrigation Technology in

Sugarcane’, the farmers could save water up to 50 per cent and achieve higher yield of

60 tonnes per acre.

12 Somashekaraiah N.T. and Mahendra Kumar S. (2008), “Tube Well Irrigation on Resource Use

Efficiency in Agriculture”, Vol. 47 No.12, Southern Economist, October15, pp. 9-13. 13 Vairavan K. (2010), “Drip Irrigation Technology in Sugarcane”, The Hindu, April 3, p.6.

15

CROPPING PATTERN

Anderson R.L. (1968)14 in their research article on ‘A Simulation Programme

to Establish Optimum Crop Pattern in Irrigated Farms Raised on Pre-Season

Estimation of Water Supply’ has developed a simulation model to make the most

efficient use of the predicted water supply throughout the season for higher net

returns. The Model determined the optimum cropping pattern for each farm based on

the individual farm water supply, crops grown, minimum and maximum acreage of

each crop and water requirement of each crop.

Bandenhop M.P. and Cashdoller P.P. (1974)15 in the article on ‘Land Water

Use Potentials, Thungabhadara Irrigation Project’ determined the most profit-mix-

able crop that could be grown on the soils in the Thungabhadra Irrigation project

under the alternative sets of land and water use regulations that might be adopted by

project officials. Linear programming techniques were used to ascertain the most

profitable crop combinations under twelve situations for each of the four selected

representative farms.

A study conducted by the Evaluation Division of the State Planning Board

(1975)16 in a title on ‘Minor Irrigation in Kerala: An Evaluation Study’ revealed that

the minor irrigation beneficiaries have very little awareness about the efficiency of

water use. The farmers were found to be under the notion that the more water they

use, the better would be the crop. It was noted that the cultivators seemed to ignore

the use of irrigation water for alternative crops either through ignorance or

negligence. Left to themselves they tended to grow only rice although its water

requirement was much higher than that of other crops.

William K. Easter and Lee R. Martin, (1977)17 viewed in the title on ‘Water

Resource Problems in Developing Countries’ that the location of the villages from the

main canal happened to be the main factor influencing the cropped area and in turn

the cropping intensity. 14 Anderson R.L. (1968), “A Simulation Programme to Establish Optimum Crop Pattern in Irrigated

Farms Raised on Pre-Season Estimation of Water Supply”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 50(5), p.15.

15 Bandenhop M.P. and Cashdoller P.P. (1974) “Land Water Use Potentials, Thungabhadara Irrigation Project”, Karnataka, University of Agricultural Science, Technical Series No.4, pp.1-38.

16 State Planning Board, (1975) Minor Irrigation in Kerala: An Evaluation Study, Government of Kerala, Trivandrum, pp. 44-45.

17 William K. Easter and Lee R. Martin (1977), “Water Resource Problems in Developing Countries”, Bulletin Number 3, University of Minnesota, pp. 1-107.

16

Mangalabhanu M. (1977)18 had advocated in the title on ‘Project Report for

Command Area Development’ that a change in the present cropping pattern, which is

followed in Kerala, for better utilization of available water and thereby to maximize

production.

Palanisami K. (1980)19 in his study on ‘Pattern of Allocation, use and

Management in Lower Bhavani Project’ identified that the farmers in head reaches

grew high-water-demanding-crops compared to the tail-enders.

Kalirajan K. and Flinn J.C. (1981)20 discussed in the article on ‘Allocative

Efficiency and Supply Response in Irrigated Rice Production’ that a single crop, or be

concerned with farming systems where one crop dominates cropping patterns in a

particular season (e.g., rice in the kharif or wheat in the rabi season). Under such

circumstances, the linear programming approach may be less advantageous and

models based on variants of the production function techniques continue to have

appeal.

Bagi F.S. (1981)21 viewed in the article on ‘Economics of Irrigation in Crop

Production in Haryana’ that irrigation primarily reduces the uncertainty of crop

production and consequently increases agricultural productivity in a number of ways.

First, it can increase crop yields even without any increased use of agricultural inputs.

Second, lower risk and uncertainty of crop production are likely to encourage greater

use of inputs. Third, it makes possible to grow crops all year around and hence can

increase the cropping intensity. Fourth, cultivation of better quality and high value

crops may become feasible. Therefore, the development of irrigation infrastructure is

nothing less than an agricultural revolution.

18 Mangalabhanu M. (1977), “Project Report for Command Area Development”, Department of

Agriculture, Govt. of Kerala, pp.3-4. 19 Palanisami K. (1980), “Pattern of Allocation, Use and Management in Lower Bhavani Project”,

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Ph.D. dissertation Coimbatore: Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, p.25.

20 Kalirajan K. and Flinn J.C. (1981), “Allocative Efficiency and Supply Response in Irrigated Rice Production”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. XXXVI, No.2, April-June, p.16.

21 Bagi F.S. (1981), “Economics of Irrigation in Crop Production in Haryana” Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. XXXVI, No.3, July-September, pp.15-23.

17

Arun S. Patel (1981)22 observed in his article on ‘Irrigation: Its Employment

Impact in the Command Areas of Medium Irrigation Projects in Gujarat’ that the

expansion of irrigation and the spread of new technology help to improve the standard

of living and generation of additional employment opportunities at the required level

of productivity. Irrigation brings changes in the crop pattern. They are: (i) a shift from

inferior cereals and pulses to superior cereals, (ii) a shift from foodgrains to non-

foodgrains both short and long duration crops, and (iii) a shift from crops if

indigenous (desi) varieties to HYVs both in respect of foodgrain and also non-

foodgrain crops and (iv) augmentation of area under double and multiple cropping

which in turn provides more opportunities of work to the agriculturists at the farm

level.

Patel N.T. (1982)23 in his book on ‘Inputs Productivity in Agriculture with an

Emphasis on Irrigation and Farm Size’ found a positive relationship between cropping

intensity and irrigation; and between cropping intensity and farm size. The

introduction of irrigation (Mayong Lift Irrigation Project) has significantly raised the

crop intensity. The average crop intensity in the lands within the command area for

sample beneficiaries increased from 131 per cent in 1967-68 to 151 per cent in

1968-69. But it remained constant (106 per cent) for the land outside the command

area. It was also found that it was the lowest (110 per cent) for the smallest group and

the highest (159 per cent) for the largest group. In Yeshwanth’s study, the intensity of

cropping is 100 per cent in the case of dry farms whereas it is 168 per cent in the case

of pumpset owners. This indicates a positive relationship between the intensity of

cropping and irrigation.

Saikia P.D. (1982)24 in the article on ‘Impact of Lift Irrigation on Small

Farmers of North-East Region’ studied the impact of lift irrigation in Assam. He

concluded that one-year after the irrigation project, the percentage of area under

traditional paddy decreased from 54% per cent to 22% per cent, whereas the area

22 Arun S. Patel (1981), “Irrigation: Its Employment Impact in the Command Areas of Medium

Irrigation Projects in Gujarat”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. XXXVI, No.4, October-December, pp. 20-22.

23 Patel N.T. (1982), “Inputs Productivity in Agriculture with an Emphasis on Irrigation and Farm Size”, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi, pp.5-6.

24 Saikia P.D. (1982), “Impact of Lift Irrigation on Small Farmers of North-East Region”, Yojana 27:32.

18

under high yielding varieties of paddy increased from 2% to 32%. The average per

hectare yields of hybrid varieties of paddy increased from 1306 kg. to 2199 kg. After

implementation of irrigation project and the adoption of improved methods, the per

family annual average income from agriculture increased from Rs.2,737/- to

Rs.4,018/-.

Thamodaran R. et al. (1982)25 investigated in their article on ‘An Economic

Analysis of Water Management Systems in Southern Tamil Nadu - Production

Function and Programming Approach’ that even though farmers are applying more or

less the recommended level of nitrogen, irrigation application seems to be low enough

to reduce the productivity of nitrogen.

The study made by Patil A.R. (1983)26 in his article on ‘Irrigation Scheme and

Small Farmers’ studied Masuda in Ajmer District shows that Lift Irrigation Scheme

has helped the small farmers in terms of bringing more area under irrigation,

increasing cropping intensity and increasing crop productivity per acre. The per acre

productivity of various kharif and rabi crops increased during the post investment

period.

Leelambika Puttanna and Hema K. (1984)27 in their article on ‘Modernisation

of Gundamgera Tank’ studied the method of water use and assessed the impact of

lining the channel on socio-economic conditions. They suggested a shift in cropping

pattern (from wet to dry). The proposed new cropping pattern increased productivity

in tank command areas.

Hiremath K.C. (1984)28 in his article on ‘Report on Socio-Economic Impact of

Irrigation Projects’ concluded that income inequality among the farmers would be

generated due to their unequal resource endowments and lack of knowledge on

optimal cropping pattern. These two, when removed, would ensure maximum returns.

He also suggested that to ensure justice to tail-enders in canal irrigated areas, of rigid

control on water supply should be enforced.

25 Thamodaran R., Shashnka Bhide, and Earl O. (1982), “An Economic Analysis of Water

Management Systems in Southern Tamil Nadu - Production Function and Programming Approach”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. XXXVII, No.1, p.48.

26 Patil A.R. (1983), “Irrigation Scheme and Small Farmers”, Kurukshetra 31 (21), pp.7-11. 27 Leelambika Puttanna and Hema K. (1984), “Modernisation of Gundamgera Tank”, Indian Journal

of Agricultural Economics, 39(3), p.559. 28 Hiremath K.C. (1984), “Report on Socio-Economic Impact of Irrigation Projects”, Indian Journal

of Agricultural Economics, 39(3) p.559.

19

Singh D.V. and Saraswat S.P. (1984)29 have stated in the article on ‘Impact of

Irrigation on Cropping Pattern and Farm Income under Optimal Solution’ that the

existing cropping patterns in the Valleys of Himachal Pradesh are sub-optimal,

indicating thereby that even without bringing additional lands under cultivation,

agricultural production can be substantially increased by adopting optimum crop plans

with the existing resource base and irrigational facilities.

Ashturkar B.W. (1986)30 made a study on ‘Progress and Prospects of

Irrigation Water Management in Maharastra’ and reported that jowar, bajra, paddy

and cotton based cropping systems were equally profitable compared to sugarcane.

The water requirement of these crops were much less when compared to sugarcane

and hence if the area under sugarcane was restricted, large areas could be brought

under irrigation, which ultimately would increase and stabilize the production and

productivity of major cereals, pulses and oil seed crops in the state.

Dhawan B.D. (1986)31 in his rapporteur’s report on ‘Irrigation and Water

Management’ said that linear programming exercises indicate considerable room for

raising productivity of irrigation water in water-scarce regions by altering existing

crop patterns.

Chadra D.R. and Singh G.N. (1987)32 in their research article on ‘Impact of

Irrigation on Crop Production in Ram Ganga Command Area’ evaluated the

Command Area Development Programme and found that the programme led to a

significant increase in the average wheat and rice yields in Kanpur district. The yield

increase was up to 625 kg/ha.

Ramakrishnan and Sivanantham M. (1989)33 in the research article on ‘Water

Use Pattern in Tambaraparani Irrigation System’ viewed that water is a crucial input

in agricultural development and it also influences the use and productivity of other

29 Singh D.V. and Saraswat S.P. (1984), “Impact of Irrigation on Cropping Pattern and Farm Income

under Optimal Solution”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 39(3), pp.540-541. 30 Ashturkar B.W. (1986), “Progress and Prospects of Irrigation Water Management in Maharastra”,

Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 41(4), pp.523-528. 31 Dhawan B.D. (1986), “Irrigation and Water Management”, Indian Journal of Agricultural

Economics, Vol.41, No.3, July-September, p.425. 32 Chadra D.R. and Singh G.N. (1987), “Impact of Irrigation on Crop Production in Ram Ganga

Command Area”, Agricultural Situation in India, Vol. 42 (9), pp.781-786. 33 Ramakrishnan and Sivanantham M. (1989), “Water Use Pattern in Tambaraparani Irrigation

System”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 44, No. 3, July-Sept. p. 266.

20

resources in crop production. The study made at the head and tail reach situated

farmers of the Tambaraparani irrigation system revealed that the cropping intensities

were 300 per cent and 260 per cent in the head and tail reaches respectively,

indicating significant difference between the farms in the two reaches in input use.

The coefficient of variation of water supplied in channels in tail reach was

higher in the head reach indicating the uncertainty of water to the farmers at the tail

reach.

The crop water use efficiency and the field water use efficiency were higher in

the tail reach due to low consumption of water. The farmer in head reach had a

surplus of water than their demand, which ranged between 21.20 per cent to 33.25 per

cent between the seasons. But the farmers in the tail reach faced deficit during both

the seasons. Because of this a larger percentage of farmers in the tail reach favoured

the adoption of water management practices and formation of water users organization.

Chhikara O.P. and Panghal B.S. (1989)34 had written an article on ‘Effects of

Interaction of Irrigation, Capital and Labour on Optimum Cropping Pattern in Semi-

Arid Tropic Area (SAT) of Haryana State’. Linear Programming technique was used

to optimise the resources on different synthetic farm situations both at the existing and

improved levels of technology under existing resource supplied as well as with the

relaxed capital, labour and irrigation resources. Significant changes were noticed in

the cropping patterns in the optimum plans at both the levels of technologies, thereby

increasing the total cropped area and net returns on all size of farms. The net returns

increased considerably in the optimum plans at the existing level of technology with

the existing resource restrictions. Thus optimum plans at the improved technology

gave higher net returns over the existing plans.

Amrik Saini S. et al. (1989)35 investigated in the title on ‘Spatial Differentials

in Canal Water Use - A Case Study,’ revealed that after the launching of Giri Canal

Irrigation System in the command area of 25 villages, the farmers of the head reach

due to adequate availability of water, allocated a considerable proportion of area to

more water intensive high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of rice, maize and wheat. In

34 Chhikara O.P. and Panghal B.S. (1989), “Effects of Interaction of Irrigation, Capital and Labour

on Optimum Cropping Pattern in Semi-Arid Tropic Area (SAT) of Haryana State”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sep., p.269.

35 Amrik Saini S., Thakur D.R., Moorti T.V. (1989), “Spatial Differentials in Canal Water Use - A Case Study”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 44, No. 3, July-Sep., p. 296.

21

contrast, because of inadequate and uncertainty of canal water, the farmers in the tail

reach allocated a larger proportion of the total cropped area to local varieties of these

crops. Further, the farmers in the tail reach and middle reach applied a larger quantity

of seeds of maize, rice and wheat that the recommended rates, which was mainly due

to the fear of germination being less because of low moisture availability. However,

the use of chemical fertilisers was the highest in the head reach and the lowest in the

tail reach. The average yield rates of major crops, viz., rice, maize and wheat and

sugarcane were the highest in the head reach and the lowest in the tail reach. The non-

availability of sufficient water at the right time particularly for wheat in the case of

pre-sowing irrigation and irrigation at the time of crown root initiation was the major

problem of the farmers in the tail reach followed by middle reach. The study

suggested that canal authorities concerned should take appropriate measures to do

away with the aforesaid anomalies in the existing water use.

Verma R.C. and Banga H.K. (1989)36 focused on “Impact of Rescheduling of

Irrigation Water on Farm Incomes and Cropping Pattern - A Case study of Jaisamand

Dam in Alwar District of Rajasthan”. In this study Linear programming technique

was used to develop optimal cropping pattern for the command area. The optimal

cropping pattern in turn resulted in optimal distribution of irrigation water of the

reservoir. The results of the study showed that the existing pattern of distribution of

water is not proper. Water is released only during the months of October, November

and December mainly for the sowing of rabi crops. For the rest of the year, water is

not released even at critical stages of crop growth. Moreover, all the water available in

the reservoir is not utilised for irrigation. About 30 to 40 per cent of the water remains

unutilised.

Suhas L. Ketkar (1989)37 wrote an article on ‘Measurement of Inefficiency in

Indian Agriculture - A Programming Model’. In this article he noted that the

principal sources of inefficiency are two-fold. The subsistence nature of agriculture

36 Verma R.C. and Banga H.K.(1989), “Impact of Rescheduling of Irrigation Water on Farm Incomes

and Cropping Pattern – A Case study of Jaisamand Dam in Alwar District of Rajasthan”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sep., p.297.

37 Suhas L. Ketkar (1989) “Measurement of Inefficiency in Indian Agriculture – A Programming Model”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sep. p.25.

22

may result in farmers adopting an excessively diversified cropping pattern. This

diversification behaviour may stem from a desire a. to minimize risk (by not putting

all the eggs in one basket) or b. to produce certain minimum quantities of each food

grain to meet family and livestock requirements. The second source of inefficiency

lies in the selection of incorrect processes by the farmers to produce the various crops.

Among the choice of incorrect processes are included such factors as inadequate

ploughing, insufficient plant protection measures, untimely application of fertilizers

and irrigation water.

Amitava Mukherjee, Avebury (1995)38 analysed in their book on ‘Structural

Adjustment Programme and Food Security: Hunger and Poverty in India’ that power

and irrigation have many second round positive effects on the poor. Also, irrigation in

north and south India has been responsible for having enough stocks of foodgrains for

the public distribution system.

Kanchan Chopra (1998)39 in his article on ‘Institutions for Sustainable

Agricultural Development’ pointed out that introduction of paddy in the state is

responsible for the increased and unsustainable demand for ground water. In view of

this, it is only substitution with maize that may be the appropriate policy from the

viewpoint of prudent ground water use.

Ranjit Kumar et al. (2003)40 discussed in their research work on ‘Water

Resources in India: Need for Holistic Development and Cautious Exploitation’ that

choice of cropping pattern is one of the most important factors influencing the

demand of water for agricultural purposes. The study suggests i. genetic

improvements targeted towards saving water including the development of crop

varieties with better tolerance to drought, which reduce evapo-transpiration, have

great potential for raising yields. ii. the use of drip / sprinkler irrigation system has

resulted in economical use of precious irrigation water and iii. rainwater harvesting

along with the entire range of watershed development measures like, check dams and

sub-surface dykes proved to be the best measures to recharge the groundwater. The 38 Amitava Mukherjee, Avebury (1995), “Structural Adjustment Programme and Food Security:

Hunger and Poverty in India”, Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Aldershot, Hants, U.K., 1994, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. L, No.4. October – December, p.719.

39 Kanchan Chopra (1998), “Institutions for Sustainable Agricultural Development”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.53, No. 3, July-September, p. 432.

40 Ranjit Kumar, Singh N.P. and Singh R.P. (2003), “Water Resources in India: Need for Holistic Development and Cautious Exploitation”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.58, No. 3, July-September, pp.459 - 462.

23

authors also focused that under-pricing of canal water is leading to a vicious circle of

low revenue recovery, poor maintenance of structures, low distribution efficiency,

farmers’ dissatisfaction with the irrigation services and therefore, huge resistance to

hike in water charges.

Srinivasa Prasad A. et al. (2006)41 suggested in their research work on

‘Optimal Irrigation Planning under Water Scarcity’ that irrigation managers and

farmers are advised to adopt low water-consuming crops with a maximum area under

deficit irrigation when water availability is low.

Sir Gordon Conway (2009)42 said in his paper on ‘Climate change will

devastate Africa’ that Africa is warming faster than the global average, with more

warm spells and fewer extremely cold days. Northern and southern Africa are likely

to become as much as 4C hotter over the next 100 years, and much drier, which can

expect more intense droughts, floods and storm surges. ‘Projected reductions in crop

yields could be as much as 50 per cent by 2020 and 90 per cent by 2100’, the paper

said. He also said new technologies must be part of the African response to tackling

droughts. In certain circumstances the country need GM crops because it won’t be

able to find the gene naturally. GM may be the speediest and most efficient way to

increase yields. Drought tolerance is governed by a range of genes. It is a big problem

for breeders of (both) GM and ordinary plants he said.

Dharmalingam S. and Periasamy, G. (2010)43 in their article on ‘Erratic

Monsoon and Indian Economy’ pointed out that erratic monsoon has impacted in

Indian Economy in the form of distress to farmers and their families, commodity

trading and price movement and food inflation. The important suggestion advocated

by them is promote through Gram Sabhas community food and water security

systems. They should involve establishing at the village level seed, grain and water

banks. Seed banks will help to introduce alternative cropping strategies and

contingency plans to suit different rainfall patterns. Also they have hoped that the

recommendations of the Punchhi Commission would enable the central government to

take proactive decisions on the issue facing the water sector.

41 Srinivasa Prasad A. Umamahesh N.V. and Viswanath G.K. (2006), “Optimal Irrigation Planning

under Water Scarcity”, Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, ASCE, Volume 132, Number 3, May/June, p.236.

