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

Reasons for violation
In both the villages, fanners were asked to state reasons for violation of the cropping
pattern. The major reason for this violation in Hagedal is found to be adequate supply of
water (65.lpercent), followed by crop assurance (55.5 percent). With good connecting
roads and processing facilities, fanners have better access to markets making paddy
economically remunerative (51.3 percent). Hence paddy was a natural choice among
Hagedal fanners. The availability of water has a traditional psychological association with
the cultivation of paddy in the upper and middle reaches of TBP. Around 25 percent of the
fanners said they grew paddy for self-consumption. Paddy is the staple diet of migrant
Andhra fanners, whereas the staple diet of Kannada farmers is both jowar and paddyl8.
Hagedal fanners tried growmg Jowar, but this was more vulnerable to bird damage, a
problem that was aggravated by a growing scarcity of labor on small-scale fanns. The
comprehensive crop insurance scheme or the recent National Agriculture Insurance
Scheme is not popular among the farmers. Paddy took over as the main crop and farmers
are now growing it due to availability of water. The specific relationship between the
irrigation decision of one fanner and the impacts on other farmers in the local area depends
on the topography, drainage, and soil conditions present there. In Hagedal, farmers growing
paddy at an elevation change the water table such that farmers downhill have little choice
but to grow paddy. The water table is raised to such an extent that the productivity of other
crop options is much lower. Further, smallholder paddy production has been encouraged by
high guaranteed prices 19 and has benefited from a moderately developed infrastructure and
well-developed marketing system. In addition, the risk associated with paddy cultivation is
relatively less with access to pesticides and fungicides from the private companies.
In Gundur, the major reason for violation was due to the decision taken by the WUA (85.1
percent) to grow only paddy, because the level of risk involved is comparatively lesser and
the soil being moisture retentive black soil is best suited for growing paddy. Around 60
18 More than 90 percent of the world's paddy is produced and consumed in Asia (lRRl (989) More than 80
percent of the developed freshwater resources in Asia are used for irrigation purposes and aboul half of the
total irrigation water is used for paddy production (Dawe et al. (998). . .
19 Price of paddy is Rs.670-700/quintal for Sona Mussorie and Rs. 580/qumtal for SUJatha. as on Oclober
2002, while MSP are Rs.560/quintal and Rs.530iquintal for Sona Mussone and SUJatha, respectl\ely.
115