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

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sources, wasteful utilisati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> already developed water supplies, degradati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

soils in irrigated areas, depleti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> groundwater, polluti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> water <strong>and</strong> its<br />

impact <strong>on</strong> human health <strong>and</strong> massive subsidies <strong>and</strong> distorted incentives structure.<br />

Rosegrant (1995), reflecting <strong>on</strong> the growing problems <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> water scarcity,<br />

cauti<strong>on</strong>s that the potential <strong>for</strong> expansi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> new sources <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> water is hard to come<br />

by <strong>and</strong> increasingly expensive to exploit. In countries, including India. Ind<strong>on</strong>esia,<br />

the Philippines, Sri Lanka <strong>and</strong> Thail<strong>and</strong>, the real capital costs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> irrigati<strong>on</strong><br />

<strong>development</strong> <strong>on</strong> an unweighted average increased from US $ 1744 per ha. in<br />

1966-69 to US $ 4385 per ha. in 1986-88. Further, the average investment cost<br />

<strong>for</strong> medium <strong>and</strong> large-scale irrigati<strong>on</strong> with full water c<strong>on</strong>trol is estimated at US $<br />

8300 per ha. in 1992 (FAO. 1992). This apart, the water use efficiency <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

irrigati<strong>on</strong> <strong>farm</strong>ing in most regi<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the developing world typically ranges from<br />

25 to 40 per cent (Wolf <strong>and</strong> Hubener. 1999).<br />

2.2.1 Under-utilisati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> irrigati<strong>on</strong> potential<br />

The problem <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> capacity under-utilisati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> irrigati<strong>on</strong> potential in India has been<br />

a widely debated issue. Though the <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficially reported estimates <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> underutilisati<strong>on</strong><br />

in irrigati<strong>on</strong> projects hover around 15 to 20 per cent over the plan<br />

periods. this has been disproved by many. Especially, the Ninth Plan provides a<br />

realistic explanati<strong>on</strong> as regards the problem <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> under-utilisati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> irrigati<strong>on</strong><br />

potential in irrigati<strong>on</strong> comm<strong>and</strong>s. The plan document states that the data<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficially reported (by the Planning Commissi<strong>on</strong>) does not give a correct picture<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> utilisati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> irrigati<strong>on</strong> potential. mainly because <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the different criteria!<br />

norms adopted by the states in reporting the rates <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> creati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> utilisati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

irrigati<strong>on</strong> potential. A lag <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> few years between potential creati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> utilisati<strong>on</strong><br />

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