42 Sir Gordon Conway (2009), “Climate change will devastate Africa”, The Hindu, October 30, p.9. 43 Dharmalingam S. and Periasamy, G. (2010), “Erratic Monsoon and Indian Economy”, Southern

Economist, Volume 48, Number 18, January 15, pp.8-10.

24

IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT

Nathan K.K. et al. (2001)44 observed in the title on ‘Irrigation Development

and Future Possibilities’ that prior to 1854 all the irrigation works were financed from

general revenue only. After 1854, the categories of irrigation viz., major and minor

irrigation came into existence. Indian Irrigation Commission (1903) recognized the

importance of small irrigation and assessed that they were responsible for more than

half of the irrigated area in the country. The importance of minor irrigation was later

stressed by Royal Commission on Agriculture in 1928. The campaign for minor

irrigation stressed under ‘Grow More Food’ Programme in 1943 for which

government provide financial assistance. Although irrigation work in India can be

traced back to the Pre-historical period, substantial development took place only

during 20th century. Irrigated area in the country increased from about less than

1 million ha, in the year 1800 to about 5 million ha, in 1900, 16 million ha, in 1925

and 19 million ha, in 1947. Realising the importance of irrigation, Grow More Food

Inquiry Committee (1952) Foodgrains Enquire Committee (1957) and Agricultural

production team of the Food Foundation (1959) have all emphasized the importance

of minor irrigation to food production.

With the partition of India after Independence, the country was left with total

irrigated area of 19 million ha. from all sources. The major irrigation source in India

today are wells, canals, and tanks, which irrigate about 30 per cent of net cropped

area. Of this, well account 49 per cent, canals 38 per cent and tanks 7 per cent. A case

study of irrigation projects in Tamil Nadu (Agricultural Situation in India, March

1983) revealed their poor state of tanks, fields channels, unauthorized cultivation and

tapping of water in upper reaches, absence of proper lining etc., resulted in loss of

water due to evaporation, seepage, percolation etc.

Navadkar D.S. et al. (2003)45 described that in India, tremendous development

has been witnessed through the successive Five Year Plans by developing the

irrigation potential. They have explained the pattern of the expenditure for irrigation

in India with the help of the data provided by Economic Survey, 2008-2009.

44 Nathan K.K., Sharma R.K. and Singh A., (2001), “Irrigation Development and Future

Possibilities”, Yojana, Vol.45, July 2001, p.23-26. 45 Navadkar D.S. Birari K.S. and Kasar D.V. (2003), “A Boon for Sustainable Agricultural Development

in Maharastra”, Agricultural Situation in India, Vol. LIX, No. 3, June, p.141-145.

25

They pointed out that during the first plan 15.82 per cent of the total outlay

was spent on irrigation and flood control. After the First Plan the importance given to

irrigation was slightly reduced. In the Second Plan the amount earmarked for

irrigation and flood control was only 9.13 per cent and in the Third Plan it further

reduced to 7.75 per cent and in the Annual Plan the government allotted only 7.11 per

cent for irrigation and flood control. In the fourth and fifth plans the outlay has

increased to 8.58 per cent and 9.83 per cent respectively.

In the Annual Plans 1979-80 the government spent 10.58 per cent on

irrigation. In the Sixth Plan the government spent 10 per cent on irrigation and it has

fallen to 7.58 per cent in Seventh Plan. During the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Plan there

is a substantial fall in the outlay allotted for irrigation and flood control. In the Tenth

Plan the amount spent on irrigation is very low and outlay 6.77 per cent of the total

outlay is spent on irrigation. This shows clearly irrigation expenditure has been

falling steadily during the plan period.

Reforms in Irrigation Sector: The state government has taken policy

decision in July, 2001 for formation of Co-operative Water Users Associations

(WAU) and handing over the irrigation management to WUAs and policy seeks to

i. reduce the gap between irrigation potential created and actual area irrigated

ii. to restrict expenditure on maintenance and repairs of irrigation system

iii. to increase water use efficiency of irrigation management and

iv. to recover government water charges effectively.

John Briscoe and Malik R.P.S. (2007)46 narrated in their book on ‘Hand Book

of Water Resources in India Development, Management and Strategies’, that

Irrigation in India has been practiced from pre-historic times and appears to have been

contemporary with agriculture itself. Numerous references are found in the Vedas

and other ancient Indian literature to wells, tanks, canals and dams, their importance

to the community, their efficient maintenance and operation, and the duties of the

state in these matters. Many of the tanks in central and southern India are many

centuries old. While irrigation from shallow wells always has been, and still is, the

result of individual private effort, the development of irrigation (mostly inundation)

46 John Briscoe and Malik R.P.S. (2007), “Hand Book of Water Resources in India Development,

Management and Strategies”, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, pp.47-52.

26

from surface flow has traditionally been the result of state enterprise. Archaeological

investigations at the sites of the Indus Valley Civilization reveal evidence of stone-

dams (‘gabarbunds’) and earthen embankments (‘kachbunds’). In southern India,

irrigation was in vogue in the Cauvery delta more or less in the same periods as the

Indus Valley Civilization. The Grand Anicut across the Cauvery was built in the

second century AD. Besides river diversion works, thousands of minor irrigation

tanks were constructed in the fifth century AD by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the

Pandyas. The Western Yamuna Canal was built in the fourteenth century AD,

renovated by Mughals in the sixteenth century AD, and repaired in the nineteenth

century by the British.

Irrigation development in the British period was financed by the revenue

collected. An effort to promote irrigation through private companies with a

government guarantee of 5 per cent return on capital invested was unsuccessful. In

1866, important changes were made in the principles and policy governing the

execution and financing of irrigation projects, keeping in view that large investments

were required to expand irrigation and the poor response to privatization. It was

decided that irrigation projects would be executed only by the state and would be

financed from public loans. A number of projects like the Sirhind Canal (Punjab), the

Lower Ganga Canal, the Agra Canal, the Betwa Canal (Uttar Pradesh), the Periyar

system (Tamil Nadu), and the Mutha Canals (Maharashtra) were accordingly

completed.

In 1901, the then GOI appointed the ‘Indian Irrigation Commission’ to report

on irrigation as a protection against famine in India. Based on the Commission’s

recommendations, the Triple Canal Project (now in Pakistan), the Tribeni Canal

(Bihar), the Godavari Canal, the Pravara Canal and the Nira Right Bank Canal

(Maharashtra), the Sarda Canal (Uttar Pradesh) were completed.

A significant change in the policy governing the administration and financing

of irrigation projects was brought about with the introduction of the Montague –

Chelmsford Reforms in 1921. The provincial governments were authorized to raise

loans themselves for financing of irrigation. The Krishnarajasagar (Karnataka), the

Nizamsagar (Andra Pradesh), the Mettur Dam (Tamil Nadu), the Bikaner Canal

27

(Rajasthan), and the Sutlej Valley Canals and the Sukkur barrage (now in Pakistan)

projects were taken up by the provinces after this authorization.

In 1935, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act according

to which the subject of irrigation was transferred from the control of the centre to the

provincial or state governments. The centre was no longer concerned with the

development of irrigation except where disputes arose among co-basin states. The

constitution-makers, after independence, thought it prudent to continue this

arrangement resulting in the centre losing all control over irrigation. Many of the

malaise confronting the irrigation sector today can perhaps be traced back to this

decision of 1935.

India does not have a national water law or code. There are many laws at the

state level and some at the central level relating to different aspects or uses of water or

having a bearing on water, but there is no overarching umbrella legislation on water

per se. There is a National Water Policy but it has no statutory backing or force.

According to Ramaswamy R. Iyer there are divergent perceptions relating to water.

Water is seen variously as a riparian right; as essential to life and therefore as a

fundamental right or a human right; as an integral part of the ecological system and of

planet Earth; as a sacred resource; as an ‘economic good’ or tradable commodity; as a

‘common pool resource’ or ‘commons’; and as private property. These divergent

perceptions lead to divergent policy prescriptions, such as state control, community

management, privatization, and water markets. Unfortunately, the diverse water-

related laws at the state and central levels add to the complexity and confusion.

Similarly, no answers have so far been found to the problems created by the

prevalence of ownership rights in relation to groundwater. The need to regulate the

extraction of groundwater and the operation of groundwater markets with reference to

the objectives of conserving and protecting the resource from depletion and pollution /

contamination and ensuring equity and social justice is evident, but hardly any

progress has been made in those directions.

The Planning Commission and Planned Development

Irrigation has formed an important component of each of the Plans. The

important thrust areas identified by each Plan insofar as irrigation is concerned have

been as follows:

28

First Plan

- double area under irrigation in next fifteen to twenty years.

- desirability of taking steps to charge betterment levy on all new projects

(betterment levy is the government’s share in the increase in the value of land

that accrues as a result of provision of irrigation facilities);

- setting up non-lapsable irrigation development fund by each state to meet all

expenditure on irrigation and power projects; stress on economic use of water.

- setting up of a body to advise on relative priority of different projects after

they are technically cleared in the Central Water Commission; and

- while large irrigation projects would be undertaken by state, village

cooperatives or association of landholders to be encouraged to take up small

irrigation works.

Second Plan

- Engineering Personnel Committee appointed to assess requirement of

engineers for infrastructure development; and

- Completion of canals hand in hand with dams for quick utilization of

potential.

Third Plan

- special steps to be taken to bring about substantial improvement in financial

return;

- revision of water rates; and

- although legislation for betterment levy was enacted by all states except Uttar

Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, enforcement has lagged behind.

Fourth Plan

- stress on command area development to close gap between potential created

and utilized;

- earmarking 10 per cent of aggregate central assistance for allocation to

specific projects; and

- integrated river basin planning.

29

Fifth Plan

- programme for command area development launched; and

- classification of major, medium, and minor irrigation projects was changed

from cost-based to area-based criterion (in 1959, the norms for major,

medium, and minor projects cost were greater than Rs 50 million, between Rs.

50 million and Rs. 1 million, and less than Rs. 1 million, respectively. This

was changed to cultivable command area greater than 10,000 hectares,

between 2000 and 10,000 hectares, and less than 2000 hectares).

Sixth Plan

- Expeditious completion of ongoing projects;

- New projects in drought prone, tribal, and backward areas to remove regional

imbalances;

- Initiating investigation for a national plan for inter-basin transfer of waters;

and

- Focus on groundwater.

Seventh Plan

- irrigation development at 2.5 million hectares per year; and

- accelerate exploration and exploitation of groundwater especially in eastern

and north-eastern regions.

Eighth Plan

- holistic approach in formulation of projects with stress on environmental

issues;

- concern about large number of ongoing projects-need for prioritization;

- strengthening of data base, use of remote sensing;

- modernization of existing systems, improvement of minor irrigation tanks; and

- extend coverage of flood forecasting network

Ninth Plan

- criticality of water in doubling agricultural production in next ten years

realized;

30

- focus of improved water-use efficiency;

- bridging gap between potential created and utilized;

- promoting participatory irrigation management and conjunctive use; and

- accelerating groundwater development with proper regulatory mechanism.

Tenth Plan

- focus on completion of on-going projects;

- steps to avoid proliferation of projects;

- benchmarking of projects;

- lag between potential created and utilized;

- Participatory Irrigation Management;

- water logging, improvement of water-use efficiency;

- revision in water rates;

- groundwater legislation; and

- nodal ministry at the centre for water resources, that is, Ministry of Water

Resources would be in charge of overall coordination of all programme /

schemes relating to water.

IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT

Castle E.N. (1961)47 in his article on ‘Programming Structures in Watershed

Development, Economics of Watershed Planning’ used linear programming technique

to allocate water optimally between two agricultural regions. The linearity concept

underlying the problem was that the water users in the two regions would expand their

use of other inputs of production in proportion to the additional water made available

to the regions. He also explained the use of linear programming in three simple

resource situations.

The first one related to the structure capacity and water usage; the second to

the interdependent structure, and the third to the alternative use relationships.

47 Castle E.N. (1961), “Programming Structures in Watershed Development, Economics of

Watershed Planning”, edited Tolley G.S. and Riggs F.E. Ames: Iowa State University Press, pp.127-216.

31

Moore C.V. (1961)48 in his article on ‘A General Analytical Framework for

Estimating the Production Function for Crops Using Irrigation Water’ used linear

programming techniques for a representative farm situation to examine the effect of

variations in available irrigation water supply.

Anderson et al. (1966)49 in their research work on ‘Estimation of Irrigation

Water Values in Western Oklahama’ estimated the optimum allocation of alternative

levels of available water among crops in West Oklahama using linear programming

analysis on typical farms, with different water levels. Alternative crop systems, farms

resource situations, systems of farming, rainfall conditions and rates of water

application were analyzed. The results indicated that irrigation significantly increased

farm income through the availability of adequate water supply.

Heady et al. (1973)50 in the research paper on ‘Agricultural Water Allocation,

Land Use and Policy’ employed linear programming models to determine optimal

water and land allocation and agricultural water needs of the whole of the United

States agriculture in the year 2000. They concluded that the problem facing the United

States was not a water shortage for agriculture, but an improved allocation of this

resource.

Moorthi et al. (1973)51 in their research work on ‘Cost-Benefit Analysis of

Irrigation on High Yielding Wheat in Nainital Tarai Region of Uttar Pradesh’

highlighted the benefits of irrigation under scientific water management practices.

The experimental findings led to the conclusion that it was not only the quantity of

water which was important but the timing of irrigation at different stages of plant

growth was also responsible for the crop yields.

48 Moore C.V. (1961), “A General Analytical Framework for Estimating the Production Function for

Crops Using Irrigation Water”, Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. 67(3), pp.240-255. 49 Anderson D.D. Cook N.R. and Badger D.D. (1966), “Estimation of Irrigation Water Values in

Western Oklahama”, Processed Series No.528, Oklahama Agricultural Experimental Station, pp.1-34.

50 Heady E.O., Madsen H.C., Nicol K.T. and Hargrove S.H. (1973), “Agricultural Water Allocation, Land Use and Policy”, Paper of the Technical Council of Water Resources Planning and Management, Journal of the Hydraulic Division, Vol. 99(10), pp.1795-1812.

51 Moorthi T.V.B. Lal and Varma K.K. (1973), “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Irrigation on High Yielding Wheat in Nainital Tarai Region of Uttar Pradesh”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.28(4), p.241.

32

The study conducted by Shingakey M.K. and Sohoni D.K. (1973)52 conducted

a study on ‘Benefit Cost Analysis of Agricultural Projects’ in Wardha District,

Maharastra. The cost and returns of the beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries were used

to estimate the benefits and associated cost after the commencement of the project

respectively. The results showed that the cost-benefit ratio increased with increase in

irrigation utilization.

Hedges T.R. (1974)53 in his research article on ‘Water Supplies and Cost in

Relation to Farm Resource Use Decisions and Profits on Sacraments Valley Farms’

developed a series of linear programming models within the framework of 28

constraints and evaluated the potential effect of varying water quantities and prices on

total farm net returns over variable expenses. The constraints were related to seasonal,

total inter-seasonal water quantities available, total tillable land and the maximum

acreage of individual crops within this total and harvested hours per season. He found

that increase in the availability of total seasonal water quantities from zero to the

maximum level was associated with increase in net returns.

Thomas Wickham (1975)54 in his research paper on ‘Predicting Yield Benefits

in Lowland Rice through a Water Balance Model, Water Management in Philippines

Irrigation System : Research and Operations Manila’ explained the adequacy of water

service and the efficiency of the system as the most important parameters of water

management. The former was a measure of how completely the system served its

farms, while the latter was a measure of water wastage which, if saved, could be used

to irrigate a larger area. The farmer in general would look at water adequacy, while

irrigation research concentrated on efficiency.

Sivanappan R.K. and Balasubramanian M. (1976)55 in their article on ‘Water

Management Practices in Rice Fields Coimbatore’ defined water management as a

practice which included the integrated process of intake, conveyance, regulation, 52 Shingakey M.K and Sohoni D.K. (1973) “Benefit Cost Analysis of Agricultural Projects”, Indian

Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 28(4), p.285. 53 Hedges T.R. (1974) “Water Supplies and Cost in Relation to Farm Resource Use Decisions and

Profits on Sacraments Valley Farms”, California Agricultural Experiment Station, Giannian Foundation on Agricultural Economics Research Report No.320, p.62.

54 Thomas Wickham, (1975), “Predicting Yield Benefits in Lowland Rice through a Water Balance Model, Water Management in Philippines Irrigation System: Research and Operations Manila”, IRRI, 1975, pp.155-181.

55 Sivanappan R.K. and Balasubramanian M. (1976), “Water Management Practices in Rice Fields Coimbatore”, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, 1976, p.2.

33

measurement, distribution, application and use of irrigation water in farms and

removal of excess water from farms with proper amounts and at the right time for the

purpose of securing maximum crop production and water economy. The author

advocated land levelling, proper irrigation and drainage system and control of water

through well laid out control system as measure of water management.

Charan A.S. (1978)56 in his article on ‘Economic Evaluation of an Irrigation

Project: A Study of the West Banas Project’ revealed that the introduction of

irrigation in the region had helped primarily the agricultural sector in fairly

estabilizing agricultural production first, and through increased use of inputs in

increasing production. The cost-benefit ratio was greater than one. This clearly proved

the economic feasibility of the project.

Sadegihi J.M. (1978)57 in his research work on ‘Economic Impacts of

Increased Water Supply on Small Farms in Iran’ analyzed the changes in the

production function of small farms as a result of increased water supply and examined

the nature of adjustments in input allocation before and after the increase in water

supply. A Cobb-Douglas type model analysis showed the impact of additional water

supplied by the Davis dam on rice production function indicating an increase in the

productivity coefficients and values of the intercepts.

Sisodia J.S. (1978)58 applied cost analysis in ‘Economic Evaluation of

Chambal Irrigation Project in Madhya Pradesh’. Since expert evaluation of the

project was attempted in this study, it dealt with a comprehensive study of the

economy of the command and non-command area.

The level of technology used, yield per hectare and gross farm output in all the

farms were seen to be significantly higher in the canal irrigated areas as compared to

that in non-command area, and the government investment was justified on these

grounds.

56 Charan A.S. (1978), “Economic Evaluation of an Irrigation Project: A Study of the West Banas

Project”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 33(4), p.261. 57 Sadegihi J.M. (1978), “Economic Impacts of Increased Water Supply on Small Farms in Iran”,

Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 32(2), pp.62-69. 58 Sisodia J.S. (1978), “Economic Evaluation of Chambal Irrigation Project in Madhya Pradesh”,

Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.33(4), p.263.

34

Vaidyanathan A. (1980)59 points out in his book on ‘Water Resources

Management, Institutions and Irrigation Development in India’, that irrigation has

several phases (namely control of the water source, the delivery of water, the actual

application of water to crops and drainage), each of which involves a number of

distinct functions (namely facility construction, operation and maintenance, water

allocation and conflict resolution).

Vaidyanathan A. (1980)60 in the book on ‘Water Resources Management,

Institutions and Irrigation Development in India’ reveals that most countries in Asia

attack great importance to rapid development of irrigation and flood control and have

spent massive resources for this purpose. Experience shows however that there is

great deal more to this than the construction of reservoirs and canals.

Shepperdson M.L. (1981)61 in his article on ‘The Development of Irrigation in

Indus River Basin, Pakistan’ studied Social and Environmental Impact of Irrigation.

He pointed out that a comprehensive account of irrigation development in Indus River

Basin, Pakistan and its impact on social, economic and environmental conditions in

the region. Macro data-area used to analyse the problems and prospects of irrigation.

He opines that adverse effect of irrigation like water logging and salinity are

essentially due to cultivation of paddy and other water-intensive crops and adoption of

traditional farming methods. This shows that farmer’s awareness and understanding

of modern technology is essential to implement irrigated farm technology. This

aspect remains still unexplored.

Emery N. Castle (1982)62 in his research article on ‘Agriculture and Natural

Resource Adequacy’ argued that major problems plague agricultural water

management in the United States on both a micro and macro basis. A basic fact that

most of the low-cost opportunities for irrigation in the United States already have

been exploited. Private development of both surface and ground water to increase

59 Vaidyanathan A. (1980), “Water Resources Management, Institutions and Irrigation Development

in India”, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, p.2. 60 Ibid, p. 3. 61 Shepperdson M.L. (1981), “The Development of Irrigation in Indus River Basin, Pakistan” in

Suranjit K. Sha and Christopher J. Barrow (eds.), Rivar Basin Planning: Theory and Practice. 62 Emery N. Castle (1982), “Agriculture and Natural Resource Adequacy”, American Journal of

Agricultural Economics, Volume 64, Number 5, December, pp. 814-815.

35

agricultural output will occur only with greater economic and environmental costs.

