Irrigation and water use efficiency in South Asia - Global ...

Briefing Paper Number 9 | 2012GDN Agriculture Policy SeriesIrrigation andwater use efficiencyin South AsiaAli HasanainShahid AhmadMuhammad Zia MehmoodSidra MajeedGenet ZinabouSouth Asia has one of the world’s highest rates of irrigatedagriculture but its dwindling water resources need to be used moreefficiently. This briefing explores how governments can improveirrigation practice by regulating prices, clarifying rights to watersources and strengthening governance systems.A farmer opens a channel to irrigatehis farmland using a water pumpnear Akhori village in Unnao.sanjit das | panos picturesKey messagesp South Asia has one of the world’s highestrates of irrigated agriculture yet this isnevertheless under stress because of poormanagement and a growing population.More efficient management of waterrequires the state to help to removebarriers to investment in the sector.p South Asian countries should establishmechanisms to make water investmentdecisions objectively and then lookfor alternative sources of finance toexecute them. They should not dependon foreign aid when making surfacewater investment decisions.p Enforcing charges by the volumeof water used, in line with costs, andensuring that charges are effectivelycollected will increase the efficient useof irrigation water. The establishmentof effective collection mechanismsis a societal challenge – and requirescollaboration between government,farmers and community organizations.p Short-term subsidies on waterconservation technologies for farmersprior to increasing water pricesmay reduce the expected backlash.p The major precondition for pricinggroundwater is the assignmentof rights to groundwater sources.This may, however, be difficult in thecase of shared aquifers. Land reformcan lower the barriers to cooperationbetween citizens.p Development of water marketscannot proceed in isolation from theinstitutional and technological contextof irrigation in developing countries.Community organizations havea potentially important role to playin advising, educating and managingthe allocation of water among users.This briefing paper is one of the10-part Global DevelopmentNetwork (GDN) Agriculture PolicySeries for its project, ‘SupportingPolicy Research to InformAgricultural Policy in Sub-SaharanAfrica and South Asia’. It is basedon a longer synthesis paper,Irrigation and water useefficiency in South Asia, whichdraws on extensive publishedand unpublished research. Thefull paper can be downloaded at:www.agripolicyoutreach.orgIt will be of value to policymakers,experts and civil society working toimprove agriculture in South Asia.This project is supported by theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation.Briefing Paper Number 9 Irrigation and water use efficiency in South Asia 1

The challenges in more detailGroundwater challengesGroundwater irrigation is a core elementof livelihood creation programs for poorpeople in many regions. It forms the basisof 60 per cent of irrigation in India and isoften supported by subsidies for tube wellequipment and pumping electricity. Thereis little scope for further developmentin most South Asian countries, with theexception of some parts of India andNepal. Nevertheless, governments persistwith extraction policies, rather thanemphasizing the importance of increasingwater use efficiency. This creates a riskof groundwater depletion and, if cropsfail, of food shortages and the subsequentabandonment of whole clusters ofvillages, as has been the case in SouthernRajasthan, coastal Saurashtra, Tamil Naduand Northern Gujarat in India.There is little disagreement amongpolicymakers as to what ideal policyinterventions would look like or on howto set up a market in groundwater. Theseinclude the formulation and enforcementof groundwater laws, establishingunambiguous tradable property rightsfor water – treating groundwater asan economic good in terms of pricing –and implementing a licensing andpermit system to regulate groundwaterextraction. However, a lack of clarityover property rights often preventsindividuals from investing in waterextraction and no South Asian countryhas been able to adopt these measureseffectively on a sufficiently large scale.In the absence of ‘tied ownership’(ie the linking of water rights to propertyrights), the prevalent rule tends to be’first possession’ (whoever pumps thewater is its rightful owner), increasingthe danger of overexploitation. Forgroundwater markets to be successful,the most important preconditionis assigning and enforcing rights ina bid to limit over-extraction, a difficultgoal for governments.Surface water managementSurface water irrigation structuressuch as dams, canal irrigation and largewater storage systems are usually managedby the state. In the past this involvedsubstantial foreign investment, whichhas since declined. Surface waterinfrastructure investment is perhaps themost important area of focus for SouthAsian governments, that must nowavoid becoming dependent on aid whenmaking such investment decisions.In centrally managed systems, water ispriced for two reasons: to cover operationand maintenance costs and to encouragefarmers to use water carefully. Wherewater prices do not fully recover the costs,the quantity of water consumed will begreater than is socially optimal.Governments have typically basedwater charges on the size of the farmaccessing the water source or on thetype of crop being irrigated. This, however,does not allow for the fact that similartypes of users will use varying quantitiesof water for different purposes, and withvariable productivity.Volumetric charges set at unit costare harder to implement, but preferable.At present, surface water prices are toolow and unmonitored (and thus untaxed).Farmers have no direct economic incentiveto be efficient or careful using water.For a surface water market to function,it must have well-defined water rights,a consistent way to measure water use,enforcement and sanctioning mechanismsand specifications concerning return flows.Briefing Paper Number 9 Irrigation and water use efficiency in South Asia 3

