Irrigation Development and Rural Poverty in Gujarat,India: A Disaggregated Analysis

Abstract

There has been renewed interest during recent times in the impact of irrigation development on rural poverty. For long, researchers asked whether irrigation development reduces the poverty of irrigators. However, the question being asked now is: does investing in irrigation—rather than in other public works—help reduce rural poverty in a region? Using Government of Gujarat's 1997 census of Below Poverty Line (BPL) households as well as the Village Amenity Survey of the same year, this paper explores the interplay between irrigation development and rural poverty in 177 predominantly rural talukas, which is an administrative unit with a population of around 100,000-150,000 people, of Gujarat state in western India. Our analysis shows that for the design of poverty-targeting programs, two variables have the highest appeal: primary education infrastructure and improved land productivity through irrigation. It also suggests that, over the long run, irrigation benefits far transcend the command areas of irrigation systems. As a result, irrigation impact studies focused at farm or command area level seriously underestimate overall livelihood impacts of irrigation development. This is because intensively irrigated areas act as magnets that attract rural poverty from their surround, especially from other dry areas. Population pressure on farm lands thus tends to get redistributed according to the carrying capacity of farm lands. Across 177 predominantly rural talukas of Gujarat, we find: a) an inverse relationship between land use intensity and land-man ratio; and b) as land productivity (output/hectare of net sown area) declines, output per rural person declines too, but far more slowly than would have been the case without the “magnet effect.”     

A GIS Framework for Changing Cropping Pattern Under Different Climate Conditions and Irrigation Availability Scenarios

Irrigation water availability is a main driver which determines cropping patterns for an irrigation area. Irrigation water availability will potentially reduce due to changes in climate and irrigation extraction limits. Cropping patterns should be adjusted to meet this challenge. This study presents a new approach for assessing future cropping patterns using GIS in combination with an Irrigation Water Availability Simulation model (IWAS) at irrigation area scale. The IWAS-GIS framework was developed for analysis of cropping pattern options based on the forecast of irrigation water availability in 2030 for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) which is one of the most important irrigation areas in Australia. Six scenarios considering climatic conditions and the irrigation availabilities were input into the IWAS-GIS framework to simulate cropping pattern changes corresponding to predicted monthly irrigation water availability. Cropping patterns were designed by integration of soil type and irrigation water availability to improve irrigation sustainability. Simulations results indicate that the total irrigated areas will likely decrease with drier climate and less irrigation availability. Rice and pasture areas change significantly when climate and irrigation availability varies. Under the same climate condition, horticulture area increases when irrigation availability decrease. The percentage of lands which are unsuitable for cropping has reduced with the drying climate and shrinking irrigation availability. The IWAS-GIS is simple to implement and provides an easy way for assessing spatial cropping pattern changes based on irrigation water availability. This framework was developed to help irrigators plan cropping patterns corresponding to irrigation water availability. It is flexible to be adopted for similar applications in other irrigation areas.     

Hotspots Assessment of Spatial Water Losses in the Off-Farm Open Channels Irrigation Supply System

Open channels are the dominant off-farm systems employed to supply irrigation water in both developed and developing countries. However, a majority of these systems are often criticised for their low conveyance efficiencies. Under the water scarce environment, improving the conveyance efficiency provides an opportunity to realise basin level water savings. To define the quantum of such opportunities, there is a need to identify the location, nature and amount of water losses (hotspots) in the off-farm open channels irrigation supply system that can be saved, in a cost-effective manner, through investments in the conveyance infrastructures. This paper presents the hotspots assessment of the off-farm open channels irrigation supply system located in New South Wales, Australia. Hotspots assessment is primarily drawn upon the public domain datasets and information available in the published literature or anecdotal evidences. The study area has a 296 km long network of open channels spanning over 96,000 ha. The results indicate that almost 50% of the water losses due to channel seepage occur at specific hotspots that cover only 1.7% of the length of the total channel network. The presented approach has a potential to help make consistent and transparent decisions for allocating irrigation infrastructure investments across different stakeholders.     