Salinity is a problem in many parts of the West, and nonagricultural water uses have

been growing in importance for several decades.

Under such circumstances one logically looks to ways that might make more

effective use of existing water supplies. With regards to water adequacy and

agriculture the work of Frederick leads to believe that increased irrigation can not be

expected to contribute to greater agricultural output in the future to the extent that it

has in the past. On balance, irrigated acreage will increase, but at a slower rate, and

the increases will occur in less hospitable environments, for example, the Sand Hills

of Nebraska, and costs correspondingly will be higher. The author does expect greater

economic incentives for the better utilization of water both in irrigated and rain-fed

areas; but this would be much greater, of course, if water markets are reformed. The

consumptive nonagricultural water uses now on the horizon are not large enough to

affect aggregate agricultural output significantly if water were put to more efficient

use in agriculture.

Higher energy prices are affecting water for irrigation in many areas. This is

especially true for groundwater, where pumping lifts are increasing as water tables are

dropping. Thus, even though it is hard to visualize a natural water shortage, water

allocation and management will be major resource problems for many areas, and

agriculture will be at the centre of the conflicts that will occur. However, only

agriculture will be forced to adjust if more realistic pricing and allocation policies are

adopted.

Rajan Mishra (1984)63 in his article on ‘Impact of Production and Factor Use -

A Case Study of Mayrakshi Canal in West Bengal’ used production function to

examine the effect of irrigation technique on rice and concluded that there was an

upward shift in production function in the neutral way by introducing irrigation.

Ramakrishnan, C. (1985)64 in his study on ‘Water Use Pattern and Resource

Use Efficiency in Tambaraparani Irrigation System’ used a linear production function

and among the inputs used in rice cultivation, irrigation water was found to be highly

significant indicating the scope for increasing rice yield through water management.

63 Rajan Mishra, (1984), “Impact of Production and Factor Use - A Case Study of Mayrakshi Canal

in West Bengal”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 39(3), p.548. 64 Ramakrishnan C. (1985), “Water Use Pattern and Resource Use Efficiency in Tambaraparani

Irrigation System”, M.Sc. (Agri) dissertation, Madurai: Agricultural College, pp.82-86.

36

Chikara I.J. and Singh (1986)65 in their research work on ‘Optimisation of

Land and Water Resources in Semi and Tropics of Hisar District in Haryana’ had

revealed that there existed the possibility of increasing net returns at farm level

through optimization of land and water resources at both existing level and improved

levels of technology.

Dhawan B.D. (1989)66 in the article on ‘Water Resource Management in

India: Issues and Dimensions’ has suggested from the field-based study in the

Sriramsagar (formerly Pochampad) project, that spatial unevenness in our water

bounty is inevitable for a country of continental dimensions. What is truly striking are

the temporal variations in our water availability, both within the agricultural year and

from one year to the next. Whereas spatial unevenness necessitates heavy investment

in long distance transfer of water from the more endowed to the less endowed tracts,

temporal unevenness makes sizable investments in water storage works imperative.

Lodha N.R.S. et al. (1989)67 had discussed on ‘Canal Administration and Main

System Versus Farm Systems Linkages in a Newly Commenced Irrigation Project in a

Tribal Belt of Rajasthan’. This study pointed out that the majority of the farmers have

knowledge about the hazards of excess use of water. The farmers, by and large,

welcome services designed to impart better knowledge of water use technology in

relation to other technological inputs. Generally no conflict arises and if at all any

conflict occurs the same is resolved by farmers themselves. Farmers are aware of

technological gap and the need to bridge it. The extension services need adequate

strengthening in the project area. The high degree of recognition between Main

system Managers and farmers followed by effective but informal farm level

cooperation and the right rationale of tribal farmers on proper water use and

technology adoption widen the scope for development of tribal areas through

irrigation projects.

65 Chikara I.J. and Singh (1986), “Optimisation of Land and Water Resources in Semi and Tropics of

Hisar District in Haryana”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 41(4), pp.548-549. 66 Dhawan B.D. (1989), “Water Resource Management in India: Issues and Dimensions”, Indian

Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sep., pp. 235-240. 67 Lodha N.R.S. Solanki A.S. and Varghese K.A. (1989), “Canal Administration and Main System

Versus Farm Systems Linkages in a Newly Commenced Irrigation Project in a Tribal Belt of Rajasthan”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sep., pp.292-293.

37

Desai S.N. Birari K.S. and Patil P.D. (1989)68 attempted to study in the paper

on ‘Role of Irrigation Layout to Check Over-Irrigation’ and the study revealed that

absence of appropriate land shaping and grading, improper maintenance of field

channels, water availability time, uneven flow of water, lack of training in water

management, absence of improved crop production technology and knowledge of

water measuring devices were the major causes of over-irrigation.

Singh A.J. and Joshi A.S. (1989)69 examine in their article on ‘Important

Aspects of Economics of Irrigation in India with Special Reference to Punjab State’.

The study has shown that the progress of irrigation development has been rather

sluggish due to inter-state disputes and lack of adequate resources. It has been

suggested that irrigation should be converted in to a central subject or the riparian

principles should be followed to avoid inter-state disputes. Further, the study shows

that the potential created should be fully utilized.

Hirashima S. and Gooneratne W. (1990)70 in their book on ‘Irrigation and

Water Management in Asia’ pointed out that the existing irrigation facilities operate

far below their actual potential is well recognized in many countries. While

continuing under-performance contributes to a significant loss of production and

employment, prevailing management deficiencies have also resulted in widening

inequality in access to irrigation water and in income disparities. It has been noted

that an increase of as much 20 per cent in total production can be achieved merely by

improving the performance of irrigation systems through ‘management reform’.

The two case studies from Indonesia and the Philippines clearly demonstrate

the ability of community management systems to efficiently operate and manage

small irrigation facilities by mobilization of local resources (which include not only

labour but also financial and material resources), maximizing production and

employment through effective and regular system maintenance and efficient

management of resources by strict allocation of water and judicious crop planning and

68 Desai S.N. Birari K.S. and Patil P.D. (1989), “Role of Irrigation Layout to Check Over-Irrigation”,

Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sep. p.294. 69 Singh A.J. and Joshi A.S. (1989), “Important Aspects of Economics of Irrigation in India with

Special Reference to Punjab State”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sept., p. 264.

70 Hirashima S. and Gooneratne W. (1990), “Irrigation and Water Management in Asia”, edited, Sterling Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, pp. 7-8.

38

ensuring equitable distribution of obligations and benefits. This is successfully

achieved by assessing obligations in proportion to the share of water received by each

user and by strict enforcement of established rules and regulations.

Kay, M.G. (1990)71 made a review on ‘Recent Developments for Improving

Water Management in Surface and Overhead Irrigation’ that for surface irrigation, by

far the most common method of applying water, there are two important technology

related factors which have contributed to this situation. Firstly, there is a lack of good

water management at farm level, primarily because of a poor understanding of the

principles and practices of water application methods and scheduling techniques.

Secondly, irrigation has largely been considered as a separate and distinct activity

from other aspects of production. On the farm conflicts have arisen between the

layout and management of irrigation and the requirements of cultivation and

mechanisation. On larger irrigation schemes, using canal systems to deliver water to

several farms, it has led to inflexible supply oriented systems which are unable to

respond easily and rapidly to changing farm water requirements. This has resulted, all

too often, in poor water distribution and unreliable and/or inadequate water supplies.

However, the efficient use of irrigation water relies as much on the skills of the farmer

as it does on the physical layout of the system.

Niranjan Pant (1990)72 has focused in his article on ‘The Administrative

Aspects of Canal Irrigation of Kosi Project in Bihar’. According to him, ‘it is not

sufficient to set up an irrigation system. The most important task is to evolve an

organizational system which can operate it successfully’. Hence he attributes the gap

in utilization mainly to inefficient management of water supplies at the system level.

The main constraints affecting the efficiency in utilization of water are noted to be

lack of cooperation among the bureaucracy and the beneficiaries, non-completion of

residual work, faulty design of canals and outlets and non-implementation of

warabandi. With regard to the issue of productivity and equity in irrigation systems,

he attributes the gap to faulty statistics and inequality in distribution of water between

71 Kay, M.G. (1990), “Recent Developments for Improving Water Management in Surface and

Overhead Irrigation”, Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam – Printed in The Netherlands, 17, pp. 7-23.

72 Niranjan Pant (1990), “The administrative aspects of canal irrigation of Kosi Project in Bihar”, edited by Mohammed Yousuf, ‘Irrigation Plan Practice Perspective’, Ajanta Publications (India), Jawahar Nagar, Delhi. p. 6.

39

the head reach and tail-end farmers. Inequality in distribution of water lowers the

productivity. He observes that the upper reach farmers resort to multiple wet crops

whereas the tail-end farmers realise only one third of the benefits corresponding to the

more privileged groups. Hence he suggested that inequalities should be removed by

improving the system management.

Maria Saleth R. (1995)73 reviewed the book of Clarence Maloney and

K.V. Raju, ‘Managing Irrigation Together: Practice and Policy in India’, that unless a

radical reform is urgently undertaken to change our present water institution (i.e.,

water policy, water law and water administration), it will be almost impossible to

salvage and sustain our water economy. The emphasis first was given a people-

centered approach to water management - not on any romantic or idealistic grounds

but on practical counts.

The second was the crucial role of social engineering aspects in irrigation

management. Since irrigation is not merely a physical or hydro-geological system but

equally also an economic and social system, a mere engineering perspective could

miss other important aspects like agronomy, economics, sociology, etc., so essential

for improving the performance of the system as a whole.

Thirdly, as the title speaks better, not only the farmers, irrigation officials,

training and technical institutions, and private development agencies need to come

together in managing irrigation but also different segments of the system ranging from

catchments to drainage systems need to be managed together.

Fourthly, the authors highlight a serious legal deficiency, i.e., the unsuitability

of the prevailing Acts for legally registering Water Management Associations

(WMAs). While the involvement of profit precludes their registration under the

Societies and Trust Acts, cumbersome procedures, bureaucratic hurdles, and income

tax problems discourage their registration under the Co-operatives and Trust Acts.

Fifthly, the authors also deal with one of the most crucial technical snags in

ensuring equitable allocation of water and cost by WMAs, i.e., the issue of measuring

water cost effectively at the farm-gate level.

73 Maria Saleth R. (1995), “Managing Irrigation Together: Practice and Policy in India”, Indian

Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. L, No. 4, October – December, pp. 715-717.

40

Sixthly, while the need for WMAs is clear and the policy environment

becomes increasingly favourable for their formation, WMAs are not always

spontaneous except in cases where they face an immediate common threat like severe

water shortage or share a common social bond.

Dewan J.M., Sundarshan K.N. (1996)74 in their book on ‘Irrigation

Management’ pointed out that new development in irrigation technology plus

complementary advances in plant breeding, crop protection, and agronomy packages

have increased productivity and profitability of irrigation agriculture. They stress that

proper irrigation can increase area cropped, promote intercropping and multiple

cropping, ease changes in cropping pattern to more profitable crops, increase yields

by avoiding moisture stress which facilitate profitable use of other inputs and reduce

risks and encourage on - farm investment would facilitate food security.

Dewan J.M., Sudarshan K.N. (1996)75 in their book on ‘Irrigation

Management’ highlighted that ‘Irrigation, being one of the important inputs of

agriculture, becomes an equally important component of the rural infrastructure for

the development. Hence, in any planning for development sufficient weightage has to

be given to irrigation development. It is much so in the case of a country like ours

where agriculture sector is the main stay of the national economy, accounting for

almost half its national income provides employment for a major part of the

population and sustenance to about 70 per cent of it, and yet by and large it depends

on the vagaries of monsoon. The main function of irrigation is to mitigate the impact

of inadequate and irregular rainfall, with wide fluctuations from year to year, which

often results in even semi-famine conditions’.

Dewan J.M., Sudarshan K.N. (1996)76 also mentioned that the average size of

holding in India is as low as 2-3 hectare and that too is handicapped with scattered

plots fields of the farmers. Besides, the condition is further, aggravated on

fragmentation on holdings of the farmers. Further, the imbalance between the

distribution of control over land and the number of dependents on it breeds, social and

economic inequalities. It also leads to unequal access to irrigation water more

74 Dewan, J.M. and Sundarshan, K.N. (1996), “Irrigation Management”, Discovery Publishing

House, New Delhi, p. 14. 75 Ibid, p. 121. 76 Ibid, p. 184.

41

particularly to surface water, i.e. canal, and also to development activities,

institutional facilities, decision making process.

Dewan J.M., Sudarshan K.N. (1996)77 further said that canals were long

thought to be much superior in the quality of irrigation service they can provide.

Experience in recent decades has, however, produced much disillusionment about the

performance of canals. The only group of irrigators in canal commands who usually

have no or few complaint about the quality of irrigation service are in the mid-reach

areas of the system. Those at the head-reach suffer from too much water, especially

below ground surface, contributing over a period of time to water logging, soil

salinity and reduced land productivity; while tail-enders of canal systems are in much

the same situation as tank irrigators - on most canal systems, the irrigation service, if

any, that tail-enders receive is usually neither timely, nor reliable, nor adequate.

Extensive evidence suggest that wells offer better quality irrigation service is that of

control over timing and quantum of water application that they do not enjoy with

canal irrigation. In the case of canal, farmers have to use water when the canal

managers choose to release it or when their turn comes, which may be after a week or

two or more. So farmers prefer to make supplementary use of well water when

possible.

Shekhawat M.S. and Singh K.K. (1997)78 stated in his article on ‘Better

Management of Water’ that in India just 25 percent rain water is being utilized for

irrigation. The overall irrigation efficiency in the canal command area is very low and

there is huge gap between the potential created and exploited. The loss of water is not

only wastage of scarce resource created at huge cost but it results in the twin problems

of water logging and soil salinization. India’s crop production suffers not only from

drought, but also from unscientific use of the available irrigation water. They have

suggested methods of water application in the following way. Irrigation water may be

applied to crops by flooding it on the field surface, by applying it beneath the soil

surface, by spraying it under pressure or by applying it in drops. The water supply,

the type of soil, the topography of the land and the crop to be irrigated determine the

correct method of irrigation to be used. Whatever the method of irrigation, it is

necessary to design the system for the most efficient use of water by the crop. 77 Ibid, pp.106-107. 78 Shekhawat M.S. and Singh K.K. (1997), “Better Management of Water”, Yojana, Vol. 41, No. 7,

July, pp.17-20.

42

Dhawan B.D. (1998)79 assessed on the title ‘India’s Irrigation Sector: Myths

and Realities’ that just as in studies pertaining to cost of cultivation where we use a

couple of cost variants, we may have to do something similar while costing canal

irrigation. Three cost variants readily come to mind: Cost I, Cost II and Cost III. Cost

I could be viewed as the book value cost of canal irrigation that is aptly conveyed by

the following expression:

Cost I = WE + r.K + d.K

where WE stands for annual working expenses (excluding interest charge),

K stands for cumulative capital outlay,

r stands for interest rate,

d stands for depreciation rate.

He also mentioned that a widely held view is that under-pricing of public

irrigation in India is due to political reasons. This can best be done by focusing on the

determinants of farmers’ ability to pay for canal waters. Benefits exceeding costs is a

necessary but not a sufficient condition for full cost recovery from canal beneficiaries.

He also said that canals act as a great source of “artificial’ groundwater

recharge that helps in mitigating the rising pressure on groundwater resources and

another incidental benefit of canal irrigation is the reduction in instability in farm

economy. This stability gain implies reduction in year-to-year fluctuations in crop

area, crop yield, crop output, farm incomes, and farm employment.

Ratna Reddy (1998)80 argued in the title on ‘Institutional Imperatives and

Coproduction Strategies for Large Irrigation Systems in India’ hitherto the debate on

irrigation management in India is polarised between ‘top down (centralised) and

‘bottoms up’ (farmers’ participation) approaches. But institutional reforms within the

irrigation department are not given due importance in the recent debates

(Vaidyanathan, 1996). Instead, lack of willingness and low ability of the farmers to

pay for irrigation water are often used as excuses for continuing irrigation subsidies at

the top level(especially at the state level). He argues that this is a false dichotomy and

an integrated (‘topdown’ and ‘bottoms up’) approach is necessary for the success of

pricing and institutional mechanisms in irrigation management. 79 Dhawan B.D. (1998), “India’s Irrigation Sector: Myths and Realities”, Indian Journal of

Agricultural Economics, Vol.53, No.1, Jan-March, pp. 4-10. 80 Ratna Reddy (1998), “Institutional Imperatives and Coproduction Strategies for Large Irrigation

Systems in India”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.53, No. 3, July-September, p.440.

43

Pasricha N.S. (2001)81 viewed in his article on ‘Growth in Irrigation

Development and Fertiliser Use in India-Impact on Food Production’ that the irrigated

area for all crops has increased rapidly since the beginning of Green Revolution.

Despite the fact that total irrigated land in the country increased tremendously, but the

per capita irrigated land will drop from 0.047 ha. in 2000 to 0.028 ha. in the year

2030. He observed that meeting the challenges on the food-front in the coming

decades will depend on the quantum and direction in investments made today.

However, unless considerations of ecological sustainability are coupled with those of

economic efficiency in both development and dissemination of news technology, the

future of agriculture will be not very bright. Therefore, producing more food from less

land, water and energy is a task that will call for the integration of the best in modern

technology with ecological strength of traditional wisdom of farming practices.

Tewari D.N. (2001)82 in his research article on ‘Optimum Use of Water

Resource in Agriculture’ pointed out that to feed a population of one billion and

growing and the goal of ‘Food for All’ is to be achieved land and water care

constitutes the foundation for building. There are both costs and benefits attached to

use of water for increasing agricultural production. India has no option except to

produce more from less per capita arable land and irrigation water in this century.

With the net sown area almost stagnant in the country at about 142 million

hectares and 63 per cent of the cultivated land under rain fed, further expansion of

irrigation, including additional irrigation through modernization / renovation of

irrigation capacity is needed as a critical input to achieve the targeted growth rate of

agricultural production.

Dinesh K. Marothia (2003)83 addressed in the his article on ‘Enhancing

Sustainable Management of Water Resource in Agriculture Sector: The Role of

Institutions’ that investment in canal and groundwater irrigation development has

enhanced the productive capacity of land resources which has in turn enabled the

81 Pasricha N.S. (2001), “Growth in Irrigation Development and Fertiliser Use in India-Impact on

Food Production”, Agriculture Situation in India, Vol. LXIII, No.2, May, pp. 46-49. 82 Tewari D.N. (2001), “Optimum Use of Water Resource in Agriculture”, Yojana, Vol. 45, No. 1,

pp. 21-23. 83 Dinesh K. Marothia (2003), “Enhancing Sustainable Management of Water Resource in

Agriculture Sector: The Role of Institutions”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.58, No. 3, July-September, pp. 410-414.

44

nation to achieve steady agricultural growth. However, the impacts of irrigation

systems, particularly of canal irrigation, are besieged with a number of management

and environmental problems. Management problems related to the allocation and use

of water within the distribution network are exacerbated by poor maintenance and

degraded infrastructure. Some of the environmental problems associated with the

irrigation systems include water logging, salinity and weed infestation in many

projects are not commensurate with the large public investment and subsides given to

the farmers (Chambers, 1988; Gulati and Narayanan, 2003; Vaidyanathan, 1994;

Marothia, 1997; 2002).

Diwan (2003)84 analysed in the title on ‘Conflict Resolution in Water Sector

through Institutional Development’ that an inequity in Irrigation water supply that in

existing irrigation projects there is often considerable inequity in distribution of water

to the disadvantage of the farmers in the lower reaches of the command. The

anomalous situation arises over a period of time as the upstream farmers gradually

switch over to high water consuming crops like sugarcane and paddy because of

incentives and higher returns offered by market forces. In extreme cases, because of

the riparian rights of these farmers, established over the years, the objectives of

original project planning in terms of area covered and cropping pattern are only

partially realized besides adverse environmental impacts like water logging and soil

salinity. This leads to conflicts between the irrigation department and the lower-end

farmers. In some areas where the farmers are resourceful, excessive ground pumping

is resorted to, which ultimately leads to violation of permissible limits of ground

water exploitation fixed by the concerned authorities. These areas are declared as

“Grey” or “Black” to prohibit further exploitation. The unrestricted changes in

cropping pattern adopted by upper-end farmers is difficult to regulate through

administrative or legislative interventions. This could only be achieved through

mutual understanding and cooperation among the farmers through institutional

development at the farmers levels in the form of Water Users Association (WUA)

which should also take the responsibility of operating the distribution system. There

84 Diwan (2003) “Conflict Resolution in Water Sector through Institutional Development” edited

Kamata Prasad, ‘Water Resources and Sustainable Development Challenges of 21st Century’, Shipra Publications, Delhi, pp. 348-349.