‘ The relative prices of water in Pakistanare absurd: a one-liter bottle of water costs30 rupees whereas a farmer gets 60,000liters of surface water for 1 rupee. Theresult is that people are very careful withbottled water supplies and very wastefulwith agricultural water supplies.’Nawaz KhanSenior Research AssociateFood and Agriculture DivisionPlanning CommissionIslamabadPricing groundwaterMarkets in groundwater are fundamentallydifferent. They are localized and personaland their infrastructure requirementsare smaller. Groundwater trade alreadyexists in various parts of South Asia andthere is a high level of competition forinvestment in water pumps. Among thosetrading water, suppliers of the water viawells and pumps use a higher proportionof their well capacity and enjoy a higherreturn on their investment.The benefits to water buyers include betteraccess to irrigation water and increasedcrop output, leading to more opportunitiesfor hiring unskilled agricultural laborers andin some cases the added bonus of loweredwater tables in waterlogged areas.However, as discussed earlier, the absenceof ’tied ownership’ (ie the linking of waterrights to property rights), ‘first possession’(whoever pumps the water is its rightfulowner) prevails. This creates an incentiveto pump water aggressively, and raises thedanger of overexploitation.The most effective condition for wastingless water is assigning and enforcing ’tiedownership’ rights that limit over-extraction.A Bhumji woman carries anirrigation tube in the villageof Dhusra, in the Indian’sstate of Jharkhand, on the wayto one of her fields.heldur netocny | panos picturesBriefing Paper Number 9 Irrigation and water use efficiency in South Asia 5

Recommendationsp Self-sufficiency in financingSouth Asian governments must lookat domestic sources for financing oflarge-scale surface water infrastructurep Using water user associations andfarmer organizations more effectivelyThere is potential for expanding the roleof users in surface water infrastructureoperation and maintenance; countriesneed to learn how water user associationsand farmer organizations can be usedmore effectively.Kareze irrigation – a traditional and sustainablegroundwater systemA kareze is an unlined tunnel in the hillside, bringing waterby free flow from underground aquifers to be used forsurface irrigation. This ancient system harvests groundwaterthrough a series of wells that begin at the base of mountainsand link with underground channels to bring groundwaterto the surface. Karezes are prevalent in the world’s highlandsirrigating 15 million hectares – 6 per cent of the world’sirrigated lands. Half of these are in Iran and the rest arein Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asian states, Oman, theMaghreb, Morocco and Mexico.A survey of over 1,146 karezes in Balochistan, Pakistan,indicates that their construction and maintenance isstill based on traditional participatory approaches. Karezeprovided water sustainably until the 1970s when, withthe increasing take-up of tube wells, the water tablestarted declining, adversely affecting the kareze system.Various organizations are undertaking kareze modernizationthrough the improvement of mother wells and water flowcontrol devices, the lining of water conveyance channels withPVC pipes between the two wells, by the lining of verticalwells and the storage of water at its destination.p More efficient collection ofwater chargesThe greatest efficiency gains fromthe existing infrastructure may come fromenforcing water charges, based on thevolume used, that are proportional to costs,and ensuring that charges are collectedeffectively and in a timely manner.p Demonstrate the ancillary benefitsof water managementFarmers should be informed throughextension services of the advantagesinherent in the judicious and equitablemanagement of water: improved crops,fewer pests and monetary savings.p Short-term subsidiesShort-term subsidies on investmentsin adopting water conservationtechnologies and linking subsidies withcharge increases may reduce resistanceto raising water prices.Private sector involvement inthe adoption of drip and sprinklerirrigation in IndiaDrip irrigation was introduced in TamilNadu in the 1970s but its adoptionremained slow until the 1980s becauseof a lack of promotion. In 1995, theGovernment of India involved thecorporate sector in adopting drip andsprinkler irrigation. The company JainIrrigation Systems Private Limited startedpromoting sprinkler/drip irrigationsystems through local manufacturingand by providing integrated servicesto farmers. This enhanced farmers’willingness to pay for premium useof water and resulted in high compliancefrom irrigation engineers and privatesector firms. This was the beginningof large-scale technology adoptionin India for high-value horticulture usinghigh-efficiency irrigation systems.Briefing Paper Number 9 Irrigation and water use efficiency in South Asia 7

