Review of Input and Output Policies for Cereal Production in ...

In addition to these environmental costs, the operational costs of sustaining this groundwater
economy are also reaching critical levels (Shah et al. 2003). It has been estimated that water use
efficiency in STW and DTW command areas is less than 60 percent. This, combined with the fact that
around 90 percent of the pumps run on diesel, implies that the cost of pump irrigation is very high and is
likely to increase further as fuel costs rise. Already it has not been uncommon to find diesel supply and
high price problems during the peak irrigation season. Guaranteeing that the benefits of the spread of
irrigation are not lost requires that an adequate supply of diesel at reasonable prices be maintained
(Hussain and Iqbal 2011), which is difficult in view of the rising world oil prices. This is a task whose
enormity will keep increasing, so securing other sources of power (shifting to electricity) will remain a
key challenge.
Considering the environmental and cost concerns of groundwater irrigation, the main challenge in
the irrigation sector is to increase surface water irrigation and correspondingly reduce groundwater use,
improve water use efficiency, and rehabilitate infrastructure, keeping in view the overall objective of
increasing food production (Government of Bangladesh 2011). To increase surface water irrigation, the
water distribution system and water management at the farm level has to be improved. This requires (1)
investments in developing new distribution channels and rehabilitating and maintaining existing ones; (2)
investments in water-saving technologies, such as alternate-wetting-and-drying technology developed by
the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute; and (3) strengthening system-level and grassroots-level capacity
for managing water resources more efficiently (Ahmed et al. 2011, Government of Bangladesh 2011).
Alongside this general thrust to increase surface water irrigation, specific measures are required to
improve efficiency of surface water irrigation and saline water intrusion in southern Bangladesh. These
include improvements in the field drainage systems, rehabilitation of existing irrigation and drainage
systems, flood control measures, capacity development among water users, and improved brackish water
management practices.
On the policy front, as mentioned above, Bangladesh is yet to formulate a policy or an act related
to irrigation or water management. Except for the Groundwater Management Ordinance, which was in
effect from 1985–87 to control the spacing for the installation of tubewells, there has been no specific
policy to regulate groundwater usage. Although this was not a problem in the period when the spread of
irrigation was still in its nascent stage, the problems being posed by groundwater usage in recent years
require that a policy be put in place to manage these challenges. Some steps have been taken in recent
years to address these issues in policies, such as the National Agriculture Policy (1999), the National
Water Policy (1999), and the National Water Management Plan (2001). These policies have addressed the
minor irrigation and water management issues to some extent, but the need for a comprehensive policy,
which factors in the emerging challenges of increased irrigation, still exists.
The overlapping mandate of several ministries over water resources has, as noted earlier, not been
conducive to optimal water use in the country. Often various government agencies, such as the BWDB
and BADC, have functioned at cross-purposes in a climate of competition (Ahmed et al. 2011). Similarly,
other ministries with a stake in water resources, such as the MOE and MOL, have been lax in regulating
water use by those users under their domain. As a result, water quality in the country has deteriorated
even though it is the objective of the MOE, while the fishers who lease land from the MOL have tended
to overexploit the water and fish resources due to the short-term lease policy of the MOL. From
stakeholder discussions, Ahmed et al. (2011) report that both the MoWR and the MOL have laid more
stress on development rather than sustainable use of water resources. Thus, they point out that there is an
acute need for raising awareness within the wings of the government itself.
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