45

are wide disparities in water allowances in different regions. In some projects in South

India it is 50 cusec / 1000 acre where as in Haryana and Rajasthan it is as low as 3

cusec / 1000 acre. Any reduction in water allowances, where these are high, could

lead to serious law and order problem. Such issues would need to be addressed

through farmers education/ training in water use technologies and confidence building

measures.

Dinesh Kumar M. (2003)85 in his article on ‘Demand Management in the Face

of Growing Water Scarcity and Conflicts in India Institutional and Policy Alternatives

for Future’ expressed that in India, irrigation water is heavily subsidized. The annual

irrigation subsidies are estimated to be around 5400 crore rupees. After independence,

the Indian governments saw irrigation as a means of welfare and were reluctant to

raise the irrigation fee charged to poor farmers. As irrigation services declined and

the agencies weakened, farmers became reluctant to pay the water charges (Brewer

et al., 1999). Also, the charges are paid on an acreage basis and are not reflective of

the volume of water used. It is believed that the lack of linkages between volumetric

water use and water charges, and lack of agency capability to recover water charges

and penalize free riders create an incentive for overuse or wasteful practices.

A few successes have been seen in areas where farmers have shown the

willingness to pay more for irrigation services to the Water User Associations

(Ballabh et al., 1999). A recent analysis of Gujarat shows that the negative impact of

rice in the cost of irrigation water can be offset by the differential yield due to

increased reliability of irrigation water delivery (Kumar and Singh, 2001). Thus the

rates for canal water can be increased to substantially higher levels, provided the

quality of irrigation water is enhanced. But, water pricing for irrigation can impact

poor farmers adversely, if pitched at higher levels. One of the ways to reduce the

negative impacts on access equity is to introduce a progressive pricing system.

85 Dinesh Kumar M. (2003), “Demand Management in the Face of Growing Water Scarcity and

Conflicts in India Institutional and Policy Alternatives for Future” edited by Kanchan Chopra, Hanumantha Rao Ramprasad Senguptha Indian Society for Ecological Economics, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, pp.115-124.

46

Jayanta Bandyopadhyay and Bidisha Mallik (2003)86 in their article on

‘Ecology and Economics in Sustainable Water Resource Development in India’

mentioned that uncontrolled and ill-informed extension of the deep tube-well and

energized pumping technologies for irrigation in agriculture has, for instance, led to

groundwater over-draughts, incurring abstraction level far exceeding the recharge.

The ecological implications of this range from the drying up of dug-wells, dwindling

base flows in rivers in the lean season, disappearing wetland areas, land subsidence, a

declining groundwater level that falls below the depth of shallow wells, and a

mobilization of low-quality water sources into the fresh aquifers.

Vayas, V.S. (2003)87 in his book on ‘India’s Agrarian Structure, Economic

Policies and Sustainable Development’ quoted that according to the Central Water

Commission, India receives average annual precipitation of 4000 Billion Cubic

Meters (BCM). However, the total annual utilizable water resource of the country is

estimated at 1122 BCM or 28 per cent of the average annual precipitation.

Bulk of this water is used for irrigation, which accounted for 83 per cent of the

total water use in the country (in 1990). Use of water for irrigation has expanded

phenomenally during the last 21 years or so. The net irrigated area increased from

31.1 mha. in 1970-71 to 53.5 mha in 1995-96. The area irrigated more than once has

increased from 7.1 mha. (in 1970-71) to 18 mha. (in 1995-96). Now approximately 38

per cent of the gross cropped area in the country is irrigated. In three states in the

country more than 2/3 of the net sown area is now irrigated. These states are Punjab

(93 per cent), Haryana (76 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (66 per cent) (CMIE,

Agriculture, September 1999 Statistical Abstract of India, various issues).

Abdeen Mustafa Omer (2004)88 stated in his article on ‘Water Resources

Development and Management in the Republic of the Sudan’ that the most important

research and development policies which have been adopted in different fields of

86 Jayanta Bandyopadhyay and Bidisha Mallik (2003), “Ecology and Economics in Sustainable

Water Resource Development in India”, edited by Kanchan Chopra, Hanumantha Rao Ramprasad Senguptha Indian Society for Ecological Economics, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, pp.67-68.

87 Vayas, V.S. (2003), “India’s Agrarian Structure, Economic Policies and Sustainable Development”, Academic Foundation, New Delhi, pp.102-103.

88 Abdeen Mustafa Omer (2004), “Water Resources Development and Management in the Republic of the Sudan”, Water and Energy International, Central Board of Irrigation and Power, New Delhi, Vol. 61, No.4, October-December, pp. 29-30.

47

water resources are : i) the water resource; ii) irrigation development; iii) the re-use of

drainage water and groundwater; iv) preventive maintenance of existing facilities,

including canals; v) aquatic weed control and river channel development and

vi) protection plans for water resources in general. To him privatisation is part of a

solution to improve services in delivery of water and of sanitation sector. At present,

there is a transitional situation characterised by: i) A resistance to payment of water

charges; ii) insufficient suitable law and inadequate law enforcement; iii) insufficient

capacities to provide services; and iv) inadequate interaction between the private

citizen, business opportunities, and government.

Rao S.V.N. et al. (2004)89 observed in their article on ‘Water Use of Surface

and Groundwater for Coastal and Deltaic Systems’ (2004) that management of water

resources in coastal and deltaic regions irrigated by run-of-the-river schemes involves

two issues: First, availability of water resources in space and time, and Second,

seawater intrusion. Improper management arising out of successive irrigation or

increased groundwater exploitation often leads to water logging or seawater intrusion

problems respectively. Any conjunctive use model must address these two issues for

application to coastal and deltaic regions.

Sivanappan, R.K. (2005)90 has elucidated in the article on “Ensuring Water for

All” that water has emerged as the most crucial factor for sustaining the agricultural

sector in the coming years.

India accounts for 16 percent of the world’s human population and nearly 30

per cent of the cattle with only 2.4 per cent of the land area and 4 per cent of water

resources. Even if the full irrigation potential is exploited, about 50 per cent of the

country’s cultivated area will remain unirrigated, particularly with current level of

irrigation efficiency.

The availability of water per person per year is about 2200 M3 for India and

about 800 M3 for Southern States. The share of water for agriculture would reduce

further with increasing demand from the other sectors. According to him

89 Rao S.V.N., Murty Bhallamudi S., Thandaveswara B.S. and Mishra G.C. (2004), “Water Use of

Surface and Groundwater for Coastal and Deltaic Systems”, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, ASCE, Vol. 130, No. 3, May / June, pp. 434-440.

90 Sivanappan, R.K. (2005), “Ensuring Water for All”, The Hindu Survey of Indian Agriculture 2006, pp.154-156.

48

inappropriate policies leading to indiscriminate use of water, lack of appropriate

technologies, poor technology transfer and inadequate and defective institutional

support systems have led to serious agro-ecological and sustainability problems in

irrigated areas. The Water Use Efficiency (WUE) in Indian agriculture, at about

30-40 per cent, is one of the lowest in the world, against 55 per cent in China.

The International water Management Institute forecasts that by 2025, 33 per

cent of India’s population will live under absolute water scarcity condition. The per

capita water availability, in terms of average utilizable water resources in the country,

has dropped drastically from 6008 M3 in 1947 to 2200 M3 in 2005 and is expected to

dwindle to 1450 M3 by 2025. The National Commission on integrated water

resources development has assessed that about 450 million tonnes of food grains will

required by the year 2050. In 2050, the cropping intensity should be about 150 per

cent and the percentage of irrigation to gross cropped area about 50 per cent.

This scenario can be changed by adopting water management practices in

surface irrigation and introducing drip and sprinkler irrigation as recommended by the

Task Force on micro irrigation (2004).

He further pointed out that the methods of irrigation and cropping pattern are

the same old ones in spite of various technologies / crops are available and hence the

wastage of water with less productivity.

More than 60 per cent of the irrigation water is used only for rice and wheat

crops in India and all other crops use only 40 per cent. In Tamil Nadu about 75-80 per

cent of water is used for growing paddy and 3 per cent for sugarcane crop use.

The following strategies are suggested to ensure adequate water for irrigation.

- land leveling smoothing to apply water uniformly especially in paddy

irrigation.

- SRI method for paddy to reduce water by 50 per cent and increase yield by

30-35 per cent.

- Efficient sprinkler method of irrigation to apply water for closely spaced crops

other than paddy in tank and canal irrigation systems.

- Clearing water ways and improving the efficiency of irrigation systems.

- Managerial: Better irrigation scheduling by knowing how much and when to

irrigate the crops.

49

Reclamation of sewage and effluent water and using it for irrigation as in the

case of Israel where 65 per cent of domestic waste water is used for crop production.

- Agronomic: Selecting crop varieties/ species with high yields per litre of water

consumed. Better cropping pattern to suit soils, climate and quality of water.

- Optimal irrigation efficiency is about 55-60 per cent in canal & tank system

i.e., in surface irrigation and about 75 per cent in ground water schemes. Thus

there is a scope of increasing water use in irrigation by about 35 per cent.

If the improvement in efficiency is about 10 per cent the saved water will be

sufficient to meet 40 per cent of the domestic and industrial water requirements.

He concluded that with the above measures and with proper demand

management, economy in water use and extensive local water harvesting and

watershed development, it is possible to ensure adequate water for all farmers in the

country in the coming years.

Koli P.A. and Bodhale A.C. (2006)91 argued in their book on ‘Irrigation

Development in India’ that successful cultivation is not possible in large part of our

country; due to a lack of irrigation facilities. In the absence of such facilities, there

are large areas in the country which often produce one crop.

John Briscoe and Malik R.P.S. (2007)92 have discussed in the article on

‘India’s Water Economy An Overview’. According to them irrigation is the

predominant user more than 80 per cent) of water resources in India. The performance

of irrigated agriculture, which contributes more than 55 per cent of agricultural

output, will be the most important influence on the objectives of growth, employment

generation, food security, and poverty reduction. Although India has one of the largest

irrigation systems in the world, irrigation development has not been impressive over

time.

India has a highly seasonal pattern of rainfall. With 50 per cent of precipitation

falling in just fifteen days and over 90 per cent of river flows in just four months.

India can still store only relatively small quantities of its fickle rainfall. Whereas arid-

rich countries (such as the United States and Australia) have built over 5000 cubic

91 Koli P.A. and Bodhale A.C. (2006), “Irrigation Development in India”, Serials Publications, New

Delhi, p. 1. 92 Op. Cit., pp.1-9.

50

metres of water storage per capita, and middle-income countries like South Africa,

Mexico, and China can store about 1000 cubic metres per capita, India’s dams can

store only 200 cubic metres per person. India can store only about 30 days of rainfall,

compared to 900 days in major river basins in arid areas of developed countries.

Water can be transformed from a curse to a blessing only if major investments

are made in water infrastructure (in conjunction with soft adaptive measures for living

more intelligently with floods). Recognizing this, the Prime Minister has recently

called for the establishment of a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for the

Brahmaputra which would combine major water infrastructure with modern

management approaches to make water a stimulus for growth.

A World Bank study of Tamil Nadu, for example, shows that if a flexible

water allocation system were adopted, the state economy in 2020 would be 20 per

cent larger than under the current, rigid, allocation procedures. A central element of a

new approach must be that users have well-defined entitlements to water. The broader

messages are that the ideas of the 1991 economic reforms must be drilled down from

the regulatory and financial sectors into the real sectors (including water sector) if

India is to have sustainable economic growth, and that the role of the Indian water

state must change from that of builder and controller to creator of an enabling

environment, and facilitator of the actions of water users large and small.

John Briscoe and Malik R.P.S. (2007)93 mentioned in the book on ‘Hand Book

of Water Resources in India Development, Management, and Strategies’ with regard

to water stress and scarcity, the temporal and special variability of rainfall in India is a

well-recognized fact. The average annual precipitation is 1170 mm but varies from

11,000 mm in the north eastern region to 100 mm in the western desert. Fifty per cent

of the precipitation takes place in 15 days or so and less that 100 hours altogether in a

year. In a monsoon dependent rainfall environment, 90 to 95 per cent of the flows in

rivers occur in the four months of June to September.

The per capita availability of water has been steadily declining since

independence from 6008 m3 to 1829 m3 as of now. A water availability of less than

1700 m3 per capita is termed as a water stress condition while less than 1000 m3 is

water scarce. Broadly, the breakdown of 1000 m3 is 600 m3 for food security, many

93 Op. Cit., pp.63-64.

51

basins like Pennar and Sabarmati are already water scarce. One of the main reasons

for water problems in the country is the low per capita storage (only about 200 m3) as

compared to Russia (6103), Australia (4733), Brazil (3145), Turkey (1739), Mexico

(1245), Spain (1410), China (1111), and South Africa (753). For water stress to be

avoided, a minimum per capita storage of 750 to 1000 m3 needs to be achieved. India

has no option but to go ahead with its dam construction programme. So far 177 BCM

storage has been created and another 77 BCM is from projects under construction.

Planned projects will add another 132 BCM. All this totals up to not even 400 m3.

Supplemental measures like transbasin water diversion, water conservation, and

rainwater harvesting would need to be adopted to make up for the deficiency in

storage. There is also concern about the indiscriminate mining of sand from river beds

in some states leading to groundwater depletion.

Lakshmi Narasaiah M. (2007)94 in his book on ‘Irrigation and Economic

Growth’ said that a sharp inequality in water supplies between farmers in the head

reaches of irrigation systems and those located downstream is another manifestation

of poor performance. Investigations in the Tungabhadra Irrigation scheme reveal that

the tail-end of a major distributory commanding 25 per cent of the total area, received

approximately 20-40 per cent of the targeted discharge while the upper reaches got

more than their share.

To him lack of maintenance has caused many systems to fall into disrepair,

further inhibiting performance. Over time, distribution canals have become silted up,

increasing the likelihood of breaching, damage to out lets and leading to salt build-up

in the soil.

Andharia J.A. (2008)95 in his article on ‘Agricultural Production and Problems

of Agriculture in India’ pointed out that food and water are considered as the most

essential for maintaining our lives. To him India’s major food problem is irrigation.

He observed that irrigation in India has yet remained dependent upon rainwater and a

seasonal one. A huge amount of plan outlay has spent on small, medium and large

irrigation schemes in India during Five Year Plans. Yet, irrigated land has not been

covered fully.

94 Lakshmi Narasaiah M. (2007), “Irrigation and Economic Growth”, Discovery Publishing House,

New Delhi pp.2-3. 95 Andharia J.A. (2008), “Agricultural Production and Problems of Agriculture in India”, Southern

Economist, Volume 47, Number 11, October 1, pp.7-9.

52

Ayan Hazra (2008)96 studied on ‘Socio-Economic Evaluation of Water

Management Activities in Chhattisgarh’ and he found out that in the traditional mind

set of top down communication processes and farmers are regarded as passive

receptor, ignorant, conservative and unwilling to change up with new paradigms.

They have well tested and proven traditional technologies for their own specific local

situations. Therefore, farmers should be allowed to play significant role in the

decision making process. In such situation, instead of an insensitive or inflexible top

down approach, there should be shift to faster mutual understanding and cooperation

through bottom up approach of consultations. For them the IWDP watershed projects

have checked soil erosion, arrested runoff, improved in-situ moisture conservation,

increased productivity, increased water availability and improvement in local ecology

and hydrology in Durg, Raigarh, Raipur Rajnandgaon and Sarguja districts.

Pandey M.P. and Ghosh A. (2008)97 in the article on ‘Challenges to the Future

of Agriculture-Global Perspective’ pointed out that water is becoming a looming

crisis. By 2025 scarcity of water world threaten 30 per cent of the human population

as 70 per cent of water withdrawals are used in irrigated agriculture globally. Africa

and Asia have experienced an increasing shortage in percaput water availability.

Irrigation demand is expected to increase keeping pace with the need to increase

agriculture production. Irrigated agriculture needs to be increased by 23 million

hectares, i.e. 19 per cent over and above the area lost under water logging and

salinization. The majority of the areas would fall in South Asia. About 35 per cent of

the land under assured irrigation is at risk due to poor management. They suggested

that farmers ensuring proper drainage and irrigation design can promote efficient use

of water. Small-scale schemes executed by local government could reduce many

problems while backed by national policies that effectively support appropriate

technologies, credit, marketing, energy supplies and maintenance of equipment

suitable ecology based cropping program therein.

96 Ayan Hazra (2008), “Socio-Economic Evaluation of Water Management Activities in

Chattisgarh”, Journal of Agricultural Issues, Vol. 13(1): 80-86, pp. 82-84. 97 Pandey M.P. and Ghosh A. (2008), “Challenges to the Future of Agriculture-Global Perspective”,

Indian Farming, Vol. 58, No. 7, October, pp. 7-10.

53

Jat M.L. et al. (2009)98 in their research article titled on ‘Water Resources

Management in a Water Deficit State’ that there is a big gap between water resources

available and which is used in Rajasthan. The water resources availability, therefore,

needs to be increased by adopting appropriate strategy in the state. The strategies are

1. Rainwater harvesting through farm ponds.

2. Recharging the ground water e.g. recharge through dead wells, nala bunding and

anicuts are found to be very suitable for recharging ground water.

3. Conservation of stored water in reservoirs and also in small water harvesting

structures.

4. Technique for compartmentation is an effective tool for water saving.

5. Increasing water use efficiency through micro irrigation systems saving in water is

possible if techniques like sprinkler and drip are adopted. By drip saving in water

use can be of the order of 40-50 per cent and by sprinkler 8.3-34.7 per cent and

gave higher yields.

6. Legislative measures for management of ground water: Unchecked and unplanned

exploitation of ground water, in some parts of the country, has resulted into

problems of salinity intrusion on the sea coast and high salinity in other areas.

Gargi Parsai (2010)99 reported in the title on ‘Double Farm Growth Rate to

Ensure Food Security Sustainable Technologies that can Produce More Need’. He

pointed out that India commands about 2.3 per cent of the world’s land area and about

4 per cent of the earth’s fresh water resources, but feeds 17 per cent of the world

population. This puts tremendous pressure on our resources and makes the need for

newer and better technologies even more critical and which could produce more from

less. He stressed the three fundamental principles of sustainable agriculture, viz.,

i. a live soil ii. Protection of biodiversity and iii. Precision farming and nutrient cycle.

98 Jat M.L., Jain P.M., Sharma S.K. and Jain L.K. (2009), “Water Resources Management in a Water

Deficit State”, Journal Indian Water Society, Vol. 29, No. 3, July, p. 6. 99 Gargi Parsai, Manmohan (2010), “Double Farm Growth Rate to Ensure Food Security Sustainable

Technologies that can Produce More Need”, The Hindu, June 20, p. 9.

54

PRODUCITON AND PRODUCTIVITY

Mahajan V.S. (1990)100 in the book on ‘Agriculture and Rural Economy in

India’ stated that availability of extensive cultivation facilities is most essential for

increase in agricultural production. The supply of land being inelastic, accelerated

growth in agricultural production is possible only through the realization of increased

crops productivity, which, in turn, is highly dependent upon irrigation.

He focused on the benefit derived from canal irrigation by farmers from

selected villages and also how far it was possible to recover the cost spent on the

improvement of their lands so that they got the optimum benefit from the canal

irrigation. He concluded that the irrigation benefit derived by the farmers as a

consequence of land improvement was immense and which was also reflected in the

rise of their income from higher farm output.

And also added that the benefit could have been still higher if there was more

assured water supply in the canal. This shows that canal irrigation is most suitable

when regular supply of water to these canals is assured.

Robert Mendelsohn et al. (1994)101 studied in the United States on ‘The

Impact of Global Warming on Agriculture: A Ricardian Analysis’ that examines the

impact of climate and other variables on land values and farm revenues. The analysis

suggests that climate has a systematic impact on agricultural rents through

temperature and precipitation. Irrigation is left out of the regression because irrigation

is clearly an endogenous reaction to climate. However, when include, irrigation is a

strongly positive variable, increasing land values substantially; which is not

surprising, given the crucial importance of irrigation in many areas of the arid west

and suggested that global warming may be slightly beneficial to American

Agriculture.

Dewan J.M. (1996)102 argued in the title on ‘Irrigation Management’ that the

availability of water for irrigation is not sole factor for increased production. In

Madhya Pradesh where irrigated wheat is much less, the average yields are low. He

100 Mahajan V.S. (1990), “Agriculture and Rural Economy in India”, Deep & Deep Publications, New

Delhi, p.6. 101 Robert Mendelsohn, William D, Nordhans and Daigee Shaw (1994), “The Impact of Global

Warming on Agriculture: A Ricardian Analysis”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 84, Number 4, pp. 753-769.

