economics of on-farm development - Institute for Social and ...

therefore. taken as a way <strong>of</strong> life not as a source <strong>of</strong> income nor as a means to an
end. but as an end in itself.
An attempt has. therefore. been made in what follows to examme and
analyse the costs and returns <strong>of</strong> investment in OFD works. in general. at the
project level and at the farm level by the farmers, in particular. In the first
instance. the economic effects <strong>of</strong> OFD have been examined in respect <strong>of</strong> the ten
completed irrigation projects in terms <strong>of</strong> net returns per ha. <strong>of</strong> cropped area as
well as incremental benefits accrued to the farmers. While the analysis <strong>of</strong> the
effects <strong>of</strong> OFD on agricultural development <strong>of</strong> the completed irrigation projects
is based on the data drawn from evaluation studies <strong>of</strong> CADA published in 1996.
the analysis with respect to the two projects selected for the study is entirely
based on the farm level sun'ey data collected from the households. The
limit~J!ions
<strong>of</strong> the evaluation studies <strong>of</strong> CADA in terms <strong>of</strong> its scope and coverage
are. however. kept in view while interpreting the trends in production and
productivity <strong>of</strong> crops grown in command areas. In case <strong>of</strong> Pee chi, one <strong>of</strong> the
projects selected for the stud~.
the results <strong>of</strong> the evaluation study are extensively
used to supplement the empirical findings based on field level data. As regards
the Kallada Irrigation Project. the Minor Conveyance System I (MCS) is
considered as one <strong>of</strong> the important OFD works at the farm level for promoting
better utilisation <strong>of</strong> irrigation water. It is particularly so because <strong>of</strong> the
undulating topography <strong>of</strong> the command area. The MCS in the Kallada project.
therefore. seems to have been adopted as a cost-effective strategy to suit the
I A detailed description <strong>of</strong> the ":atllTes and technical aspects <strong>of</strong> the Minor Conveyance
System IS provided in Chapter 4.
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