Water Users Association and Irrigation Management - Institute for ...

cropping and intensive irrigation of paddy and sugarcane in the head and middle reach of
the project. These economically remunerative crops are highly water-intensive and their
cultivation has led to salinity and waterlogging problems in the command area. Apart from
water availability officials cited the assured Minimum Support Price (MSP)16 for paddy as
one of the reasons for crop violation. Swaminathan (1980) has pointed out that high
seepage loss, over irrigation and use of vast areas for growing high water requirement
crops, with attendant high percolation losses has resulted in a steady rise of the water table
in the command areas of many Indian irrigation systems. Even in Africa, the most
problematic areas are double rice cropping sites (N' Diaye 1998).
Around 73.6 percent of ofticers reported that under pricing of water has led to overuse and
wastage, which in tum has led to waterlogging and salinity problems. Saleth (1994) has
stated that water rate structure neither reflects the use value of water nor its scarcity value.
Since pricing of water is a politically sensitive issue, it is always seen around, but never
invited in. Umali (1993) has suggested that the government undertake corrective measures
regarding project planning, extension services, water management by irrigation agencies
and initiate policies with respect to water pricing. Normally, when water is abundant in the
head and middle reach, farmers have a tendency to waste water by allowing it to go to
drains, especially during nights. Night irrigation is hardly practiced in the upper and middle
reach of TLBC. Therefore, the water flows to the low-lying fields, which may cause
waterlogging and salinization.
Lack of on-farm development and seepage from canals have been stated as reasons for land
degradation by 42.1 percent of officials. Faulty alignment of canals and outlets in the upper
reaches of the distributary has aggravated the problems. Waterlogging and salinity is seen
as a technical problem by 31.5 pcrcent of respondents. They mentioned that over time, the
water tables rises and the dissolved salts from the irrigation water and the soil, through the
process of capillary action, builds up in the root zone and surface soil. Since the
Tungabhadra project is in arid and semi-arid region, the tendency of such adverse effects is
1(, RBI has, in its latest Annual Report, drawn the attention of policy makers as to how price interventions in
the form of MSP and procurement has protected crops such as wheat and rice, while others have suffered
neglect because of controls and restrictions. These controls have not only biased the croppmg pattern, but also
contributed to a degradation of soil and environment
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