102 Op. Cit., pp. 19-20.

55

explained from the fact that Haryana and U.P. having created high percentage of

irrigation have not registered increase in production as compared to Punjap. This

point reflects to the fact that for optimal water use efficiency a complete crop

production technology is needed in which water is one of the important components.

Kushwaha K.S. et al. (1997)103 in their research article on ‘Impact of Prudent

Canal Water Use on Land Utilisation Pattern and Productivity in District Ghazirpur,

Uttar Pradesh’, found that the productivity of paddy (kharif), wheat, vegetables, green

fodder and moong (rabi and zaid) has gone up but for coarse grains in kharif and peas

and gram in rabi their productivity has gone down. The total production has increased

by 39 per cent between 1990-91 and 1995-96 due to prudent use of canal water.

Vaidyanathan A. (1999)104 in the book on ‘Water resources management,

Institutions and Irrigation Development in India’ attempted that water control

institutions, their role and evolution sorted out the key elements of the physical, the

technological and the socio-economic environment that have a bearing on the nature

of the water control problem and hence on the institutions for handling it. To him the

ultimate purpose of water control is to help increase agriculture production, it is

appropriate to begin by spelling out the relation between water control and

agricultural production.

Vaidyanathan A., (1999)105 pointed out that the precise magnitude of the

increase in productivity per unit area (and in total production) depends not only on the

extent of the water control system and its quality, but also on several other factors,

notably climate, soils and the genetic characteristics of the crop varieties grown. And

yield per hectare is likely to be higher at any given level of nutrient use, and the

maximum amount of nutrients that the plants can use will be also higher under

irrigated conditions than under rain-fed cultivation.

Narayanamoorthy A. (2000)106 studied ‘Farmers Education and Productivity

of Crops in the Villages of Pudukkotai District of Tamil Nadu’. He found that

farmers’ education has only a limited role in increasing the productivity of the corps.

103 Kushwaha K.S., Singh G.N., Gupta B.K., Vinod Kumar and K. Prasad (1997), “Impact of Prudent

Canal Water Use on Land Utilisation Pattern and Productivity in District Ghazirpur, Uttar Pradesh”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.52, No.3, July-September, p.548.

104 Op. Cit., p. 4. 105 Op. Cit., p. 7. 106 Narayanamoorthy A. (2000), “Farmers’ Education and Productivity of Crops: A New Approach”,

Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 55, No. 3, July-Sept., pp. 511-518.

56

The most important factors influencing the productivity are fertilizers and irrigation.

The efficient use of irrigation has a positive and also significant influence on paddy

output.

Archana Mathur S. et al. (2006)107 pointed out in the paper on ‘Status of

Agriculture in India Trends and Prospects’ that the role of public investment /

government expenditure on agriculture as being the crucial determinant in stepping up

the rate of growth of agricultural production. Given other factors a constant increase

in public investment to 15 per cent per annum should lead to agricultural growth of 4

per cent, which is concomitant with the project the projected growth rate in the

Eleventh Plan. They concluded that enhanced government expenditure particularly on

investment in rural infrastructure comprising irrigation and water management,

processing, storage and marketing, timely supplies of improved inputs, credit,

research and extension services and the upward trend in this direction is required to

continue.

Subbaiah (2006)108 in his article on ‘Several Options Being Tapped’ pointed

out that the challenge ahead is sustaining the productivity growth without endangering

the natural resource base. Projection of India’s rice production target for 2025 AD is

140 million tones, which can be achieved only by increasing the rice production by

over 2.0 million tones per year in the coming decade. This has to be done against the

backdrop of diminishing natural resource bases like land, labour and water, which is a

challenge. Water is becoming increasingly scarce and most of the Asian nations

including India are expected to face serious water scarcity in the next 10-15 years

thus, threatening the sustainability of irrigated rice production in Asia. Aerobic rice is

a new concept aimed at decreasing water requirement in rice production.

Onyenweaku C.E. and Ohajianya D.O. (2007)109 in their research work on

‘Technical Efficiency of Rice Farmers in South Eastern Nigeria’ pointed out that the

wide variations in the level of technical efficiency indicate that ample opportunities

exist for farmers to increase their productivity and income through improvements in 107 Archana Mathur S., Surajit Das, Subhalakshmi Sircar (2006), “Status of Agriculture in India

Trends and Prospects”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XLI, No. 52, December 30, pp. 5337-5344.

108 Subbaiah (2006), “Several Options Being Tapped”, The Hindu Survey of Indian Agriculture 2006, p. 50.

109 Onyenweaku C.E. and Ohajianya D.O. (2007), “Technical Efficiency of Rice Farmers in South Eastern Nigeria” Indian Journal of Economics, Vol. LXXXVIII, Part I issue No: 348 July 2007, p.51.

57

technical efficiency. Credit, education, farming experience, farm size, membership of

farmer’s associations, co operative society, use of improved rice varieties, extension

contact system of production and timeliness of farm operations were found to be

positively and significantly related to technical efficiency. The study found no

relationship between age, tenancy status and off-farm employment and technical

efficiency in the study area.

Swaminathan M.S. (2009)110 opined in the title on ‘Monsoon Blues may hit

Rice Output by 15 pc’ that due to poor monsoon and scanty rains are likely to lower

rice production by 15 per cent this kharif season. Kharif rice production in 2008-09

was 86 million tonnes. If there is 15 per cent decline in production this year, rice

output may be about 73 million tonnes. Latest Government data show the sowing of

paddy across the country has fallen by 21 per cent to 114.63 lakh hectares as on July

17, compared with 145.21 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. Jharkhand, West

Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are the worst affected states.

Jelle Bruinsma111 in his book on World Agricultural Towards 2015/2030 At

FAO Perspective, ‘crop production and natural resource use’ observed that share of

irrigated production in total crop production of developing countries has been

increasing. In 1997-1999, the share of arable land is 21 percent and it is expected to

increase to 22 in 2030. Similarly the share of irrigated production in total production

is 40 percent in 1997-1999 and it is expected to move to 47 percent in 2030.

Yehuda Shevah112 in his research work on “Irrigation and Agriculture

experience and Options in Israel” pointed out that Israel make irrigation imperative

for the development of intensive agriculture and food production available renewable

potential is already fully utilized, while the widening gap between supply and demand

is made up with marginal resources especially reclaimed municipal waste water which

is becoming an increasing important source of water for agricultural and industrial

purposes. 110 Swaminathan M.S. (2009), “Monsoon Blues may hit Rice Output by 15 pc”, The New Indian

Express, July 20, p. 13. 111 Jelle Bruinsma, World Agricultural Towards 2015/2030 at FAO Perspective, “crop production and

natural resource use” Food and Fertilizer Technology Centre for Asia and Pacific Region (FFTC) published research article on “Improving water use efficiency in Asian agriculture”.

<http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/esag/docs/y4252e.pdf > 09.07.2009 112 Yehuda Shevah “Irrigation and Agriculture experience and Options in Israel”, TAHAL Consulting

Eng. Ltd., Isreal, Thematic Review IV. 2:Assessment of Irrigation Options. <http://oldwww.wii.gov.in/eianew/eia/dams%20and%20development/kbase/contrib/opt159.pdf> 08.09.2010

58

THEORETICAL ASPECTS

Hanumantha Rao (2003)113 in his article on ‘Sustainable Use of Water for

Irrigation in Indian Agriculture’ pointed out that water savings in global crop

production in the last few decades have accrued indirectly from a rise in crop yields

and very little directly from improvement in water-use-efficiency (CGIR, 2001a).

This is particularly so in developing countries like India where the improvement in

irrigation efficiency has been very slow. A clear focus on water productivity, that is,

productivity per unit of water used is a new concept for the International Agricultural

Research system (CGIAR, 2001b). Nearly two hundred years ago, Thomas Malthus

focused on the fixity or scarcity of land in relation to population growth as the cause

for recurring famines. This perception prompted the evolution and use of land-saving

technologies and practices which substantially raised productivity per unit of land.

However, the growing competition for water demand among industry, by urban areas

for household consumption as also for environmental purposes in the developed

countries like Europe, North America and Japan has been exerting pressure to save

the water allocated to irrigation. Besides the rising level of water pollution is

accentuating the scarcity of fresh water in all sectors.

Of the area under foodgrains since irrigated area accounts for the bulk of the

increase in foodgrains output, growth of foodgrains output in relation to the growth of

irrigated area under foodgrains would give a good measure of the changes in the

productivity of irrigation water. During the 1980s, the Green Revolution was broad-

based covering rice in the central and eastern regions of the country where high

rainfall supplements irrigation. Thus, foodgrains output grew at a higher rate than

irrigated area resulting in a positive growth in the productivity of irrigation water.

However, in the post-reform decade of the 1990s, there was a deceleration in the

growth of foodgrains output leading to a significant decline in the productivity growth

of irrigation.

As far as irrigation is concerned, the failures have been massive on all the

three fronts, namely, property rights, institutions and public policy. It would be

instructive, to identify the major problems afflicting irrigation in each of these areas.

113 Hanumantha Rao (2003), “Sustainable Use of Water for Irrigation in Indian Agriculture” edited by

Kanchan Chopra, Hanumantha Rao Ramprasad Senguptha Indian Society for Ecological Economics, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi.

59

The author has raised one question that what are the major theoretical

possibilities for raising the productivity of irrigation water?

Firstly the technological changes which raised crop yields per unit of land

have so far been the major source of the rise in productivity per unit of irrigation

water. Genetic improvements for raising the productivity of land, significantly raise

water productivity, especially if such genetic improvements are targeted towards

saving water. These improvements include the development of crop varieties with

better tolerance to drought, cool seasons which reduce evaporation and evapo-

transpiration, and saline conditions. The potential of biotechnological to raise yields

and impart stability in adverse environments is well known (CGIAR, 2001b).

In India, technological changes to improve water productivity by raising crop

yields seem to hold a better promise in the short and medium-term that the attempts to

improve water-use-efficiency, which can be expected to yield significant results only

in the long-run, owing to the severe political constraints, and managerial and

institutional bottlenecks besetting these efforts.

Secondly, the productivity of irrigation water can be raised by skillfully

supplementing it with rain water.

Third, water losses may occur between the point of delivery from the system

to the farmer’s field due to evaporation, flow of usable water to sinks, pollution,

salinity and waterlogging. Such losses cannot eventually be recovered at the basin

level. These can be minimized with appropriate management practices, provided there

are adequate incentives to farmers for adopting water-saving practices.

Fourth, farmers are known to reallocate land and water to high value crops in

response to the changing demand. However, policies for trade and price as well those

for input subsidies, including policies on irrigation water, would determine whether

farmers would be induced to switch over to water-conserving enterprises.

Finally, globalization opens up opportunities for countries faced with water

scarcities to specialize in the production and export of water-saving crops and import

water-intensive ones.

60

John Briscoe and Malik R.P.S. (2007)114 pointed out in their book on ‘Hand

Book of Water Resources in India Development, Management, and Strategies in

India’ that Arthur Cotton and other pioneering engineers were worshipped as saints,

and dams became ‘the temples of modern India. The very success of this enterprise, as

in other societies and for other issues, carried the seeds of its own downfall. As an

infrastructure platform was built, the ‘Type 2’ and ‘Type 3’ challenges of

maintenance, operation, and management started to emerge. The uni-functional

(build) and uni-disciplinary (engineering) bureaucracy adopted the command-and-

control philosophy of the early decades of independence, seeing users as subjects

rather than partners or clients. The Indian state water apparatus still shows little

interest in the key issues of the management stage - participation, incentives, water

entitlement, transparency, entry of the private sector, competition, accountability,

financing and environmental quality.

The implicit philosophy has been aptly described as build-neglect-rebuild.

This problem is serious in its own right, but it also means that public financing is not

available for the vital tasks of providing new irrigation, water supply, and waste water

infrastructure to serve growing populations and the unserved poor. Most recent

irrigation and water supply projects assisted by the World Bank, for example, have

not financed new infrastructure, but the rehabilitation of poorly maintained systems.

The sector is facing a major financing gap. The real financial needs of the sector are

growing to meet the costs of rehabilitating the exiting stock of infrastructure and to

build new infrastructure. These needs are amplified by the fact that large proportions

of recurrent budgets are spent on personnel, not on real maintenance, and on

electricity, irrigation, and water supply subsidies.

On the supply side there are ultimately only two sources of financing - tax

revenues and user charges. The budgetary allocation to the water sector is falling, as

are payments by users. The net result is a large and growing financial gap, which can

only be met by a combination of methods which include greater allocations of

budgetary resources, and greater contributions from water users. This decline in the

quality of public irrigation and water supply services would normally be expected to

produce social unrest and political pressure.

114 Op. Cit., pp.1-9.

61

IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY

Prajapati M.N. (1992)115 in his book on ‘Irrigation Management and

Agricultural Development’ has classified irrigation efficiency in two heads viz.

(i) conveyance efficiency, and (ii) field application efficiency. Conveyance efficiency

can further be sub-divided into two sub heads viz. (a) conveyance efficiency above

canal outlet in the channels maintained by State Irrigation Department i.e. conveyance

efficiency in main canal, branches, distributaries and minors, and (b) conveyance

efficiency below canal outlet, i.e., conveyance efficiency in water courses, field

channels, guls etc. maintained by the farmers.

A schematic representation of the irrigation system is shown in the following

formula.

Ei = Vci

Vdi

where, Ei = Efficiency of water application in ith sector.

Vci = Volume of water beneficially consumed in ith sector

Vdi = Volume of water delivered in ith sector.

This definition of efficiency is a general one when ith sector represents the

field i.e., i = 1, then this equation gives field application efficiency. For i > 1, this

equation gives conveyance efficiency of that particular sector and Vci = Vdi - 1.

Overall efficiency is given in the following equation.

Eij = j

i=1

Ei∏

where, Eij is the overall efficiency upto jth sector.

Conveyance Efficiency

Methods of Seepage Measurement

The following are the methods of measuring Seepage Viz.

i. Ponding Method

ii. Inflow-Outflow Method

iii. Tracer Technique Method

iv. Analytical Method 115 Prajapati M.N. (1992), “Irrigation Management and Agricultural Development”, Kanishka

Publishing House, Delhi, pp. 85-87.

62

Measurement of Losses

1. Seepage losses by ponding method

2. Seepage losses by tracer technique method

3. Conveyance losses by inflow-outflow method116

Field Application Efficiency

Field application efficiencies are determined by the following methods:

i. Soil moisture content method

ii. Excess application method

(a) Linear and symmetrical distribution

(b) Linear and non-symmetrical distribution

iii. Theoretical simplified model

iv. Recession time method

v. Advanced and recession time method117

Proposed Improvements

Following improvements in the area are proposed –

i. Improvement of field application efficiency

ii. Improvement of conveyance efficiency of water courses

iii. Improvement of conveyance efficiency of minor

iv. Fixing of outlet ventage rationally

v. Installation of proper number of tubewells and fixing their running time

vi. If required, increase or decrease the command area and adjustment in cropping

pattern.118

Criteria for Evaluation of Water Distribution

Evaluation of water distribution is necessary to improve irrigation system

operation. For the evaluation of the water distribution practice of Janjokhar minor, the

following criteria are used:

1. Productivity of water

2. Equity of water distribution

116 Ibid, pp. 106-108. 117 Ibid, p. 145. 118 Ibid, p.206.

63

3. Timeliness of water supply

4. Delivery system efficiency

-- Field application efficiency

-- Conveyance losses and conveyance efficiency

5. Cost of distribution

6. Organisation of water distribution

7. Environmental Stability

8. Monitoring

9. Scope for malpractices.119

THEORETICAL BASE

Robert Chamber (1988)120 explained in the book on ‘Managing Canal

Irrigation Practical Analysis from South Asia’, productivity means output divided by

input. There are many meanings and measures for it, depending on choices of output

and input. Water is not always the scarcest input, or may be the scarcest input only at

certain times of the year. Water can also be in excess. But productivity of water is

often a key criterion because, on so many irrigation systems, for so much of the time,

water is the main factor limiting production, and is the main factor being managed.

Lenton (1984a) has described various operational measures for productivity

performance. He points out that the numerator (output) can be water delivered, are

irrigated, yield, or income; and the measures can be at level of the farm, of an outlet,

or at higher levels of aggregation. Which is best depends on circumstances. The

denominator for the productivity of water can be water in the root zone, at the farm

gate, at the outlet, or at higher points in the system, including the point of diversion or

storage.

All of these versions of productivity are, in principle, measurable. Which is

best operationally depends on the cost and accuracy of data collection, the timeliness

with which it can be analysed, its utility for management purposes once analysed, and

the relationships between it and other criteria and benefits. Measures of productivity

119 Ibid, p. 224. 120 Robert Chamber (1988), “Managing Canal Irrigation Practical Analysis from South Asia”, Oxford

& IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, p.34.

64

and water use efficiency correspond interestingly with the criteria of different persons

and specialists for good irrigation or good irrigation management. Typical points of

input and output measurements for different professions and disciplines.

At both general and operational levels, one useful meaning and measure of

productivity, where water is limiting, may be the gross value of production divided by

the water available at the point of storage or diversion. This sounds straightforward,

but hardly anything to do with water is simple. The techniques and problems of

measurements of productivity of water and of the operational use of such

measurements are a subject in its own right and deserve separate analysis and

discussion. The most serious complications are rainfall, groundwater, and non-water

factors. Rainfall can quite easily be measured; but conjunctive or independent use of

groundwater within a command is much harder to measure. It is difficult to know

what irrigated production to attribute to canal water, what to groundwater deriving

from other sources. Non-water factors, finally, qualify the usefulness of a water

productivity criterion. Without any change in water deliveries, other factors such as

pests, fertiliser supplies, marketing arrangements, and prices affect production

(Abernethy 1986: 6-8). However, improved performance in the quality of a water

supply influences the adoption of high-yielding practices by farmers which then tends

to validate the productivity criterion of performance.

Less water better delivered

Robert Chamber (1988)121 opined in his book on ‘Managing Canal Irrigation

Practical Analysis from South Asia’, many adjectives can be, and have been, used to

describe the characteristics of a good irrigation water supply. There are physical

characteristics of the water such as temperature, salinity or silt load. But if we limit

ourselves to the delivered flow, some other terms used are, in alphabetical order:

adequate, adjustable, appropriate, assured, certain, constant, controllable, convenient,

demandable, dependable, equitable, flexible, guaranteed, manageable, measurable,

monitorable, observable, predictable (predictably adequate, predictably variable, etc),

productive, punctual, regular, reliable, stable, steady and timely.

121 Ibid, p.122.

65

Faced with such a list, one may despair. The mind craves a few simple

concepts. Even after merging synonyms like dependable and reliable the list is still

long. In practice, authors usually shorten it to three, though which three varies. Thus

we have Bottrall (pers. Comm. 1981: 41) with reliable, timely and adequate, Keller

(1981) with equitable, reliable and predictable, and Pai (1983:55) with timely, reliable

and equitable.

Choice and discussion are made difficult by the complexity of the subject, the

lack of definition of terms, and lack of clarity about which parts of systems and whose

points of view are being considered. The tendency is to lump together all aspects of

main system water distribution including delivery to outlets and also water

distribution within the chak, and to mix the points of view of managers and farmers.

But in practice, different characteristics matter in different places and to different

people. We are concerned here only with what matters to farmers and what they may

be prepared to trade-off against quantity of water, receiving less water but better

supplied.

WATER USE EFFICIENCY

Prasher C.R.K. (1965)122 in his article on ‘Some Problems of Irrigated Land’

pointed out that the performance of an irrigation system is determined by the mode of

its operation and maintenance. The efficiency of the system may be poor due to

transmission losses in the unlined and poorly maintained canals and channels. Prasher

reported that the seepage losses between distributory and cultivator’s field was 40

percent of the total flow in canal command.

Kanwar (1968)123 in his article on ‘Irrigation Efficiency: The Key to Better

Agriculture’ estimated the water losses through seepage and evaporation in the

channels during transit from reservoir to cultivators field as high as 60 percent in

Punjab and Haryana.

122 Prasher C.R.K. (1965), “Some Problems of Irrigated Land”, Indian Journal of Agronomy, 35(2)

pp.18-22. 123 Kanwar J.S. (1968), “Irrigation Efficiency: The Key to Better Agriculture”, Indian Farming,

17(20) p.12.

