农民对农业水价承受能力研究

农民是农业水价承受的主体，其承受能力的大小决定着农业水价改革的力度和进程，通过对人民胜利渠道灌区农民对农业水价承受能力的调查:揭示了灌区的运行能力是随着农业水价的上调逐步增加的，而用水是逐步减少的;农民对农业水价改革的承受能力是非常有限的;当农业水费占到农民年收入的4%一6%(支出的6%一8%)、农业投入的10%-12%和产出的8%-10%时，农民普遍认为水价合理或者基本合理，表示可以接受、愿意缴纳，说明水费没有超出农民的经济和心理承受能力;提出了促进农业水价改革的综合对策。     

Social power,water control and irrigation systems

The principal finding of the study is that social power positions held by Egyptian farmers sharings a common watercourse do not have significant influence in the farmer's ability to control irrigation water distribution. Other variables used to describe irrigation management; location on the water course and farmers' use of more than one source of water to irrigate; also do not yield any explanations as to why particular farmers have more control over their irrigation than others. Farmers who have more control are less likely to be affected by other farmers' actions, physical problems on delivery canals, breakdown in pumps, and government officials actions. While differences in irrigation control among farmers exist, no single cause is identified. Two explanations for the findings are (1) water control is sufficient for a large percentage of Egyptian farmers, and (2) adequately explaining irrigation behavior cannot be done with separate variables.Deceased     

The financial viability of irrigation management companies: A case study of Cu Chi irrigation system,Vietnam

A crucial, yet little understood, element in the economic studies of irrigation is the role played by companies who manage the supply of water. Many of these companies are publicly managed as they have the potential to act as monopolists. Possibly as a consequence of their ownership structure, analysts have questioned the economic viability and management of these firms. The case is made that many of these companies do not run profitably, that they rely on government subsidies to survive, that they do not spend enough on maintenance and that they run down their capital base. The purpose in this paper is to specify the measures that allow analysts to examine the financial viability of a publicly owned irrigation management companies and to apply these to a scheme in Vietnam. Of concern and contention in any irrigation scheme is the price that a company should charge for water in order to recover costs in the short-run. It was found that the company under investigation could not operate without subsidies and did run down their assets. It was found that a great disparity exists between what the consumers were charged for water and what the company received for supplying it. To ensure the sustainability of the Irrigation Management Companies in long term, they may have to increase the water fee by 3.75 times the current rate set by the provincial government (US$ 20 per ha).     

Can Farmers in Egypt Shoulder the Burden of Irrigation Management?

The Government of Egypt is mandated toplan, construct, operate, manage, andmaintain the water system. However, withthe growing water demands over supplies inthe country, water management became a verydifficult task. This has led Egypt toreform policies, technologies,institutions, and development strategies tomanage water more effectively. One of thesestrategies is the irrigation managementtransfer (IMT) that has been a majorstrategy adopted to encourage farmers toplay a more important role in irrigationmanagement and related water services andalso share the cost of O&M of irrigationand drainage systems. IMT policy islaunched in Egypt as a pilot phase toexpand water users' participation atsecondary levels of the irrigation anddrainage systems. Four pilot areas (5,000–8,000 acre) representing all categories andgeographical locations of agriculturallands of Egypt were selected to implementthis policy.This study was conducted in these pilotareas prior to the start of any IMTactivities to describe, analyze, andexplain farmers' attitudes towardirrigation maintenance and implementationof IMT process. Socio-economicquestionnaires were designed and used asthe main tool for data collection. Afterthe field pre-test of the surveyinstrument, a sample of 240 farmers, 60from each pilot area, was selected usingthe sampling frame of multi-tiered process,and the statistical data analysis was doneusing SpssWin software.The major result of this study is that,without proper education and interface withfarmers, there is widespread resistance tothe idea farmers assuming management andmaintenance responsibilities beyond theon-farm level. It would have to proceedvery cautiously, and yield responsiveresults if it were to survive in the faceof the attitudes the farmers have shown,with their strong belief in the necessityof the role of the government. Meanwhile,farmers expressed great confidence in theIMT process and its objectives.     

