Beneficiary Participation in Irrigation Water Management: The Kerala

particularly because such activities demanded high levels of mutual understanding and cooperation
among their members.
Distortion of the irrigation water distribution schedule, in order to confer undue advantage
to the rich and the powerful, is a common place in irrigation commands everywhere in the
world. The strategy designed and put into operation to counter this tendency, is the formation
of BFAs, and WUAs, in order to strengthen the hands of small farmers. However, around 90
per cent of the respondents, both OBs and OMs, reported that no effort in this direction had
taken place. Reasons for such non-performance could be several: (i) lack of scarcity of
water (ii) organisational weakness, (iii) dominance of the rich and the powerful among the
office bearers of BFAs and in the Canal Committee. The same office-bearers and committee
members continued in office from year to year.
Joint preparation of paddies for cultivation had not been attempted at all under the auspices
of any BFA; however, a few farmer groups had in their traditional way followed this practice.
Common nursery is an excellent group activity contemplated under the CADA Act. It was
expected that BFAs would undertake the initial investment for the purpose and arrange
timely supply of quality seedlings to all BFA members. Such an arrangement was expected
to help poor farmers by giving them seedlings on credit or in extreme cases, free. By
controlling supply of seedlings BFAs would be able to fix appropriate time for commencing
group agricultural operations.
The linkage with government and other agencies of development, which implied transmission
of information from the farm level upwards and vice versa, was not maintained. BFAs did
not have competent, committed leadership and lacked taut organisational structure. They
were mere contrivances set up to avail the facility of foreign funds meant for minor civil
work for rehabilitation of irrigation systems.
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