66

Hiremath K.C. (1973)124 in his research work on ‘Temporal and Spatial

Allocation of Irrigation Water in the Krishna Rajasagar Project (Mysore)’ applied the

functional analysis model related to the general methodology of obtaining new

benefits as a function of the amounts and timing of water use under any array of

magnitudes and variety of other technical and non-technical inputs used in the

production process. The estimation of empirical production function was the basis for

measuring the allocative efficiency in this approach.

The model consisted of a set of production function, each of which

characterized a distinct part of a sub-process in the totality of the production process

complex. But, due to a large number of variables and time-consuming nature, the

differential calculus approach was seldom used as the principal optimization method.

Rogetio C. Lazardo (1975)125 pointed out in the title on ‘Land Classification as

a Tool of Water Management’, that location of the land, size of the land and type of

land would directly determine the water requirements and water use pattern on farms.

Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (1977)126 in the title on ‘A Report of the

National Commission of Agriculture’ opined that irrigation as at present practised in

the country was extravagant in the use of water. In view of the inadequacy of water

resources to meet requirements, there was need for a greater deal of efficiency and

economy in water use.

Sivanappan R.K. and Karal Gowder K.R.(1977)127 had estimated in the title on

‘Irrigation and Drainage’ that the water requirement of different crops in hectare

centimeters was 40-45 for maize, 100-120 for paddy, 20-25 for pulses, 60-65

groundnut, 220-225 for banana and 225-250 for sugarcane.

Gupta D.K. (1982)128 in his research work on ‘Impact of Lining of Water

Course on Agricultural Output - A Case Study’ studied the impact of water course

lining on the extend of irrigated area, cropping intensity, cropping pattern and also 124 Hiremath K.C. (1973), “Temporal and Spatial Allocation of Irrigation Water in the Krishna

Rajasagar Project (Mysore)”, Ph.D. dissertation Mysore: Division of Agricultural Research Institute, p.25.

125 Rogetio C. Lazardo, (1975), “Land Classification as a Tool of Water Management”, Water Management in Philippines Irrigation Systems, Research and Operations Ios Banos: IRRI, pp.1-12.

126 Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (1977), “A Report of the National Commission of Agriculture”, Govt. of Kerala, pp.3-4.

127 Sivanappan R.K. and Karal Gowder K.R. (1977), “Irrigation and Drainage”, Madras: Popular Book Depot, p.12

128 Gupta D.K. (1982), “Impact of Lining of Water Course on Agricultural Output - A Case Study”, Wamana, 2(4), pp. 1-16.

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various problems faced by the share-holders in Bargudha Development Block of Birsa

District (Haryana). The results showed that as conveyance efficiency improved,

irrigation intensity, cropping intensity, input use and yield of farm holdings increased.

Dhawan B.D. (1986)129 in the article on ‘Irrigation and Water Management in

India: Perception of Problems and Their Resolution’ pointed out that water

conveyance efficiency, as also efficiency in field application, is quite low in Indian

surface irrigation works. The overall efficiency, defined as a ratio of irrigation water

used by a crop (for its evapo-transpiration purpose) to the water released from the

headworks, is alleged to be of the order of 30 per cent only. To him wasteful use of

irrigation water at the farmer’s level due to lack of channel supervision by an

irrigator, field-to-field irrigation in the absence of field channels that connect

individual fields to the canal outlet, the surface run-off of irrigation water because of

lack of field leveling and the problem of over-irrigation. The farmer’s practice of

over-irrigating his field is because of (i) uncertainty about his next turn for irrigation

from a system that is outside his control and (ii) his inability to correctly assess the

full wetting of the crop root zone. It can be curbed by appropriate pricing of irrigation

water.

Selvarajan S. and Subramanian S.R. (1988)130 in their study on ‘Water

Resource Budgeting in Amaravathi River Basin’, basing on their month-wise and

season-wise observations, reported that conveyance loss of the irrigation system was

25 percent, of which 11 percent occurred in Amaravathi main canal, and 14 percent in

the distributaries excluding the field channels. They also estimated the loss at 46,201

ha cm of water of which, 26,968 ha cm was lost through seepage and the remaining

by evaporation.

Deshpande D.D. and Supe S.V. (1989)131 analysed on ‘Problems of Farmers in

Canal Irrigation’ and they examined the problems related to efficient utilization of

water in Mordham Nalla Irrigation Project in Nagpur district of Maharashtra. The

129 Dhawan B.D. (1986), “Irrigation and Water Management in India: Perception of Problems and

Their Resolution”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.41, No.3, July-September, pp.273-278.

130 Selvarajan S. and Subramanian S.R. (1988), “Water Resource Budgeting in Amaravathi River Basin”, Agricultural Situation in India, 43(4), pp.289-294.

131 Deshpande D.D. and Supe S.V. (1989), “Problems of Farmers in Canal Irrigation”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sep. p.290.

68

analysis indicated that the farmers at the head and middle reaches used one and a half

times more water than their normal requirement. It was noticed that because of

improper outlets and field channels farmers at the tail-end could not get the expected

flow-rate of irrigation water. The majority of farmers in the canal area found graded

bunds and field drains useful for irrigation management in fields. Though crop loan is

an exogenous input in irrigation management, inadequate credit was the main hurdle

(for 72 per cent of farmers) in the efficient use of canal irrigation. For improving the

efficiency irrigation water, the measures suggested are proper maintenance of field

channels and outlets and rigidly adhering to the water distribution schedule in the

canal area.

Pokharkar V.G. (1989)132 attempted to study on ‘Irrigation Use Efficiency: A

Case Study of Mula Irrigation Command Area’. In this study he found out the factors

influencing irrigation water use efficiency at the farm level in Mula Irrigation

Command area. The findings of the study revealed that the irrigation water use

efficiency of the Mula irrigation command area is low at the farm level. Irrigation

water was used inefficiently by the sample farmers in the command area. The causes

for low irrigation water use efficiency were the late availability of canal water for

kharif sowing, traditional cropping pattern, unleveled land, lack of drainage,

inefficient management of the irrigation allocation system by the department, lack of

infrastructure conducive to adoption of modern technology and malpractices in the

distribution of canal water.

Yadav D.B. et al. (1989)133 made a study on ‘Factors Associated with Under-

Utilisation of Canal Irrigation Water - A Case Study’ in the command area of Kukadi

Irrigation Project (Maharashtra). The results of the study revealed that among the

various factors responsible for under-utilisation of canal irrigation water, the

difference between the gross command area and the cultivable command area, delay

in sanction for the use of water, defective distributaries, elevated area and untimely

supply of water were the major constraints in utilising the canal water. For efficient

132 Pokharkar V.G. (1989), “Irrigation Use Efficiency: A Case Study of Mula Irrigation Command

Area”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sep., p.292. 133 Yadav D.B. Rahane R.K. and Rasane D.S. (1989), “Factors Associated with Under-Utilisation of

Canal Irrigation Water - A Case Study”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.44, No.3, July-Sep., p. 296.

69

and judicious use of canal water it is suggested that construction of dams and quality

distribution system should be started simultaneously. It is also necessary to develop

the lands for irrigation, ensure proper and timely supply of water, impart training to

the farmers regarding better water management practices and bring about better

co-ordination between agricultural scientists and irrigation engineers.

Kail J.L. and Sukhjeet Sekhon (1989)134 studied in the title on ‘Flexibility and

Reliability of Irrigation Systems and Their Effect on Farming - A Case of Punjab’.

According to them average returns per rupee invested along with the level of total

output indicate economic efficiency under different sources of irrigation. In the case

of wheat crop the highest returns were obtained on the farms with diesel plus electric

alternative source of irrigation, i.e., Re.1.86 per rupee of investment. Higher reliability

is associated with higher yield as regards both the crops. With the increase in the

degree of control over water supply, there appears to be an upward shift in the

production function leading to a downward shift in the average cost curve.

Water use efficiency was calculated by dividing gross returns per acre by the

quantity of water used for irrigation an acre. From their study the average returns for

wheat crop for one cum of water were the highest (Rs.2.38) on the diesel plus electric

farms, followed closely by the diesel operated tubewell farms.

Gooneratne W. and Hirashima S. (1990)135 analysed in their book on

‘Irrigation and Water Management in Asia’. They pointed out that irrigation water is

not simply an input of agricultural production. It bears a strong relationship to social

organization. Irrigation development in most developing countries has taken the form

large-scale public projects. However, it is now recognized that technologically

advanced projects have failed in many cases to achieve their initial objective.

The most important reason for their failure has been identified as inefficiency

in water management. One advocates the necessity of learning from traditional water

management systems. The other suggests a shift of emphasis in irrigation investment

from large-scale projects to small to medium-scale ones, and from new projects to the

134 Kail J.L. and Sukhjeet Sekhon (1989), “Flexibility and Reliability of Irrigation Systems and Their

Effect on Farming - A Case of Punjab”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 44, No. 3, July-Sep., p. 591.

135 Gooneratne W. and Hirashima S. (1990), “Irrigation and Water Management in Asia”, Sterling Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, pp.1-17.

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rehabilitation of existing systems. It can be argued that irrigation efficiency depends

on sophistication of the technology used, mode of irrigation, and agent of water

management. The study also mentioned that the crop production could be increased

even up to 20 per cent merely by improving the performance of irrigation systems

through ‘management reform’.

There is strong case for introducing decentralized type of management in

public irrigation systems to increase their efficiency by giving a role to the water

users. Community - level associations can best serve as the link between the irrigation

bureaucracy (State) and the farming community in such a decentralized system of

management. Decentralized systems can ensure the bureaucracy’s accountability to

water users and at the same time contribute to grater local resources mobilization,

cost-saving and increased water-use efficiency.

Gunadasa J.M. (1990)136 in his article on ‘Aspects of Water Management

under Reservoir Irrigation - A Study of the Giant’s Tank System in Sri Lanka’,

viewed that identification of the degree of water use efficiency in an irrigation system

is a first prerequisite to exploring the ways and means to improve it. Also for practical

purposes, the concept of water use efficiency has to be given an empirical meaning

and a quantitative expression. To serve these purposes, the water use efficiency in the

GT system can be identified in terms of four indicators:

1. Overall waste in the system level from canals, control structures and terminal

reservoirs and at the field level.

2. Waste at farm level Practices like staggering, flooding the fields for weed

control and keeping water impounded to a maximum depth possible in the

field are the main causes for farm level water waste.

3. Low cropping intensity is a result of water shortage and

4. Non-cultivation of less-water-consuming crops in the Yale season.

Cultivation of paddy is a desirable form of land use in the Maha season in

view of the climate conditions and also the subsistence needs of the farmers. When

compared with the alternatives available however, paddy is not the most profitable

crop for the Yale season. During this season, with the water used for paddy cultivation

a much larger acreage could be brought under less-water-consuming crops.

136 Gunadasa J.M. (1990), “Aspects of Water Management under Reservoir Irrigation - A Study of the

Giant’s Tank System in Sri Lanka”, ed. Gooneratne W. and Hirashima S., ‘Irrigation and Water Management in Asia’, Sterling Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, pp.216-233.

71

The author has concluded that the current system of water management results

in a severe under-utilisation of the irrigation water resources. This has very serious

consequences on the level of output realized, employment generated and on the

overall utilization of a very important national capital stock. It is also clear that a

broad-based and comprehensive programme of reorganization of the operation and

management of the system would be required to tap the full production and

employment potential. Any attempt at reorganization needs, however, to be carried

out by taking into account such questions as socio-economic feasibility and the

administrative and institutional capability.

Gooneratne W. and Hirashima S. (1990)137 argued in the title on ‘Irrigation

and Water Management in Asia’ that irrigation efficiency in many large-scale systems

in the developing countries of Asia is quite low. Efficiency measured in terms of the

proportion of water consumed by the crop in field out of the total water delivered

ranges from 25 to 90 per cent, averaging 55-60 per cent in Asian countries. When we

compare two irrigational systems characterised by high and low efficiency, efficiency

can be determined at two levels; the macro level or main system and the micro level

or in the fields. In either case, both the civil engineering and managerial aspects are

important considerations. However, one may observe a high correlation of

performance at both the macro and micro levels.

The study revealed that there is positive correlation between the supply price

of irrigation water and irrigation efficiency. It is clearly shown that efficiency

increases when the relative price shifts from r1 to r2. This suggests that the urgent task

of irrigation administration is to make farmers realise that irrigation water is not a free

good.

Sutawan N. et al. (1990)138 studied in the title on ‘Community-Based

Irrigation System in Bali, Indonesia’ came to conclusion were made recommendations

based on the study findings is to secure a just distribution and more efficient use of

irrigation water it is necessary to encourage subaks to adopt a rotational system of

water allocation and to adopt more accurate measurement of water allocation.

137 Op. Cit., pp.16-17. 138 Sutawan N. Swara M. Windia W. et al. (1990), “Community-Based Irrigation System in Bali,

Indonesia” edited by Hirashima S. and Gooneratne W., ‘Irrigation and Water Management in Asia’, Sterling Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, pp. 142-144.

72

Leslie E. et al. (1991)139 are dealt in their book on ‘Farmer-Financed

Irrigation: The Economics of Reform, Wye studies in Agricultural and Rural

Development’ with the ubiquitous problem of cost recovery in public irrigation

systems. They argue here for the creation of financially autonomous institutions to

collect user fees, so as to ensure to the farmers efficient irrigation service that is so

central to modern, high yield farming. In several large developing countries like

China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan, half of all agricultural investment goes into

irrigation. The author stated that contrary to many others that users fee will encourage

individual farmers to be more efficient in their use of water.

Bhuiyan S.I. et al. (1995)140 studied in their article on ‘Improving Water Use

Efficiency in Rice Irrigation through Wet-Seeding’ that recently wet-seeding of rice, a

method of rice crop establishment in which pregerminated seeds are directly sown in

puddle field, has been found to replace the transplanting method of crop establishment

in some parts of Asia. This wet-seeding is becoming more and more popular in the

irrigated areas of Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. For example, in an area of

Central Luzon, the rice bowl of the Philippines, wet-seeded rice area increased from

about 8,000 ha in 1989 to about 15,000 ha in 1991.

In practice, the WS-TSA consumed substantially less water and consequently

achieved higher water use efficiency with a smaller flow rate and shorter time, due to

its inherently more water-efficient system.

Dewan J.M. Sudarshan K.N. (1996)141 in his book on ‘Irrigation Management’

used the idea given by Robert wade that the comprehensive account of the scale,

workings and impact on irrigation efficiency, and how O&M contracts are tapped for

a share of contractors’ profits; for allowing shoddy, sub-standard work (e.g. removal

of less silt than in a canal clearing contract); by diverting illegal earnings to business

partnerships etc. Bribing is not a lubricant to the operating system, it is corrosive. In

an era where the quality of aid is of increasing concern donars could perhaps play a

role in the two most attractive solutions advocated: First to promote irrigation user

139 Leslie E. Small and Ian, Carruthers (1991), “Farmer-Financed Irrigation: The Economics of

Reform, Wye studies in Agricultural and Rural Development”, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 218.

140 Bhuiyan S.I. Sattar M.A. Khan M.A.K. (1995), “Improving Water Use Efficiency in Rice Irrigation through Wet-Seeding”, Irrigation Science, Springer - Verlag 16:1-8, pp. 1-7.

141 Op. Cit., pp.84-85.

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associations as a countervailing voice; Second, to encourage professional training and

a cadre of people dedicated to professional norms of efficient canal operation. Such

small endeavours could have useful impact.

Ghulam Nabi Bhat & Akram Ahmad Khan (1998)142 in their article on

‘Sustainable Water Management: A Necessity for Sustainable Agriculture’ pointed

out that in the formulation of its policy regarding utilization and management of water

resources, the Government did not consider the role and significance of traditional

sources of water viz., ponds and tanks, small rivers and watershed. Their importance

as sources of drinking water means of irrigation, usefulness for controlling an

moderating floods, use for in land and fisheries. According to them the allotment of

water for irrigation will go down from the present level of 90 per cent to 75-80 per

cent in the next 10-15 years. Water supply can be augmented by adopting efficient

irrigation techniques. Modern technology offers cost effective options not only to

increase areas but also to increase productivity. While efficiency is 35 per cent in

traditional surface irrigation, it is 50-60 per cent in irrigation sprinkler and can be as

high as 80-90 per cent in micro-irrigation. For instance the evapotranspiration (ET)

requirement for growing paddy is about 800-1000 mm whereas in canal/tank

command areas farmers use as much as 2000-25000 mm which is not only wasteful

but also affects the yield due to the drainage problem. Scientists have found that there

is no need to flood the paddy field to a depth of 15-20 cm as practiced by farmers and

it is enough to irrigate the field up to a depth of 3-5 cm as soon as the standing water

disappears. This will reduce the water use by 30 per cent while productivity can be

increased subsequentially.

Suraj Bhan (1998)143 in his article on ‘Some Aspects of On-Farm Irrigation

Management for Higher Crop Productivity and Water Use Efficiency’ to improve

water Productivity in agriculture need correct decision making is to be done in the

selection of crops and their varieties, fixing cropping patterns in consistency with the

availability of water, scientific and systematic application of water in right quality

142 Ghulam Nabi Bhat & Akram Ahmad Khan (1998), “Sustainable Water Management: A Necessity

for Sustainable Agriculture” Edited by Farooq Khan, ‘Water Resource Management Thrust and Challenges’, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, pp.138-143.

143 Suraj Bhan, (1998), “Some Aspects of On-Farm Irrigation Management for Higher Crop Productivity and Water Use Efficiency”, edited by Farooq Khan, Water Resource Management Thrust and Challenges, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, pp. 49 & 63.

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with proper method and at the most critical stages of crop growth, adequate

fertilization, timely weed control, mulching on soil surface in between the rows,

irrigation in alternate furrows in crops like potato and sugarcane, practices like

pudding and compaction in transplanted and direct seeded rice respectively, furrow

irrigation with frequent and light waterings in crops grown on salt effected soils.

The productivity of available water per unit area and time could be enhanced

considerably if more and more area is brought under double, treble and intercropping

system.

Tewari D.N. (2001)144 studied the ‘Optimum Use of Water Resource in

Agriculture’. He observed that with the net sown area almost stagnant in the country

at about 142 million hectares and 63 per cent of the cultivated land under rainfed,

further expansion of irrigation including additional irrigation through modernization /

renovation of irrigation capacity is needed as a critical input to achieve the targeted

growth rate of agricultural production. He also suggested that to improve water use

efficiency through renovation and modernization of existing and farmers to be

involved in the management of irrigation systems in a phased manner.

Sivanappan R.K. (2001)145 argued in his article on ‘Sustainable Management

of Water Resources’ that the allocation of water for irrigation will be reduced from 84

percent to 71 percent and it will be increased to 20 percent from percent 8 percent for

industries and municipal needs. In India about 40-45 percent of water allotted for

agriculture is used to grow rice crops and this figure is about 75-80 percent in Tamil

Nadu. If the available water management practices are applied for paddy crops it is

not difficult to save 10-15 percent of water.

The average productivity of paddy in India is only about 3T/Ha (it is about

5-6T/Ha in Tamil Nadu) which is very low. Even in some developing countries like

Egypt, Korea and Taiwan the yield is about 7-10T/Ha. Currently the irrigation

efficiency in canal/tank irrigation system is only about 30-40 percent and in well

irrigated area it is about 60-65 percent. On an average only 40-45 percent of irrigation

water is actually used by the crop.

144 Tewari D.N. (2001), “Optimum Use of Water Resource in Agriculture”, Yojana, Vol.45, No.1,

January, pp. 21-23. 145 Sivanappan R.K. (2001), “Sustainable Management of Water Resources”, Kissan World, Vol. 28,

No.5, May, pp.20-21.

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Dinesh Kumar M. (2003)146 in the article on ‘Demand Management in the

Face of Growing Water Scarcity and Conflicts in India Institutional and Policy

Alternatives for Future’ that the crisis perpetuated by the growing water scarcity can

be mitigated only through interventions that are aimed at achieving higher efficiencies

in the existing uses and transferring water to high valued uses.

According to him water conservation has three distinct components:

i. conservation by preventing the loss of stored water;

ii. conservation by preventing the loss of water from the system during

conveyance from supply source to the point of usage; and

iii. conservation of water at the user level by adopting efficient water use

technologies.

Hanumantha Rao (2003)147 focused in his article on ‘Sustainable Use of Water

for Irrigation in Indian Agriculture’ water resources are becoming extremely scarce.

According to the projections made by the National Commission for Integrated Water

Resource Development Plan, the requirement of water for irrigation in India will grow

by more than 50 per cent in the next 50 years. The water requirements for household

consumption and industry would rise even faster. In view of this, even after fully

exploiting the usable water resources, the balance between the supply and demand for

irrigation water can be achieved only improving the level of irrigation efficiency in a

big way from about 36 percent efficiency in 1993-94 to 60 per cent in the year 2050

(Government of India, 1999). A ten per cent improvement in the efficiency of water

use would be equivalent to adding some 14 million hectares of gross irrigated area

(Saleth, 1996).

