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

as water management related factors. These factors have posed serious problems
on the dynamics <strong>of</strong> land use and water management practices in irrigation
commands in the context <strong>of</strong> the interface between irrigation and agricultural
development in the state.
The major institutional constraints hindering the process <strong>of</strong> better
utilisation <strong>of</strong> irrigation water in the canal commands are (i) the declining size <strong>of</strong>
operational holdings. leading to th~
failure <strong>of</strong> institutional intervention for
promoting paddy cultivation. (ii) lahour related problems. (iii) un-remunerative
rric.:s for paddy coupled with rising wage rates. and (v) large scale conversion <strong>of</strong>
raddy lands for ocher crops and also for non-agricultural purposes.
The Group Farming (GF) has heen an important institutional intervention
hv the government In
Kerab for augmenting paddy cultivation through
consolidation <strong>of</strong> holdings and ensure \iability <strong>of</strong> paddy. It has also been intended
to arrest the process <strong>of</strong> further conversion. However. the programme was only a
temporary success. as it could neither arrest the process <strong>of</strong> area conversion nor
ensure increase in returns to rice growers.
An Important reason why the cost <strong>of</strong> paddy cultivation could not he
reduced under the group farming is the bbour intensity coupled with high wage
rate. The wage cost has increased substantially owing to the multiplication <strong>of</strong>
tasks caused by fragmentation <strong>of</strong> operational holdings and also operation-linked
wage rate. On the other hand. prices <strong>of</strong> paddy have never been attractive. The
increase in wages at current prices has been very high in relation to prices <strong>of</strong>
paddy during the last one and half decade and this adversely affected the net
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