Assessment of the contribution of irrigation to poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods

Irrigation in developing countries tends to be stereotyped as equity reducing, in competition with other uses for scarce water resources, and often resulting in negative impacts for women and other disadvantaged groups. Agricultural intensification through the practice of irrigation as a strategy for poverty reduction is examined. There are four inter‐related mechanisms through which irrigated agriculture can reduce poverty. These are: improvements in the levels and security of productivity, employment and incomes for irrigating farm households and farm labour; the linkage and multiplier effects of agricultural intensification for the wider economy; provision of opportunities for diversification of rural livelihoods; and multiple uses of irrigation supply. There are also significant risks that badly designed and managed irrigation can negatively impact on poverty. It is concluded that irrigated farming varies widely in its form and impacts, and has diverse local attributes. Water resource management decisions must recognize this and be based on an holistic and livelihood‐centred assessment of irrigation benefits and costs that goes beyond food production objectives.     

Financing Irrigation Water Management and Infrastructure: A Review

Many of the world's irrigated regions face the problem of aging infrastructure and declining revenues to maintain and repair irrigation structures. Policy debates over climate change, population growth, food security, and impacts of irrigation on ecological assets compound the problem, raising the urgency to invest in irrigation infrastructure. Meanwhile, a global call for full-cost recovery for water infrastructure investments increases the need to identify the economic value of sustaining irrigation infrastructure. Despite the growing debates, little comprehensive research has been conducted summarizing factors affecting irrigation investments or policy options available for sustaining irrigation infrastructure. This paper reviews research on factors affecting the level and value of irrigation infrastructure investments. It also reviews research on policy instruments for sustaining irrigation infrastructure, considering both market and institutional approaches. Several market approaches have been found to have the potential to influence the economic attractiveness of investments in irrigation infrastructure. These include infrastructure subsidies, clearing titles to water rights, marginal cost pricing, and non-volumetric pricing. Institutional approaches described include regulatory measures, transboundary agreements, and water user associations. Results may contribute to current debates in various regional, national, and international forums on whether and how water should be priced for agricultural use.     

Targeting Irrigation Support to Poor Women and Men

Gendered poverty alleviation is an important aim of many governmental and non-governmental irrigation agencies. This paper argues that the contribution of irrigation agencies to poverty alleviation is optimal if agencies target their support, and vest rights to newly developed irrigated land and water primarily in poor women and men. It is shown that the often-assumed trade-off between poverty alleviation and production growth probably does not exist. Further, agencies themselves play a preponderant role in including or excluding poor women and men in respect of rights in irrigated land and water. This role is especially strong in public irrigation, the focus of this paper. Evidence on the role of public irrigation agencies in allocating irrigated land and water rights is reviewed. Irrigated land is allocated through the site selection of infrastructural intervention, with or without changes in land tenure in the command area. Inclusion and exclusion occur implicitly through three principles of water rights allocation: on the basis of co-investments in infrastructure, on the basis of household composition, and on the basis of type of land rights.     

The Financing of Hydropower,Irrigation and Water Supply Infrastructure in Developing Countries