Hanumantha Rao (2003)148 expressed in his article on ‘Sustainable Use of

Water for Irrigation in Indian Agriculture’ that the steps taken so far for improving

water-use-efficiency through modernization / renovation of exiting systems have not

significant and which have deteriorated over the years. According to the Mid-Term

Appraisal of Ninth Five Year Plan, the progress achieved so far in Participatory

146 Dinesh Kumar M. (2003), “Demand Management in the Face of Growing Water Scarcity and

Conflicts in India Institutional and Policy Alternatives for Future”, edited by Kanchan Chopra, Hanumantha Rao Ramprasad Senguptha Indian Society for Ecological Economics, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, pp. 107-113.

147 Op. Cit., p. 16. 148 Op. Cit., pp. 17-26.

76

Irrigation Management (PIM), designed to improve water-use-efficiency, is rather

slow. The irrigated area transferred to Water Users Associations (WUAs) in India is

only about 7 per cent as against the 45 per cent in Indonesia, 66 per cent in

Philippines, and 22 per cent in Thailand (Government of India, Planning Commission,

2000). As regards groundwater, the rate of extraction has been far above the rate of

recharge. As a result, the number of over-exploited and dark blocks has increased by

nearly 70 per cent over the last 14 years (government of India, Planning Commission,

2000).

According to him the technology and public policy, institutions concerning

water use hold the key to raising water productivity by bridging the vast gap that now

exists between knowledge and its application. Water institutions are a relatively new

and challenging area is highly inter-disciplinary.

Singh C.J. (2003)149 in his research work on ‘Efficient Use of Water in Canal

Command of Punjab’ studied the adaptive research-cum-demonstration trials were

conducted in the canal command area of the water course of the village Jaisingh wala,

at the tail-end of the Bathinda distributory. The trials on wheat, cotton, mustard,

berseem and jawar crops were intended to evaluate the soundness of the improved

irrigation practices and other farming techniques which directly or indirectly reduce

the wasteful expense of scarce irrigation water and increase the water use efficiency.

Palanisamy (2004)150 revealed in his research work on ‘Policies for

Sustainable Use of Water’ that inequities in water supply are more predominant in

tail-end region of each distributor resulting in conflicts and inefficiency in water use.

Improved crop and water management have not been properly adopted by the farmers

due to in equal water supplies. He pointed out that investment in secondary and

tertiary distribution system to improve the water use efficiency.

An’Yoji Hisao and Yasuda Hirsoshi (2005)151 in their study on ‘Necessity to

Increase Efficiency of Irrigation’ pointed out that about 40 percent of the world’s food

149 Singh C.J. (2003), “Efficient Use of Water in Canal Command of Punjab”, edited by Kanchan

Chopra, Hanumantha Rao Ramprasad Senguptha Indian Society for Ecological Economics, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, p.175.

150 Palanisami K. (2004), “Policies for Sustainable Use of Water”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 59, No. 1, January-March, pp.48-50.

151 An’Yoji Hisao and Yasuda Hirsoshi (2005), “Necessity to Increase Efficiency of Irrigation”, Sand Dune Research, Yollsa, China. <http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200601/000020060105A1044378.php> 07.08.2010

77

crops is produced from irrigated agricultural fields which constitute only 17% of the

total agricultural field. It is estimated that food production must be increased to 1.4

times the present level by 2025 to support an increasing world population. Although

irrigated agricultural fields must be expanded to enhance the food in the world, the

rate of expansion is decreasing continuously. He concluded that to increase irrigation

efficiency is the key for sustainable and effective use of the already developed water

resources.

Anil Kumar Singh and Rajput T.B.S. (2005)152 mentioned in their article on

‘Optimizing Water Uses and Recharging of Aquifers’ that the dominant method of

irrigation practiced in the country is flood irrigation, in which the crop utilizes only

one-half of the water released and the rest is lost in conveyance, application, runoff

and evaporation. Accordingly, the efficiency of surface irrigation methods is low. In

the two decades (1970-1990) ground water irrigated area increased by 105%.

However, over the same period the area irrigated by surface water increased by 28%

only. They concluded that if the number of overexploited blocks continues to grow at

the present rate of 5.5% per annum, by 2018 roughly 36% of India’s blocks will face

serious problems.

Declining groundwater levels cause huge environmental, social and economic

costs because of four main factors:

i. salinization of aquifers (due to seawater intrusion), which affects

drinking water and crops

ii. pollution of aquifers (e.g., by arsenic and chromium) that affects

drinking water and crops and has serious health consequences.

iii. Increased costs of pumping (ground water energy nexus)

Abandonment of wells (from which water can no longer be pumped)

Singh K.K., Ojha C.S.P. (2005)153 revealed in their article on ‘Improvement in

Irrigation Efficiency Using On-Farm Reservoir and its Efficient Operation’ that

during irrigation of the crops a huge quantity of water is wasted due to poor

efficiencies of irrigation systems. This wastage can be minimized by adapting

152 Anil Kumar Singh and Rajput T.B.S. (2005), “Optimizing water uses and recharging of aquifers”,

Indian Farming, Volume 54, No.12, March, pp.35-36. 153 Singh K.K., Ojha C.S.P.(2005), “Improvement in Irrigation Efficiency Using On-Farm Reservoir

and its Efficient Operation”, Central Board of Irrigation and Power (Formerly Irrigation & Power Journal), Vol.62, No. 1, January-March, p.61.

78

suitable storing excess water of irrigation in on-farm reservoir (OFR) and later using

this water in a specific way. The study suggests that the use of stored water of OFR

invariably increases water irrigation efficiency. However, a particular operation

procedure of OFR yields maximum water irrigation efficiency.

OFR: OFR is a ditch of a particular shape provided in the field, which stores

agricultural or rainfall runoff water for later use, thus reducing the demand on the

basin-wide system in times of need. It is the most useful and powerful on-farm

storage system under suitable conditions. Most recently, OFR and its use has been

advocated to augment supplemental irrigation for paddy crop particularly in arid areas

from the rainfall-harvested water. OFR can also hold nutrient-laden runoff water from

field for reuse and also in preventing degradation of river water quality.

Haque T. (2006)154 in his research article on ‘Resource Use Efficiency in

Agriculture’ pointed out that low irrigation charges encourage farmers not to care

about water use efficiency and also cause the problem of rapid depletion of ground

water in Punjab and Haryana. He also pointed out that one should keep in mind that

the availability of good quality of irrigation water, coupled with flexibility of

irrigation and drainage system and appropriate methods of application as well as

pricing of irrigation water would be crucial for sustainable use of land and water

resources.

Narasaiah (2006)155 in his book on ‘Agriculture and Water Management’

investigated in the Tungabhadra Irrigation Scheme revealed that the tail-end of a

majority distributory commanding 25 per cent of the total area, received

approximately 20-40 percent of the targeted discharge while the upper reaches got

more than their share. Lack of maintenance has caused many systems to fall into

disrepair, further inhibiting performance. Over time, distribution canals have become

silted up, increasing the likelihood of breaching, damage to outlets and leading to salt

build-up in the soil.

154 Haque T. (2006), “Resource Use Efficiency in Agriculture”, Indian Journal of Agricultural

Economics, Vol. 61, No. 1, January-March, pp.65-74. 155 Narasaiah (2006), “Agriculture and Water Management”, Discovery Publishing House, New

Delhi, pp. 36-38.

79

According to him successful irrigation in the future will be that which supports

much higher levels of agricultural productivity enhances responsiveness to more

diversified and dynamic crop markets, stimulates more profitable irrigated agriculture

for wide numbers of rural poor, substantially improves water use efficiency and

supports the sustainable use of scarce land, biomass and water resources.

Ronald C. Griffin (2006)156 pointed out in his article on ‘Achieving Water Use

Efficiency in Irrigation Districts’ that achieving efficient water use in the presence of

common property institutions such as irrigation districts presents an important

challenge. The main problem is not that these districts using water for irrigation, but

rather that their operational rules are not designed for the modern era of water scarcity

in which IDs both nonmembers as well as members. The members lack individual

entitlements, thereby implying that they have incomplete incentives for behaving in

an efficient manner.

Suresh Pal (2006)157 pointed out in the article on ‘Resource Use Efficiency,

Particularly in Irrigated Area’ that efficiency of water use has been increased over

time but still remains less than 40 per cent. They argued that present price policy

regime, there are strong incentives for growing rice and wheat and there is little

possibility of large-scale diversification to other crops, which require less water and

generate higher income. They also felt that mere withdrawal of subsidy on electricity

may not shift incentives in favour of diversification of the cropping system. This will

require several other measures like effective direct control on the use of water,

participation of farmer organisations in water management, and educating farmers

about sustainable use of water resources. India can learn from the Australian

experience where long-term farm planning based on suitability of land, pricing and

control of water, and farmers’ participation in water use, input supply and R & D are

found to be very successful.

156 Ronald C.Griffin (2006), “Achieving Water Use Efficiency in Irrigation Districts”, Journal of

Water Resources Planning and Management, ASCE, Vol.132, No.6, November / December, pp.434-440.

157 Suresh Pal (2006), “Resource Use Efficiency, Particularly in Irrigated Area”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.61, No.1, January-March, pp. 85-86.

80

Bhagirath (2007)158 pointed out in his article on ‘Year 2007 Declared as Water

Year’ that at present the per capita storage capacity in India is only about 207 cubic

metres as compared to 1111 cubic metres in China. As a result of growing population,

the per capita water availability of India is declining every year and as per an

estimate, it will be about 1,341 cubic metres by the year 2025 and about 1,140 cubic

metres by the year 2050 which is much below the water-stress threshold of 1,700

cubic metres. Therefore, it is necessary to create infrastructures and adopt appropriate

management practices to augment the utilizable water resources and improve the

efficiency of the created facilities.

John Briscoe and Malik R.P.S. (2007)159 explained in the title on ‘Irrigation

Water Use Efficiency’. At the planning stage, irrigation efficiency (at the field level –

the basin level is different and often much higher since one person’s losses are

another’s recharge) is assumed as 55 to 60 per cent but in actual practice, the

efficiencies obtaining on the ground are around 30 per cent or even lower.

A recent basin-wise study based on potential evapotranspiration and

withdrawals for irrigation shows efficiency in the range of 26 to 27 per cent (Krishna,

Godavari, Mahanadi, Cauvery), and 43 to 47 per cent (Indus, Ganga) with overall

37.7 per cent for the country as a whole.

Irrigation efficiency is low in the country due to a combination of factors-low

water tariff, poor state of canal system due to lack of maintenance, absence of

rotational supply, and “use it or lose it” implicit right. Unfortunately no scientific

study of overall irrigation efficiency in large systems is available.

Sharda, V.N. (2007)160 highlighted in the article on ‘Managing Natural

Resources’ that India envisages a growth rate of 4 per cent per annum in the

agriculture sector, so as to achieve a target of over 300 million tonnes of food grain

production by the year 2020. Against the targeted production of 230 metric tonnes for

the X Plan, the actual production has never crossed 212.9 metric tonnes. Gap between

the target and actual production is a matter of serious concern as the growth rate of

158 Bhagirath (2007), “Year 2007 Declared as Water Year”, Indian Water Resource Quarterly,

Vol. LIV, No.2, April – June, p.11. 159 Op. Cit., p.66. 160 Sharda, V.N. (2007), “Managing natural resources”, The Hindu Survey of Indian Agriculture,

pp.135-137.

81

Indian agriculture during the past decade has sharply decelerated from 3.2 per cent per

annum during 1980-81 to 1996-97 to an average rate of only 1.5 per cent thereafter

against 4 per cent envisaged in the NAP. India has only about 4 per cent of the

world’s fresh water resources and occupies only 2.42 per cent of its area to meet the

ever increasing demand of food grains, fodder, fuel wood and fibre of its growing

populations. The net sown area in the past 30 years has remained static between 138

million ha to 142 million ha, and consequently the size of land holdings is

continuously reducing. Between 1971-72 and 2002-03, it declined from 2.2 ha to 1.4

ha. The proportion of small holdings (< 2 ha) in the total number of holdings

increased from 68 per cent to 86 per cent, which in actual terms has more than

doubled from 38 million to 87 million during this period.

Hanumantha Rao C.H. (2008)161 in his article on ‘Wastages and Inefficiencies

in Water Use’ pointed out that because of absence of financial accountability on the

part of the project authorities and the low rates charged for water, there is a lot of

wastage of water and inefficiency in water use. In this context, the quotes a study by

Veeraiah and Madankumar which says that out of the water entering upper Ganga

Canal, as much as 44 per cent was lost in canal, in distributaries and in village water

courses. Of the remaining 56 per cent actually entering the fields, the farmer wasted

another 27 per cent in excessive irrigation and thus the water actually used by crops

was only 29 per cent. As against this, in the advanced systems of the West as much as

60-70 per cent of the water diverted in large surface system is available for plant use.

Another problem is that because of underpricing of surface water, the farmers at the

headreaches water their fields intensively, leaving the tail-enders with sparse supplies.

Arvind Panagariya (2008)162 stated in book on ‘India: The Emerging Giant’

pointed out that bigger the farmer, the larger the amount of water and electricity he

uses because of free electricity. According to him the subsidies are distortionary

because they lead to highly wasteful use of canal water, ecological degradation from

water logging, and excessive use of electricity. The fiscal burden created by free

water and electricity has led the states to neglect maintenance of electricity lines and

161 Misra S.K. Puri V.K. (2008), “Indian Economy”, Himalaya Publishing House, New Delhi, p.280. 162 Arvind Panagariya (2008), “India The Emerging Giant”, Oxford University Press, New Delhi

p.323.

82

canals. In this respect, the subsidies have been a lose-lose proportion. He suggested

that from the efficiency and equity viewpoints, it is desirable to charge farmers for the

electricity they use.

Pandey M.P. and Ghosh A. (2008)163 in his article on ‘Challenges to the

Future of Agriculture-Global Perspective’ pointed out that an estimation by the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the average temperature would

increase by about 0.3 c per decade over next century. Consequently, level of sea water

could rise by at least 2-4 cm per decade. Therefore, impact of global warming on

entire agricultural growth is apprehended to be worse.

Water is becoming a looming crisis. By 2025, scarcity of water would

threaten 30 per cent of the human population as 70 per cent of water withdrawals are

used in irrigated agriculture globally. Africa and Asia has experienced an increasing

shortage in percaput water availability.

Irrigation demand is expected to increase keeping pace with the need to

increase agriculture production. Irrigated agriculture needs to be increased by 23

million hectares, i.e. 19 per cent over and above the area lost under water logging and

salinization. The majority of the areas would fall in South Asia. About 35 per cent of

the land under assured irrigation is at risk due to poor management. The most basic

of human right is the right of food and nutrition.

Farmers ensuring proper drainage and irrigation design can promote efficient

use of water. Small-Scale Schemes executed by local government could reduce many

problems while backed by national policies that effectively support appropriate

technologies, credit, marketing, energy supplies and maintenance of equipment by

suitable ecology based cropping program therein.

Eleventh Five Year Plan 2007 to 2012 (2008)164 under the caption of

‘Improving Water Use Efficiency’ pointed out that for a gross irrigated area of about

87 MH, the water use is 541 bcm which gives a delta of 0.68 m per ha of gross

irrigated area. The average annual rainfall is 1170 mm (1.17m). Taking 70 per cent of

163 Pandey M.P. and Ghosh A. (2008), “Challenges to the Future of Agriculture-Global Perspective”,

Indian Farming, Vol. 58, No.7, October, pp.7-10. 164 Eleventh Five Year Plan 2007-2012 (2008), “Agriculture, Rural Development, Industry, Services

and Physical Infrastructure Volume III Planning commission Government of India”, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, p. 58.

83

the rainfall as effective for crop consumptive use, the gross water use is anout 1.45 m

(4.8 feet) per ha of the gross irrigated area. This is very high as compared to water use

in irrigation systems in say the US where water allocation is about 3 feet. This

overuse in the country reflects a low irrigation efficiency of about 25 per cent to 35

per cent in most irrigation systems, with efficiency of 40 per cent to 45 per cent.

The reasons that contribute to low irrigation efficiency can be identified as follows:

• Completion of dam / head works ahead of canals.

• Dilapidated irrigation systems.

• Unlined canal systems with excessive seepage.

• Lack of field channels.

• Lack of canal communication network.

• Lack of field drainage.

• Improper field leveling.

• Absence of volumetric supply.

• Inadequate extension services.

• Low rate for water.

The Eleventh Five Year Plan 2007-2012 (2008)165 stated that the equitable and

optimal use of water from canal irrigation has been a matter of continuing concern.

The participation of actual beneficiaries through Participatory Irrigation Management

(PIM) and the maintenance of village-level distribution channels through WUAs have

been found useful. There is broad consensus that this has been a step in the right

direction. This needs to be pursued more vigorously with genuine empowerment of

WUAs. The experience across States has been uneven. It is reported that 55501 users

associations has been created in India.

The Hindu (2009)166 editorial on ‘Uncertain Monsoon and Agriculture’

pointed out that the need is for clear-sighted and firm policy intervention that provides

confidence to the people that the system can cope with any contingency. Government

must urgently regulate the use of water and power and control panic-driven misuse.

165 Ibid, pp.58-59. 166 The Hindu, (2009) “Uncertain Monsoon and Agriculture”, July 15, p.10.

84

N. Bashkaran (2010)167 in his report on ‘Lining of Canals can Improve

Irrigation Efficiency by over 15 per cent’ stated that only around 53 per cent of the

water from head reservoirs actually reach farmers' fields the rest represents losses

during transit due to percolation and evaporation.

He suggested that Plastic or concrete lining of canals can reduce water seepage

and percolation losses by 15 per cent or more, thereby significantly improving

irrigation efficiency levels.

For example Mr. Appalwar's company recently undertook a study on the Goki

Project in the Vidarbha region in collaboration with the Yavatmal Irrigation Division.

The study revealed water savings of over 15 per cent arising from lining the

distribution canals with woven polypropylene sheets.

Smajstrla et al.168 had studied “Efficiencies of Florida Agricultural Irrigation

System” pointed out that in Florida seepage losses from reservoirs is the major cause

of Reservoirs storage efficiency. They suggested that seepage losses may be reduced

by lining reservoirs with impermeable soils (typically clays) or man made liners such

as plastic sheets, metal, plastic or fiber glass and tanks may be used as reservoirs to

eliminate seepage losses. Transpiration losses from reservoirs occur as a result of

vegetation growth in and around the reservoir.

WATER USERS ASSOCIATION

Sundar A. Rao P.S. (1981)169 discussed in their paper on ‘Farmers’

Organisation for Efficient Water Use in Irrigated Agriculture - An Overview’, that the

farmers’ group management of irrigation water distribution as a perquisite for

efficient utilization of irrigation potential. In order to improve the utilization of

irrigation potential and crop yields, they suggested proper maintenance of the main

canal and distribution system above the pipe-outlet, development of field channels,

adoption of a rotational system, on-farm development, extension education,

coordination among the development departments and training personnel at various

levels. 167 N. Bashkaran (2010) ‘Lining of canals can improve irrigation efficiency by over 15 percent’

Business Line Monday, Jan 04. <http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-agri-biz-and-commodity/article974614.ece> 08.09.2010

168 Smajstrla et al., “Efficiencies of Florida Agricultural Irrigation System”, Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (UF/IFAS), Florida. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. 09.09.2010

169 Sundar A. Rao P.S. (981), “Farmers’ Organisation for Efficient Water Use in Irrigated Agriculture-An Overview”, Wamana, 1(4), Bangalore, Taken from Mohammed Yousuf (1990) ‘Irrigation Plan Practice Perspective’, Ajanta Publications, Delhi, p. 9.

85

Palanisami K. (1984)170 in his book on ‘Irrigation Water Management, the

Determinant of Canal Water Distribution in India - A Micro Analysis’, conducted a

study of Lower Bhavani Project in Tamil Nadu, that the efficient utilization of water

which, depends on the extent to which farmers enjoy predictability, certainty and

control over canal water. The conclusion of the study is that farmers served by the

canal water only experienced water uncertainties and had no water control. Hence,

once they received their supply, they tried to irrigate as much as they could. The

tendencies of the farmers over irrigation at the top-end and under irrigation at tail-end

result in both inefficiency and inequality in the distribution system. However, farmers

with ground water certainty and hence over use as well as under use was avoided to

some extend.