Assessing the performance of participatory irrigation management over time: A case study from Turkey

In many countries today, irrigation systems have been transferred to the water user associations (WUAs). Accordingly, it is believed that the performance of the irrigation systems is dependent on the performance of the WUAs.In this study, the performance of participatory irrigation management (PIM) over time is assessed with regard to the Kestel WUA serving a wide area of Turkey's Aegean coast. Data relating to the WUA is obtained from both the State Hydraulic Works and WUAs’ own records. In addition, two surveys have been carried out with the members of the WUA with an 8-year interval between them. Data have been analyzed within the framework of selected irrigation performance criteria and indicators. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the perceptions of the farmers on the WUA at different survey periods. A Logit model was estimated to evaluate the relationship between the irrigation problems and the level of satisfaction from the WUA.The performance of the WUA with the indicators of utility, productivity, sustainability and financial efficiency was found to be positive; while the performance of adequacy was identified as poor. The farmers were generally satisfied of the WUA's operation, with their level of satisfaction improving over time. On the other hand, the farmers were not fully convinced that they had input with the system management. The initial design of the channel system and its maintenance were identified to be the key factors affecting user satisfaction.Overall, the Kestel WUA may be considered a successful example, thus supporting a promising future for PIM. Yet improved control and farmer education is needed for a superior performance of all indicators; and further enhanced farmer participation in management should be achieved in order to raise the level of farmer satisfaction.     

苏北灌区农户节水决策的定量分析

灌溉农业在我国有着悠久的历史，我国农业的可持续发展很大程度上依赖于水资源的利用状况。阐述了灌区农户节水行为的影响因素，根据对农户节水行为、农户收支状况等实地调查资料，通过构建农户节水行为决策模型,对农业节水决策等相关方面的问题进行了定量的分析与讨论。研究表明：在农户节水决策过程中，农户受到灌区改革、国家农业政策和自身条件等各种因素的影响，其行为会反映到水资源利用、土地利用变化上，完全可以通过有关数量模型对农户的农业节水行为进行预测。最后，提出了有关政策建议。     

The Experience of Irrigation Management Transfer in Ghana: A Case Study of Dawhenya Irrigation Scheme

Government disengagement from day-to-daymanagement of irrigation infrastructure hasbecome a widespread strategy in Asia,Africa and Latin America. This paperexamines a case study of managementtransfer of a rice irrigation scheme inGhana. The criteria used relate toagricultural, financial and economicperformance and environmental sustainability.The study showed that whilstboth cropping intensity and cultivated areadecreased after transfer, the relativelyhigh yields were sustained. The averageproduction cost before transfer decreasedby about 7% from $827/ha to $774/haafter transfer. Most importantly, averagenet income increased by more than 100%from $260/ha to $549/ha after transfer.Very high financial self-sufficiency ratioscoupled with low running cost achieved bythe farmers' co-operative led to theconclusion that transfer has resulted inbetter performance so far.     

农民专业合作社财务管理工作存在的问题及对策

农民专业合作社作为提高农民组织化程度、维护农民利益、增加农民收入的一种新的组织形式,要想发展壮大,必须重视财务管理。在阐述农民专业合作社财务管理工作重要性的基础上,详细分析当前合作社财务管理工作中存在的主要问题及可能造成的不良后果,并针对这些问题提出切实可行的对策。     

The first irrigation experience of a Burmese village-tract

Irrigation projects are usually planned and designed at national levels. Farmers are considered as one of the inputs for irrigation development. Governmental authorities generally assume that the goal of increasing agricultural production will be achieved when the problem of inadequate water during the cultivation season can be solved by providing irrigation water to the farmers. But it is not uncommon to learn of low production rates and various indicators which exhibit below success rates after the irrigation water is provided to the farmers.This paper addresses a first-time experience with irrigation in a village-tract that lies at the tail of a sublateral of an irrigation project in Burma. It shows that the potential of an agricultural economic boon can easily be frustrated due to a single factor: lack of irrigation know-how at the farmers' level. A discussion of agricultural problems under a military socialistic political economic setting follows.     

More from Less: Policy Options and Farmer Choice under Water Scarcity

In much of the world, fresh water isscarce and getting scarcer. Growing populations, increasing industrialisation, and environmentalconcerns have all put pressure on the water consumedby agriculture. This paper addresses the economicconsequences of a permanent reduction in canal waterfor irrigation. Using detailed cost-of-cultivationdata from the Gediz Basin, Turkey, the key questionsare: How can farmers best respond to reduced surfacewater supplies? How can the canal managementauthorities best distribute this limited water? And,can the demand for water be reduced through input andoutput price policy? These questions are answered withscenario comparisons under several water availability,crop pattern, price and investment assumptions, forthe short and medium time horizons. Keeping productivity high and water use low requirescoordination between farmers and the water managementauthorities. The analysis shows that, in this region,farmers should keep all their land irrigated at loweryield levels, rather than reduce their cropped areas.The canal managers should opt for a short irrigationseason, rather than an extended season with long dryintervals. Sensitivity analysis on a range of pricesindicates that crop, rather than water prices, affectthe efficiency of water use. The scenarios areevaluated using AGWAT, a spreadsheet-based farm-budgetprogram which is simple and widely applicable. Therange of policy choices considered establishes aframework of analysis for other, potentiallywater-short basins, beyond the Gediz or Turkey.     