A companion paper in the previous issue of this journal (Briscoe, 1999) describes the changing face of infrastructure financing in developing countries. This paper deals with the financing of major infrastructure in the water-related sectors-hydropower, water supply and sanitation, irrigation, and overall water resources management (including the environment). The overall level of investment in water-related infrastructure in developing countries is estimated to be of the order of $65 billion annually, with the respective shares about $15 billion for hydro, $25 billion for water and sanitation and $25 billion for irrigation and drainage. About 90% of this investment comes from domestic sources, primarily from the public sector. Water-related infrastructure accounts for a large chunk-about 15%-of all government spending. This heavy dependence on the public sector means that the global 'winds of change' in the respective roles of government and the private sector have major implications for the financing and structure of the water economy. The paper describes how each of the 'sub-sectors' is adapting to these winds of change. First, in recent years competition and private sector provision have emerged as the characteristicsof the new electricity industry. This change poses a fundamental challenge to hydro which, to a much greater degree than thermal, has risks (hydrological, geological, social and environmental) which are better assumed by the public than the private sector. The future of private hydro, and thus of hydro itself, depends heavily on the ability of the public sector to both share risks with the private sector, and to provide predictable social and environmental rules of the game. Second, the urban water supply sector is in the early stages of equally profound change. In recent years there has been a dramatic shift towards the private sector, in developed and developing countries alike. An outline of the future shape of a competitive urban water sector is emerging: it is one in which a growing number of private companies will compete with revitalized (and often corporatized) public utilities. Capital will, increasingly, come from the private capital markets, with the critical government role being that of light, transparent benchmarking and regulation. Third, the adaptation to the winds of change is least advanced in the public irrigation sector, which has long been characterized by public financing and 'rent seeking' by bureaucracies, politicians and private beneficiaries. It is only in recent years, and only in a few countries, that the irrigation sector has modernized. In these cases irrigation has become like any other utility, in which accountable, autonomous agencies provide users with the services the users want. In many instances, farmers have become responsible for the costs of operating and maintaining their systems; in some instances they are responsible for meeting the full costs of replacement, rehabilitation and new investments. Where these changes have taken place, there have not only been sharp swings in the relative proportion of private and public spending, but there have been dramatic improvements in the efficiency of investment and operation and, in most cases, major positive environmental impacts.     

赤峰市膜下滴灌技术分析

阐述了膜下滴灌技术的含义特点,总结了膜下滴灌技术的特点和内涵。通过在赤峰市现代节水型灌溉农业中从节水、节肥、节农药、节地、保土、保肥、增温、调温、提高劳动生产率、提高品质、增加产量、降低生产成本、防治盐碱、抗灾能力等方面说明了膜下滴灌技术的优点,同时列举各种实验数据进一步说明膜下滴灌的优越性,证明了膜下滴灌技术在干旱贫水区重要地位和作用,展示出了膜下滴灌技术的广阔发展前景,值得推广应用。     

Modelling the influence of irrigation abstractions on Scotland's water resources.

Legislation to control abstraction of water in Scotland is limited and for purposes such as irrigation there are no restrictions in place over most of the country. This situation is set to change with implementation of the European Water Framework Directive. As a first step towards the development of appropriate policy for irrigation control there is a need to assess the current scale of irrigation practices in Scotland. This paper presents a modelling approach that has been used to quantify spatially the volume of water abstractions across the country for irrigation of potato crops under typical climatic conditions. A water balance model was developed to calculate soil moisture deficits and identify the potential need for irrigation. The results were then combined with spatial data on potato cropping and integrated to the sub-catchment scale to identify the river systems most at risk from over-abstraction. The results highlight that the areas that have greatest need for irrigation of potatoes are all concentrated in the central east-coast area of Scotland. The difference between irrigation demand in wet and dry years is very significant, although spatial patterns of the distribution are similar.     

Conjunctive Water Use Planning in an Irrigation Command Area

In the present study, an integrated soil water balance algorithm was coupled to a non-linear optimization model in order to carry out water allocation planning in complex deficit agricultural water resources systems based on an economic efficiency criterion. The LINGO 10.0, optimization package has been used to evolve at optimal allocation plan of surface and ground water for irrigation of multiple crops. The proposed model was applied for Qazvin Irrigation Command Area, a semi-arid region in Iran. Various scenarios of conjunctive use of surface and ground water along-with current and proposed cropping pattern have been explored. Some deficit irrigation practices were also investigated. The results indicate that conjunctive use practices are feasible and can be easily implemented in the study area, which would enhance the overall benefits from cropping activities. The study provides various possible operational scenarios of the branch canals of the command area in the common and dry condition, which can help managers in decision making for the optimum allocation plans of water resources within the different irrigation districts. The findings demonstrate that for deficit irrigation options, the mining allowance of ground water value of the command area is greatly reduced and ground water withdrawal may be also restricted to the recharge to maintain the river–aquifer equilibrium.     

Field Evaluation of Surge and Continuous Flows in Furrow Irrigation Systems

The objective of this paper is to study the performance of surgeand continuous furrow irrigation based on field experiments. Theexperiments took place on two farms located in the State of NewMexico, U.S.A., cultivated with Beans and Alfalfa and havingdifferent types of soil. Each farm was divided into two parts,where the first was designed to practice surge and the secondcontinuous irrigation. The analysis of the results showed thatsurge flow proides the desired crop water requirement at almost40% saving in water and time as well as improving the distribution uniformity and application efficiency of irrigation to about 90%.     