Vijaya Bhaskar Y. (1989)171 in his research work on ‘Group Action on

Irrigation - Equity and Productivity Analysis’, observed that voluntary participation of

the farmers is essential for better utilization of created potential in surface irrigation

projects. One such act of participation had occurred in Karlapalem mandal of Guntur

district in Andhra Pradesh. Farmers facing water shortages in the tail-end areas of the

canal formed into a society. They collected funds to implement a lift irrigation

project on a perennial drain running close to the affected area. The universe (448

ryots) is divided into two strata taking cumulative total of the area owned. ‘Before-

After’ approach was used for estimating the impact of the project on the farm

economy. The working expenses as well as the total costs of cultivation (cost C) had

increased significantly. There were significant increases in the gross action farms.

With the provision of supplemental irrigation, there was also an increase in the

resource productivity. The income differences were reduced in group action farms as

revealed by the low Gini concentration ratios, thus indicating stable incomes of the

farm economy.

170 Palanisami K. (1984), “Irrigation Water Management, the Determinant of Canal Water

Distribution in India – A Micro Analysis”, Agricole Publishing Academy, New Delhi, Taken from Mohammed Yousuf (1990) ‘Irrigation Plan Practice Perspective, Ajanta Publications, Delhi, p. 6.

171 Vijaya Bhaskar Y. (1989), “Group Action on Irrigation - Equity and Productivity Analysis”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 44, No. 3, July-Sep., p. 293.

86

Hirashima S. and Gooneratne W. (1990)172 in his book on ‘Irrigation and

Water Management in Asia’ pointed out that the need to involve the farmers (i.e., the

water users) in planning and executing irrigation improvement and rehabilitation

programmes is no longer a subject of dispute. Active involvement of the farmers is

important for several reasons: firstly, to ensure that community organizations, where

they exist, are preserved and strengthened, secondly, to design the improvement in

such a way that they correspond with experience, traditions and capabilities; and

thirdly, to make the operation and management of improved / rehabilitated systems

more self-reliant and less dependent on external agencies for funds and expertise.

Robert Y. Siy Jr. (1990)173 in his research article on ‘Local Resource

Mobilisation and Management A Study of Indigenous Irrigation in Northern

Philippines’, pointed out that the expansion of irrigated initiated either by independent

local communities or by government. In most of the developing world, irrigation

development will continue to be pursued as a means of raising land productivities and

of expanding farm employment opportunities. In this effort, greater attention will

have to be paid to institutional aspects of irrigation development. First of all,

irrigation development has always been costly. Most governments have failed to

recover even a part of such costs. The existence of organized groups of farmers can

facilities cost recoveries; it eventually be possible to charge and collect payments

from groups of farmers rather than from individuals. In this regard Water Users

Associations may be able to contribute labour and materials in the construction and

operation of irrigation facilities. The mobilization of such resources from local

communities will definitely help in conserving investible funds by lowering the

potential share of governments in such projects. As such, there are sufficient

economic incentives for irrigation authorities to develop, encourage and support

active associations of water users.

Bala Raju Nikku (2003)174 has stated in his article on ‘Irrigation Reforms,

Institutions and Livelihoods Opportunities and Challenges Case of Andhra Pradesh,

South India’ that the ‘Modal of AP irrigation reforms’ is unique especially in the scale 172 Op. Cit., p. 9. 173 Robert Y. Siy Jr. (1990), “Local Resource Mobilisation and Management A Study of Indigenous

Irrigation in Northern Philippines”, edited by Hirashima S. and Gooneratne W. (1990) ‘Irrigation and Water Management in Asia, Sterling Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, pp.76-77.

174 Bala Raju Nikku (2003), “Irrigation Reforms, Institution and Livelihoods Opportunities and Challenges Case of Andhra Pradesh, South India”, edited by Kanchan Chopra, Hanumantha Rao Ramprasad Senguptha Indian Society for Ecological Economics, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, pp. 343-344.

87

of its implementation and operation. The state is committed to the implementation of

the PIM approach throughout the state uniformly. It has developed a Vision 2020

document and an Irrigation sector policy paper to guide the sectoral development. A

clear legal framework Andhra Pradesh Farmer’s Management of Irrigation Systems

(APFMIS Act of 1997) extended to the whole state has further legitimized the reform

process. The WUAs are the local level organizations that are empowered with fee

collection, operation, maintenance, water management, distribution and conflict-

resolution. The driving force behind the reforms has been the political will and the

recognition of the need to reduce the state expenditure for the irrigation sector and to

protect the system decay by involving users. The Act further emphasizes, ‘scientific

and systematic development and maintenance of irrigation infrastructure is considered

best possible through farmers’ organizations’. The Act also empowers, ‘such farmers’

organizations have to be given an effective role in the management and maintenance

of the irrigation system for effective and reliable supply and distribution of water’

(APFMIS Act, p.1).

Navadkar D.S. et al. (2003)175 described in their article on ‘Irrigation

Development: A Boon for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Maharashtra,

Agricultural Situation in India’ that the state govt. has taken policy decision for the

formation of Co-operative Water Users Associations (WUAs) and handling over the

irrigation management to WUAs and policy seeks to i. reduce the gap between

irrigation potential created and actual area irrigated ii. to restrict expenditure on

maintenance and repairs of irrigation system iii. to increase water use efficiency of

irrigation management and iv. to recover govt. water charges effectively.

Bala Raju Nikku (2003)176 in his research article on ‘Irrigation Reforms,

Institutionas and Livelihoods Opportunities and Challenges Case of Andhra Pradesh,

South India’ stated that the main thrust of reforms in existing irrigation system

management by the shift of responsibilities from the state to the Water User

Associations’ (WUAs).

175 Navadkar D.S. BirariK S. et al. (2003), “Irrigation Development: A Boon for Sustainable

Agricultural Development in Maharashtra”, Agricultural Situation in India, Vol. LIX, No.3, June, pp. 141-145.

176 Bala Raju Nikku (2003) “Irrigation Reforms, Institutions and Livelihoods Opportunities and Challenges Case of Andhra Pradesh, South India”, edited by Kanchan Chopra, Hanumantha Rao Ramprasad Senguptha Indian Society for Ecological Economics, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, p. 343.

88

Navadkar D.S. et al. (2003)177 in their article on ‘A Boon for Sustainable

Agricultural Development in Maharastra’ described that in India, tremendous

development has been witnessed through the successive Five Year Plans by

developing the irrigation potential. They have also mentioned that reforms in

irrigation sector the state government has taken policy decision in July, 2001 for

formation of Co-operative Water Users Associations (WAU) and handing over the

irrigation management to WUAs and policy seeks to

v. reduce the gap between irrigation potential created and actual area irrigated

vi. to restrict expenditure on maintenance and repairs of irrigation system

vii. to increase water use efficiency of irrigation management and

viii. to recover government water charges effectively.

Vayas, V.S. (2003)178 in the book on ‘India’s Agrarian Structure, Economic

Policies and Sustainable Development’ viewed that participatory management is the

king-pin in the delivery of the major goals of agricultural policies like to preserve

ecological balance, improving the incomes and living standards of rural producers,

ensuring food and nutritional security for the population. However, participatory

management which is the king-pin in the delivery of these programmes and a pre-

requisite to genuine people’s participation is an institutional underpinning. To him the

capable of delivering economic goods and services in an equitable manner would

possible, provided the gross inequities in the ownership of assets, particularly with a

large section being assetless to be minimized.

Vishwa Ballabh (2003)179 opined in the title on ‘Politics of Water

Management and Sustainable Water Use’ that the farmers’ involvement in the

management of irrigation systems is not new. India has historically been known as an

irrigation civilization. The involvement of farmers in the phad system of Maharashtra,

the ahar-pyne system of Bihar, and the tank irrigation system in South India are but a

few notable examples of farmer managed irrigation systems (Agarwal and

Narain, 1997). These systems were fully controlled and managed by the people.

177 Op. Cit., pp.141-145. 178 Vayas, V.S. (2003), “India’s Agrarian Structure, Economic Policies and Sustainable

Development”, Academic Foundation, New Delhi, p. 24. 179 Vishwa Ballabh (2003), “Politics of Water Management and Sustainable Water Use”, Indian

Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.58, No. 3, July-September, p. 471.

89

Sometimes the state provided resources only for construction purposes but the

operation and management including water distribution was done by people’s

institutions (Agarwal and Narain, 1997).

The state of Gujarat was the first in India to initiate the organization of

farmers’ irrigation cooperatives in the canal command. Among its well-known

experimentation is the Mohini Water Cooperation Society. Many state governments

issued a guideline to involve farmers in the management of irrigation projects. So far

however these efforts have been limited in the formation of user groups at the tertiary

level. They have been patchy and not conspicuously successful (Vaidyanathan, 1999).

Lakshmi Narasaiah M. (2007)180 in his book on ‘Irrigation and Economic

Growth’ pointed out that Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems (FMIS) is also known

as traditional, indigenous, communal or people’ systems, are often classified ‘minor’

or small-scale irrigation systems, although they may be found in command areas of

15,000-20,000 hectares. Research has revealed that FMIS contribute to the production

of a significant portion of the subsistence food supply. The hectarage under farmer-

managed ground-water irrigation farmer-managed tank irrigation systems cover about

8.5 million hectares in this country. Successful irrigation in the future will be that

which supports much higher levels of agricultural productivity, enhances

responsiveness to more diversified and dynamic crop markets, stimulates more

profitable irrigated agriculture for wide numbers of rural poor, substantially improves

water-use efficiency and supports and sustainable use of scarce land, biomass and

water resources and to meet the food needs of rapidly growing population.

Arvind Panagariya (2008)181 in his book on ‘India: The Emerging Giant’

stated that India is well behind other countries in Asia in the use of participatory

irrigation management. According to Planning Commission (2000), irrigated land

transferred to water users associations in India is only 7 per cent, compared with 45

per cent in Indonesia, 22 per cent in Thailand, and 66 per cent in the Philippines.

180 Lakshmi Narasaiah M. (2007), “Irrigation and Economic Growth”, Discovery Publishing House,

New Delhi, p. 2-3. 181 Op. Cit., p. 324.

90

Gupta K.R. (2008)182 in his edited book on ‘Water Crisis in India’ pointed out

that management of the water resources for diverse uses should incorporate a

participatory approach by involving not only the various governmental agencies but

also the users and other stakeholders, in an effective and decisive manner, in various

aspects of planning, design, development and management of the water resources

schemes. Necessary legal and institutional changes should be made at various levels

for the purpose. Water Users’ Associations and the local bodies such as municipalities

and gram panchayats should particularly be involved in the operation, maintenance

and management of water infrastructures / facilities at appropriate levels

progressively, with a view to eventually transfer the management of such facilities to

the user groups / local bodies. He also mentioned that conservation of water

consciousness should be promoted through education, regulation, incentives and

disincentives.

Gupta K.R. (2008)183 in his book on ‘Water Crisis in India’ said that so far

11 states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Rajashtan and Tamil Nadu have either

enacted new act or amended the existing irrigation act to facilitate Participatory

Irrigation Management. Presently more than 61,000 Water Users’ Associations

(WUAs) have been formed in 23 States covering an area of about 12.55 million ha.

Some of the remaining States have been encouraging participation of farmers in

irrigation management at outlet level under cooperative / society acts. Despite this

progress, PIM is not working effectively in all States. The constraints in implementing

the PIM effectively like deficiencies in the irrigation supply system and lack of

training and leadership, cooperation of Irrigation Departments need to be addressed

adequately.

Vishwanath S. (2009)184 narrated in his article on ‘Let Us Go by Sydney

Experience, Multiple Sourcing is Clearly Seen as the only way and Public

Participation the Only Alternative’. Let look at Sydney, Australia has faced the big

dry for some years, lack of rainfall and falling levels in the major dams especially

182 Gupta K.R. (2008), “Water Crisis in India”, Atlantic publishers & distributors (P) Ltd., New Delhi,

pp. 195-197. 183 Ibid, pp. 216-217. 184 Vishwanath S. (2009), “Let Us Go by Sydney Experience, Multiple Sourcing is Clearly Seen as

the only way and Public Participation the Only Alternative”, The Hindu, November 22, p. 8.

91

since rainfall has been below normal in these inland catchments for the last decade

and more. Sydney has responded with the Water4 life programme for the sustainable

water supply - Dams, recycling wastewater, water efficiency through demand

management and desalination.

Dams which stored rainwater in inland catchments will continue to provide the

bulk of the water but will steadily decline as a proportion.

Recycling wastewater has benefited of treating a polluting stream but also

providing and substituting for fresh water especially for industrial process use.

Water efficiency through demand management will save about 24 percent of

the total water demand.

Desalination is the ultimate climate proof water. All around the world are

moving to understand their consumer and water demand and then to look at sources of

sustainable supply to cater to this water requirement. In the bag of tricks rainwater

harvesting, groundwater recharge and management, wastewater treatment and

recycling, desalination and demand management all feature. However the only

alternative way to solve the problem is the public participation plus engagement.

Utilities in India will need to learn from these experiences and change from within

institutionally first so as to be able to cope with the challenges. Climate change will

have a profound impact on water resource availability.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS AND CONCEPTS

I) DEFINITION OF TERMS

Principal Crops

Food Crops

Food crops includes paddy, jowar (cholam), bajra (Cumbu), ragi, other millets,

pulses, sugarcane, other food crops.

Non-Food Crops

Non food crops includes cotton, groundnut, gingelly, coconut, other oil seeds,

tobacco, fodder crops, coffee, other non-food crops.

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Duration of Crop

Paddy is the principal crop extensively cultivated in all the districts of the

state. There are three crops based on duration.

1. The Kuruvai (the short term crop) with duration of three and a half to four months

from June to July to October to November.

2. The second crop is called the Thaladi that grown in 5 to 6 months October-

November to February to March.

3. Third is Samba and has a duration of almost 6 months from August to January.

Discharge

Discharge is a flow of water through any conveyance channel such as canal,

distributary and watercourse. Its unit is cusecs.

Cusecs is defined as volume (cubic feet) of water flowing per second, (ft٨3/s).

Conversion

1 cusec = 28.31 1/sec

1 hectare = 2.47 acre = 10,000m2

Irrigation

The term irrigation defined as the application of water by either human being

or by machines in the process of agricultural production.

Laskar

Lowest employee of the Irrigation Department is called Laskar.

Laskar refers to those people who are responsible for the local management of

water. They open the outlets according to a pre-planned system.

Inputs

Purchased inputs such as labour, bullocks and organic manure which originate

in the agricultural sector itself and the following which are produced in the non-

agricultural sector like fertilizers, pesticides, electric power, diesel oil and farm

equipments / machinery.

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Water User

Water user means any individual or corporate body or a society using water

for agriculture, domestic, non domestic, power, commercial, industrial or any other

purpose from a government or the corporation source of irrigation.

This can also be understood as someone using water for his/her own benefit or

for some one else. A user can benefit from a service provided by an organization or an

individual. Hence the WUA as an association of farmers who enjoy land rights in a

declared command can also be seen as a user.

Gross Farm Household Incomes

The value of the total output produced by a farmer is physical production of

agricultural products including by-products x market prices.

Household income - the total income received from agricultural products,

wages, milk production and other sources.

Farmer

A farmer is a person, engaged in agriculture that raises living organisms for

food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops

such as produce and grain. A farmer might own the farmed land or might work as a

labourer on land owned by others; but in advanced economies, a farmer is usually a

farm owner, while employees of the farm are farm workers and farmhands.

Farmer Household

A farmer household was defined as one which had at least one farmer as a

member. A person who possessed some land and was engaged in agricultural

activities on any part of that land during the last 365 days was considered as a farmer

for the purpose of Survey. Agricultural activity was taken to include cultivation of

agricultural crops and horticultural crops, growing of trees and plantations such as

rubber, cashew, coconut, pepper, coffee, tea, etc; animal husbandry, poultry, fishery,

bee-keeping, vermiculture, sericulture, etc. A farmer who had been engaged in

activities related to production of crops by tillage and ancillary jobs was categorised

as a cultivator.

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Yield

Yield refers to crop output divided by crop area. Thus, over all irrigated yield

refers to aggregate crop output from irrigated areas divided by gross irrigated area.

This will transform to land productivity under irrigated area if we replace gross by net

irrigated area.

Sluices

Sluices means little doors.

Ayacut

Ayacut refers the Irrigation water.

Water Use Efficiency

Water Use Efficiency is expressed by the economic yield.

It is also expressed as better understanding of water requirements and better

management of irrigation water.

Water Logging

Water logging is a condition where soil is saturated and stagnant water level is

present in the field for some period.

II) DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS

Cropping Pattern

Cropping pattern refers to the proportionate area under different crops during a

fasli year.

Cropping Intensity

Cropping intensity refers to the ratio between the Gross area sown and the Net

area sown.

Cropping Intensity Index

The cropping intensity index is the ratio of the gross cropped area to the net

cultivated area in percentage.

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Area, Production and Productivity

Factors such as fertility of land, monsoon behaviour, rainfall, irrigation,

application of fertilizers, climatic conditions, marketing facilities, prices, and

availability of agricultural labourers determine the area and productivity of any crop.

Gross Area Sown

The Gross area sown represents the total area cultivated under all food and

nonfood crops including the area sown more than once during the fasli year,

Net Area Sown

Net area sown represents the area sown under first crop during the fasli year.

Area Sown More than Once

The area sown more than once represents the difference between the gross

area sown under all crops and the net area sown during the fasli year.

Gross Area Irrigated

Gross area irrigated includes the net area irrigated and the area irrigated more

than once.

Irrigation Intensity

The irrigation intensity refers to the ratio of gross area irrigated to net area

irrigated or percentage of gross irrigated area to the net irrigated area.

Intensity in irrigated area = Gross irrigated

×100Net irrigated

Intensity in unirrigated area = Gross unirrigated

×100Net unirrigated

Cropping intensity with gross

cropped area in percentage = Gross Cropped Area

×100Net Cultivated Area

Cropping intensity with

seasonal area in percentage = Seasonal Area

×100Net Cultivated Area

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Definition: Irrigation Water Use Efficiency

Formula I

IE = i

r

Y×100

Y

Y i – yield of irrigated plant [kg/ha]

Yr – yield of non irrigated plant [kg/ha]

Irrigated Water Use Efficiency IWUE [kg/mm]

IWUE = i rY - Y

I

IWUE [kg/ha]

Yi – yield of irrigated plant [kg/ha]

Yr – yield of non irrigated plant [kg/ha]

I – irrigation amount [mm]

Formula II

Irrigation Efficiency

IE = Volume of water beneficially used

Volume of water delivered to field

IRRIGATED RATIO (IR)

IR = Net Irrigated Area

Net Sown Area

Inefficiency

The technique of linear programming is used to quantify the ‘inefficiency’. A

planning (programming) model is used to determine the potential impact of the new

technology on Indian agriculture and any shortfall of the actual output from

programme results is termed ‘inefficiency’. This is not necessarily inefficiency of the

farmers; but that of the entire agricultural system.

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Classification of Farm Household

As small, medium and large is based on the concept of an operational land

holding. It implies the total area owned by that household plus the cultivation of

leased- in area and minus the leased-out area. It consists of irrigated area, dry area and

current fallow.

0 – 2.47 acres of land - marginal households

2.47 – 4.94 acres of land - small households

4.94 – 24.7 acres of land - medium households

24.7 acres and above of land - large households

Cost of Cultivation

Direct Cost - Production of individual crops, includes expenditure on seeds,

fertilizers, manures, pesticides, hired labour and rent in kind, [expenditure on

irrigation in terms of water charges, betterment levy, maintanance charges are fixed

by the government in the villages which are covered by canal irrigation-overhead

costs.

Arable Land

Arable land refers that land under temporary crops (double cropped areas are

counted once only), temporary mudows for mowing or pasture, land under market or

kitchen gardens and temporarily fallows (less than 5 years)

Land and Permanent Crops

Land under permanent crops means that land cultivated with crops that occupy

the land for long periods and need not be replanted after each harvest, such as cocoa,

coffee and rubber; this category includes land under flowering shrubs, fruits trees, nut

trees and vines but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber.

Cropping Pattern

Cropping pattern of an area means farmer’s cropping choices in favour of one

or preference for one over other competing crops. These choices are directly governed

by family requirements of grain, requirement of fodder for livestock, irrigation

facility, soil type, marketing facility and economic returns from growing the crop.

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Cropping Intensity = Harvested area

×100Arable or actual area

Rotational Water Supply

Rotational Water Supply or Warabandi is a system of equitable water

distribution by turns, according to a predetermined schedule specifying the day, time

and duration of water supply to each farmer in proportion to his holding size in an

outlet command. The Rotational Water Supply schedule is prepared after executing

the On Farm Development works by Agricultural Engineering Department and

handed over to the farmers for implementation.