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

system which presupposes superior information and decision-making capacity on
the part <strong>of</strong> the irrigation bureaucracy and neglects feedback from farmers.
It was thought that the effective management <strong>of</strong> water distribution and
operation <strong>of</strong> canal systems could be ensured through the National Water
Management projects (NWMPs). But, in reality not much improvement had taken
place after introducing NWMP. This underscores the importance <strong>of</strong> user
participation in irrigation management. Vaidyanathan (1999) points out that so
far, the efforts to ensure user participation have been confined to the formation <strong>of</strong>
such groups at the tertiary level, without effective management in the process <strong>of</strong>
water transaction at the field level.
There are studies highlighting the importance <strong>of</strong> Participatory Irrigation
Management (PIM). Country level experiences suggest that the principle <strong>of</strong> PIM
has been effective in terms <strong>of</strong>: a) getting farmers assistance in water distribution;
b) in facilitating the maintenance <strong>of</strong> the farm level facilities and improvements or
repair <strong>of</strong> canals; and c) in resolving irrigation related conflicts, previously being
dealt with by the government authorities (Ferrer and Lucero, 1988). Kolawole
(1993) argues that high crop productivity is a requirement to achiev~ and sustain
the required level <strong>of</strong> user participation.
Vaidyanathan (1999), like Patel and Lele (1995), concludes that 'the
success <strong>of</strong> active user involvement in water management at the outlet level
depends to a greater extent on: a) credible assurance regarding the quantum and
duration <strong>of</strong> water supply that each group can expect; b) giving users' groups the
freedom to create local storage below the outlet and to determine allocations
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