Assessing the impact of rehabilitation and irrigation management transfer in minor irrigation projects in Orissa, India: A case study

✍ Scribed by A. Mishra; S. Ghosh; P. Nanda; A. Kumar

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 415 KB
• Volume: 60
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1531-0353
• DOI: 10.1002/ird.540

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

This paper presents a case study on the impact of rehabilitation and irrigation management transfer (IMT) on irrigation, agriculture and functioning of a water user association (WUA) from farmers' perspectives. The study was carried out in three selected minor irrigation projects (MIPs) in Orissa, India, which were rehabilitated by the state government obtaining financial assistance from European Commission during 1995–2005. A total number of 207 farmers were selected as respondents for this study following the probability proportionate random sampling method. The impact on irrigation was assessed with a set of 11 indicators on a 5‐point continuum scale and it is revealed that the overall irrigation impact value lies between 3 and 4. A paradigm shift in water delivery from supply driven to demand driven was observed. Impact on agriculture is reflected through an increase in cultivated area by 9.6–22%, cropping intensity by 10–26%, irrigated area by 18–107%, irrigation intensity by 15–57% and a diversified cropping pattern with higher productivity. Functioning of the WUA was studied with a group dynamic effectiveness index (GDEI) having 10 parameters. GDEI value ranged from 6.28 to 6.82 on a scale of 0 to 10. The lessons learnt from the study and measures for further improvement in the system's performance are presented. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.