Integrated Water Resources Management in Polrud Irrigation System

Water is needed in all aspects of life and is vital to its social, economical and environmental dimensions. Having a key role in sustainable development, water management requires an integrated approach. Irrigation Water shortage promotes the development of innovative management and supply enhancement models. Effective water management requires a comprehensive consideration of all related aspects, e.g., technical, social, environmental, institutional, political and financial. Then the conventional methods of cost-benefit analysis and single-objective models have changed to multi-objective models. The rising of population in Iran puts significant pressure on authorities and infrastructures to provide water. Without improvement in water management, Irrigation demand will continue to increase, water supplies will diminish and the population pressure will decay infrastructure. This paper describes compromise programming to solve multi-criteria decision making in irrigation planning for Polrud project in the North of Iran. The important objectives of project are: regulation of reliable water at the demand time, improving rice and tea production, domestic water supply, environmental needs as well as reducing social conflicts. After execution of the model, results show the optimum decision for crops pattern and extents of allocated water to each area. This study is a successful implementation of IWRM in irrigation planning.     

Assessment of Different Irrigation Management Models in Vietnam

An assessment of three institutional models for irrigation management in Vietnam is presented. The first model is a joint management by a state agency and farmer organization; the second is a shared management by a quasi-state and farmer organization; and the third is management solely by a farmer organization. The first model is a conventional management system, whereas the latter two models have recently been introduced in a limited number of projects as a result of the government policy on reform in the irrigation sector. Three study sites are identified to represent three management models. Apart from the institutional framework and selected management functions, water distribution and agricultural productivity are evaluated and compared. Results indicate the better performance of management models with increased involvement of farmers in the decision-making process. It is recommended that the hydraulic boundaries should be taken into consideration in reforming management systems for irrigation projects.     

滴灌湿润体内土壤墒情监测点位置的试验研究

为了快速精确地监测土壤水分,通过田间试验观测了滴灌带一个湿润体内不同位置的7个中子仪监测点0～120cm深度土壤剖面的水分分布,分析了膜下滴灌湿润体内土壤水分随监测点位置的变化情况。结果表明:土壤含水率的差异,只与监测点与滴灌带的距离有关,距滴头5 cm处的监测点与距滴灌带30 cm处的土壤含水率垂直分布无显著性差异,与距滴灌带55、70 cm处的土壤含水率垂直分布有显著性差异。因此,墒情监测点应布置于距滴灌带0～30 cm范围内,不宜超过此范围。     

漳河灌区高效用水经验及启示

湖北省漳灌区几十年来坚持以提高灌溉水利用率和水分生产率为目标，不断改进和完善蓄水，取水，输水，配水和灌溉水系统，逐步形成了大,中，小，蓄，引，提相结合的灌溉体系，漳河的经验表明，科学的管理，合理的调度，可使水资源的综合利用率和单位水量的产值大幅度提高。     

Multiple Water Use Protocols in Integrated Farming System for Enhancing Productivity

Agriculture is the largest consumer of water in world. Due to demand of water for industrial and drinking purposes, the share of available water resources in agriculture sector is reducing substantially in near future. However, the food, fodder, fuel, and fibre production for satisfying the demands of enhanced population requires more water. In this scenario, increasing water productivity through diversified farming system has been identified as one of the viable options. Diversified farming, otherwise also called integrated farming system (IFS), represents integration of various enterprises such as cropping systems, horticulture, animal husbandry, fishery, agro-forestry, apiary etc. for optimal utilization of farm resources besides water. Integrated farming, a judicious mix of cropping systems suited to given agro-climatic conditions and socio-economic status of the farmers, shall be able to generate additional employment and income for the small and marginal farmers under both rain-fed and irrigated environment. Although, IFS was mainly initiated in Asian agriculture, it is being introduced in almost all the countries of world. Such a system results in more rationale use of water with judicious distribution among different users. In this paper, different aspects of multiple uses of water for higher productivity and future strategies for enhancing water productivity are discussed.     

