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

doubts about the senousness <strong>of</strong> the efforts to reorient the Irrigation schemes.
particularly. in the context <strong>of</strong> changing cropping pattern. It appears that the
irrigation bureaucracy tries to explore new ways by which rent seeking and
nepotism could be perpetuated.
Keeping the status <strong>of</strong> OFO in the irrigation projects <strong>of</strong> Kerala in general
as discussed above as backdrop. we will now present the results <strong>of</strong> the survey
conducted in the two projects. namely. Peechi and Kallada irrigation projects.
The OFO works carried out in the two irrigation projects as mentioned earlier are
distinctly different in terms <strong>of</strong> technology. type and scope. The adoption <strong>of</strong> OFO
in the Peechi irrigation command is influenced to a greater extent by the intensitv
<strong>of</strong> groundwater recharge caused by seepage from the canals. Whereas. in the
Kallada project. the Minor Conveyance System I MCS) meant for reducing
conveyance losses <strong>of</strong> water in an undulating topography. have different
implications on OFO. A detailed discussion on the impact <strong>of</strong> OFO in respect <strong>of</strong>
both the irrigation systems is attempted in the following section.
II. The impact <strong>of</strong> OFD: Peechi and Kallada Irrigation projects
6.2.1 Peechi Irrigation Project
As already stated. due to a wide range <strong>of</strong> oper3tion31 constraints. the adoption <strong>of</strong>
OFO works at the farm level has been very limited in scale and intensity. The
farmers. by and large. have understood OFO as merely levelling the land by
filling the gullies and other depressions on the field and providing earthen
channels before the release <strong>of</strong> water. The secular decline in the size <strong>of</strong>
operational holdings and uncertainty in getting timely and adequate supply <strong>of</strong>
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