基于DEA和SFA方法的农户灌溉用水效率比较研究——以西北地区的实地调查数据为例

根据2007年西北地区432个农户的实地调查数据,采用随机前沿分析(SFA)和数据包络分析(DEA)方法对微观层面的农户灌溉用水效率进行测度,在此基础上利用配对样本t检验和Spearman相关检验比较分析两类方法的效率估计得分,结果表明虽然规模收益不变假设下的DEA效率值显著小于SFA效率估计值,但两种方法所测算的农户灌溉用水效率排名具有显著一致性。可为深入开展运用不同方法考察农户灌溉用水效率问题提供有益的参考。     

Changes in system performance in two Chinese irrigation systems as a result of organizational reforms

Drawing on a study of two irrigation systems in Hebei Province, this paper documents the impacts of rural economic and organization reforms on irrigation system performance. In the two systems, prior to development of irrigation, farmers consumed all their grain within the household. However, at present both districts are selling grain, with annual output of 11.9 tons/hectare in Bayi and 8.5 tons/hectare in Nanyao. However, due to the use of groundwater in Bayi, output per unit of water is 1.5 kg/m3 in Bayi and 1.3 kg/m3 in Nanyao. In Bayi, farmers have augmented declining surface water supplies with groundwater and purchased water – using funds from sideline enterprises – and have increased output. In contrast, in Nanyao both income and grain output increases have reached a plateau. Nanyao, with its weak resource base, will probably need to develop additional income sources to be able to improve water management in order to reach the next plateau of productivity.     

Didactic tools for supporting participatory water management in collective irrigation schemes

In many irrigation schemes, Water Users Associations (WUAs) acquired the responsibility for water management after withdrawal of the state. Based on the success of some indigenous irrigation schemes, it was assumed that farmers could easily become managers. As decision-making was the exclusive terrain of the governmental agencies that ran the schemes, farmers never gained the necessary experience with water management. Therefore, training of farmers and WUAs on the principles and processes of water management is essential. This paper demonstrates a practical example of training material on water management that incorporates research results on the process of Irrigation Management Transfer and resulting farmers’ water management for the case of the Office du Niger irrigation scheme. The results of the paper explain how input from research was used in the four steps of the construction of training material. These steps are (1) setting the training agenda, (2) selecting and adapting information to be featured, (3) targeting the audience and (4) designing the actual training material. A first validation of the approach and examples of the actual training material were obtained in a workshop uniting all stakeholders.     

Innovations in irrigation management and development in Hunan province

Mass movement labor was an important contributor to irrigation system construction in China during the seventies, making up a third or more of system costs. Total per-ha system costs are roughly consistent with those in other Asian countries when contributed labor is valued at estimated farm wage rates, but less than average if zero labor opportunity cost is assumed.Innovative practices are being employed in managing and supporting irrigation system operations in Western Hunan Province. Many are ones which have been advocated repeatedly elsewhere but infrequently applied. These include the volumetric wholesaling of water to distribution organizations, farmer water charges with both fixed and volumetric components, financially autonomous irrigation management agencies, and delegation of water distribution and fee-collection responsibility to village-based organizations. Heavy emphasis currently rests on financial self-reliance of schemes as denoted by the slogan, let water support water. This has led to a proliferation of secondary income-generating enterprises associated with irrigation system management, as well as strenuous efforts to collect irrigation fees. Often the secondary enterprises generate a larger share of total income than does the irrigation service itself.Fee levels for rice generally fall into the $12 to $20 ha/yr range, intermediate to those prevailing in Pakistan at $8.50/ha for two crops of rice and the Philippines at $45/ha for double cropped rice. Collection of fees is typically handled by the village. Charges are usually levied on an area basis but one large system employed a more complicated system which had both fixed and variable components. Water allocation at lower system levels is also delegated to the village in many cases, with the state serving as a wholesale provider of water.Abbreviations and units ha-m hectare-meter - jin unit of weight equal to 0.5 kg - kw kilowatt - mu unit of land area equal to 1/15 ha - Rmb Renmimbi (Yuan) equal to US$ 0.27 officially in September 1988 and about half of that unofficially - RMD Reservoir Management Division - WCB Water Conservancy Bureau - WMD Water Management Department     

