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

evamping needed to reorient the MCS for effective supply <strong>of</strong> water to the fields.
The farmers' responses have been presented in table 7.6.
. . n a a a
Table 7 6· Present status <strong>of</strong> hvdrants/ wheel valves i K II d
Reasons ind icated
Head Middle Tail
Reach Reach Reach
Total
Functioning smooth Iv 9 7 12 12
Hydrants/ wheel valves are broken or
stolen
34 39 46 41
Hydrants! wheel valves need repair. 23 25 17 23
Design alignment Droblem 14 II 9 8
Need comDlete reDlacement 20 18 16 16
Total fanners(No.) 78 65 57 200
NOle.· HR: Head Reach; MR: Middle Reach; TR: Tad Reach.
As seen from the table, only 12 per cent <strong>of</strong> the farmers report that the
hydrants are functioning smoothly when water is released through the MCS.
However, the proportion <strong>of</strong> farmers reporting smooth functioning <strong>of</strong> the hydrants
is lowest in the head reaches at 9 per cent 7 . A majority <strong>of</strong> the farmers complain
that the hydrants and wheel valves are either broken or stolen. The proportion <strong>of</strong>
farmers reporting this is 46 per cent in the tail reach, followed by 39 per cent in
the middle and 34 per cent in the head reaches. While 17 to 25 per cent <strong>of</strong> the
farmers consider that water could be made available to them with certain minor
repairs, 16 to 20 per cent <strong>of</strong> the farmers opine that the hydrants and wheel valves
need complete replacement. About 9 to 14 per cent <strong>of</strong> the farmers complain that
the MCS has design problems as well.
An important point em~rging out <strong>of</strong> the above discussion is that the MCS
is not effectively functioning even in the head reaches <strong>of</strong> the canal system, where
water is relatively more abundant. Given this state <strong>of</strong> affairs, farmers are
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