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

water has made farmers to avoid cost intensive mechanical operations required
for scientitic OFD. They resort to take up such works, which require minimum
human labour. some times do only with family labour. The canal system <strong>of</strong> the
Pcechi project is technically designed for irrigating wet crops. mainly paddy.
Therefore. if a farmer wants to diversify the cropping pattern. it needs number <strong>of</strong>
OFD works before hand. to cultivate dry or other plantation crops. Since the
uncertainty in the availability <strong>of</strong> water is always looming around. farmers tend to
withdraw from undertaking OFD works necessary to cultivate the crops other
than paddy. This is a vicious circle with which farmers in the project are
encircled. In Peechi project. canal water during summer is exclusively meant for
kole lands and no provision for irrigating crops other than paddy is made as per
the design <strong>of</strong> the scheme. As a result. there is no cultivation <strong>of</strong> the third crop
(summer) in the upper reach.::, <strong>of</strong> the Peechi scheme. Wherever possible. farmers
tr~
to irrigate crops using the seepage water if available from the major
distributaries or the minors.
6.2.1.1 Canal induced groundwater recharge and its effect on adoption <strong>of</strong>
On-Farm Development
An important positi\·c cxtcrnalil; <strong>of</strong> canal Irrigation in gen.::ral is its contribution
to groundwater rccklr~c.
Thi, is an unintended indircct bcn.::tit ,lI1d the scholars
havc tricd to conceptualise it in terms <strong>of</strong> 'incidental benctits' (Dhawan. 1998)
caused by canal irrigation. Depending upon the intensity <strong>of</strong> groundwater recharge
and its reliability farmers tend to invest in dugwells for irrigation purposes. This
adds to the private capital formation in canal command areas. More importantly.
farmers also invest in OFD to maximise benefits from the well irrigation. This
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