Key referencesKhuda Bakhsh, Ishtiaq Hassan andAsif Maqbool (2005)‘ Impact assessment of zero tillagetechnology in rice wheat system:A case study from Pakistani Punjab’,Electronic Journal of Environmental,Agricultural and Food Chemistry,vol 4, no 6, pp1132–7Randolph Barker andFrançois Molle (2007)Evolution of irrigation in Southand Southeast Asia, InternationalWater Management Institute(IWMI), Comprehensive Assessmentof Water Management in AgricultureProgram, Research Report 5, Colombo,Sri Lanka: IWMIAriel Dinar, Mark W Rosegrantand Ruth Meinzen-Dick (1997)‘ Water allocation mechanisms:Principles and Examples’, World BankPolicy Research Working Paper No 1779,Washington DC: World Bank and IFPRIAriel Dinar, Trichur Balakrishnanand Joseph Wambia (1998)‘ Political economy and political risks ofinstitutional reforms in the water sector’,World Bank Policy Research Working PaperNo. 1987, Washington DC: World BankEsther Duflo, Hanna Rema andStephen Ryan (forthcoming)‘ Incentives work: Getting teachers to cometo school’, American Economic ReviewMatthew McCartney andVladimir Smakhtin (2010)‘ Water storage in an era of climate change:Addressing the challenge of increasingrainfall variability’, blue paper, Colombo,Sri Lanka: IWMIFrançois Molle and Jeremy Berkoff (2007)‘ Water pricing in irrigation: Mappingthe debate in the light of experience’in Irrigation water pricing (eds F Molleand J Berkoff), Wallingford, Oxon:Centre for Agricultural BioscienceInternational (CABI)A Narayanamoorthy (2006)Potential for drip and sprinkler irrigationin India, Pune: Gokhale Institute ofPolitics and EconomicsTushaar Shah (2007)‘ The groundwater economy of South-Asia:An assessment of size, significance andsocio-ecological impacts’, in M Giordanoand KG Villholth (eds), The agriculturalgroundwater revolution: Opportunitiesand threats to development, Wallingford,Oxon: CABI, pp7–36The full paper Irrigation and Water UseEfficiency in South Asia is available for downloadat www.agripolicyoutreach.orgIt was written by:Dr. Ali HasanainLahore University of Management Sciences, PakistanDr. Shahid AhmadPakistan Agricultural Research CouncilMuhammad Zia MehmoodLahore University of Management Sciences, PakistanSidra MajeedPakistan Agricultural Research CouncilGenet ZinabouUniversity of Oxford, UKand reviewed byProf. David ZilbermanUniversity of California, Berkeley, USAProject Steering CommitteeSenior AdvisorsProf. Per Pinstrup-AndersenCornell University, USAProf. Thomas S. JayneMichigan State University, USAProf. William A. MastersTufts University, USAProf. Alexandros SarrisUniversity of Athens, GreeceProf. David ZilbermanUniversity of California, Berkeley, USAProject Management TeamPrincipal AdvisorProf. Douglas GollinWilliams College, USAProject DirectorDr. George MavrotasChief Economist, GDNDeputy Project DirectorTuhin SenLead Strategist, GDNtsen@gdn.intProject ConsultantNupur SuriPolicy Outreach AnalystVinaina SuriIf you wish to reproduce or build upon this work,please contact Global Development Network (GDN).© Global Development NetworkDesigned and produced for GDN by Panos London,panos.org.ukAll photographs © Panos Pictures, panos.co.ukAll rights reserved.Further informationFor more information on the ‘Supporting PolicyResearch to Inform Agricultural Policy in Sub-SaharanAfrica and South Asia’ project and for freedownload of the Agricultural Policy Research App(for iPad, iPhone, Kindle and Android) visit:www.agripolicyoutreach.orgNew Delhi | Cairo | Washington DCwww.gdn.int8 Briefing Paper Number 9 Irrigation and water use efficiency in South Asia