Optimizing Reservoir Operation Policy Using Chance Constraint Nonlinear Programming for Koga Irrigation Dam,Ethiopia

One of typical problems in water resources system modeling is derivation of optimal operating policy for reservoir to ensure water is used more efficiently. This paper introduces optimization analysis to determine monthly reservoir operating policies for five scenarios of predetermined cropping patterns for Koga irrigation scheme, Ethiopia. The objective function of the model was set to minimize the sum of squared deviation (SSD) from the desired targeted supply. Reservoir operation under different water availability and thresholds of irrigation demands has been analyzed by running a chance constraint nonlinear programming model based on uncertain inflow data. The model was optimized using Microsoft Excel Solver. The lowest SSD and vulnerability, and the highest volumetric reliability were gained at irrigation deficit thresholds of 20 % under scenario I, 30 % under scenario II, III and V, and at 40 % under scenario IV when compensation release is permitted for downstream environment. These thresholds of deficits could be reduced by 10 % for all scenarios if compensation release is not permitted. In conclusion the reservoir water is not sufficient enough to meet 100 % irrigation demand for design command areas of 7,000 ha. The developed model could be used for real time reservoir operation decision making for similar reservoir irrigation systems. In this specific case study system, attempt should be made to evaluate the technical performance of the scheme and introduce a regulated deficit irrigation application.     

节水灌溉模式对单季水稻生长特性的影响

通过测筒蒸渗器试验研究不同灌溉模式对单季水稻田间水分消耗和生长特性的影响。研究结果表明,薄露灌溉和间歇灌溉等节水灌溉模式相比常规灌溉可有效降低稻田水分消耗,控制单季水稻的营养生长,促进干物质向籽粒转移,从而增加单季水稻的产量。     

Performance of Farmer-managed Irrigation Systems for Rice Production in East Java Province,Indonesia

This paper addresses the importance of an institutional mechanism to allocate and distribute irrigation water properly, to reduce conflicts and to mobilize financial support for sustainable rice production. The study reveals that the contributing factors affecting the performance of farmer-managed irrigation systems for rice production are plot size and the application of seed, fertilizer and pesticides, and the influencing factors are water adequacy during the dry season and a fixed schedule of intermittent flow of water distribution. Water inadequacy and dissatisfaction on the timeliness of water distribution are the potential sources of conflicts, whereas the ability of farmers to pay irrigation fees and the acceptance of a fee system are the major concerns about the financial support for irrigation operation and maintenance. The accountability of a water user's association is the main factor influencing the success of an institutional role in the sustainability of rice production.     

Evaluation of Crop Models for Simulating and Optimizing Deficit Irrigation Systems in Arid and Semi-arid Countries Under Climate Variability

The variability of fresh water availability in arid and semi-arid countries poses a serious challenge to farmers to cope with when depending on irrigation for crop growing. This has shifted the focus onto improving irrigation management and water productivity (WP) through controlled deficit irrigation (DI). DI can be conceived as a strategy to deal with these challenges but more knowledge on risks and chances of this strategy is urgently needed. The availability of simulation models that can reliably predict crop yield under the influence of soil, atmosphere, irrigation, and agricultural management practices is a prerequisite for deriving reliable and effective deficit irrigation strategies. In this context, this article discusses the performance of the crop models CropWat, PILOTE, Daisy, and APSIM when being part of a stochastic simulation-based approach to improve WP by focusing primarily on the impact of climate variability. The stochastic framework consists of: (i) a weather generator for simulating regional impacts of climate variability; (ii) a tailor-made evolutionary optimization algorithm for optimal irrigation scheduling with limited water supply; and (iii) the above mentioned models for simulating water transport and crop growth in a sound manner. The results present stochastic crop water production functions (SCWPFs) that can be used as basic tools for assessing the impact on the risk for the potential yield due to water stress and climate variability. Example simulations from India, Malawi, France and Oman are presented and the suitability of these crop models to be employed in a framework for optimizing WP is evaluated.