Prospects and problems of irrigation development in Sahelian and sub-Saharan Africa

Although many different definitions of irrigation are being used, the need for this way of agricultural intensification is rapidly increasing as the population dependent on agriculture has in many countries largely surpassed the carrying capacity of rainfed systems. However, unfortunately many donor-sponsored irrigation projects in Africa disappoint because they are generally conceived with a too short time perspective and they suffer from a series of negative characteristics. Generally there is insufficient farmer involvement in all phases of the projects, which are formulated in isolation from existing farming systems, are capital-intensive and require high-input levels (from elsewhere), focus on the hardware, neglect agricultural production and institutional weaknesses, and cannot put up the money needed to be run. Therefore, sustainability should be the main point of orientation. Important steps towards it consist in choosing activities and forms of irrigation that fit well in the farming systems, are attractive to farmers, and can be run to a very large extent by themselves without external assistance. Marketing and production support services should be included in analysis and programmes of assistance, together with institutional strengthening and adequate land tenure arrangements. Governments' involvement in operation and management can often be reduced, and the same goes for the role of the irrigation organisations. Donor involvement should be more flexible, have a longer time-perspective, be less guided by expected economic rates of return and concentrate more on how to ensure increased sustainability of irrigation projects for both the country and the farmers.     

Charts for Guiding Irrigation in Real Time

In order to adjust correctly the irrigationcalendar to actual weather and waterlimiting conditions, farmers requireguidelines to help them in their day to daydecisions. In this paper a procedure isoutlined to present such guidelines in theform of a single chart. On the chartinformation concerning the irrigationinterval and irrigation duration ispresented. Tables guide the user (i) toadjust the irrigation interval to theactual weather conditions throughout thegrowing season and (ii) to select theduration of the water application as afunction of the characteristics of theirrigation system. In case of watershortage during a particular period,additional data informs the user on thesensitivity of the crop to water stress. Anexample is presented for drip irrigatedtomatoes in the region of Tunis on afluvisol.     

The Irrigation Management Game: A role playing exercise for training in irrigation management

The development of a role playing exercise for training of irrigation professionals in the management of small holder irrigation schemes is described. The exercise places participants in the position of either agency staff or farmers. As farmers participants are dependent on irrigation water supplies from the agency managed run-of-the-river irrigation system. As agency staff participants are responsible for water allocation between competing demands on the main system. The exercise develops interaction between the participants as they trade in water and negotiate for irrigation supplies.The exercise develops an understanding of the issues involved in managing an irrigation system, though not only on technical matters such as water allocation policy, yield response to water and performance assessment. The exercise also creates an awareness of the whole system, in particular the importance of communication between agency staff and farmers, and between farmers themselves.The Irrigation Management Game is the copyright of the author, Professor Ian Carruthers of Wye College, University of London and consulting engineers Mott MacDonald, Cambridge, UK.     

Performance assessment of irrigation water management of heterogeneous irrigation schemes: 2. A case study

The non-uniformity of soils, weather, fields, cropping pattern and canal systems in most surface irrigation schemes makes irrigation water management complex, but optimum performance is important particularly in irrigation schemes with limited water supply. This paper focuses on the performance of irrigation water management during the area and water allocation with a case study of an irrigation scheme in the semi-arid region of India. Often the irrigation managers or authorities of these heterogeneous irrigation schemes also need to deal with different allocation rules. The allocation plans and the corresponding water delivery schedules during the allocation process were estimated with the help of a simulation–optimisation model for different allocation rules based on cropping distributions (free and fixed), water distributions (free and fixed-area proportionate), irrigation depth (full, fixed depth and variable depth irrigation) and irrigation interval (from 14 to 35 days). The performance measures of productivity (in terms of net benefits and area irrigated), equity (in water distribution), adequacy and excess were assessed for these different allocation plans and schedules. These were further compared with the performance measures of the existing rule (fixed depth irrigation at a fixed interval). The analysis revealed that these performance measures are in some cases complimentary and in other cases conflicting with each other. Therefore, it would be appropriate for the irrigation managers to understand fully the nature of the variation in performance measures for different allocation rules prior to deciding the allocation plans for the irrigation scheme.     

Policies to support economic and environmental goals at farm and regional scales: Outcomes for rice farmers in Southern India depend on their resource endowment

Improving water use and nitrogen efficiencies is of overall importance to society at large - to conserve scarce water resources and prevent environmental pollution. Efficient cultivation practices for rice which had no yield penalty were not adopted by farmers because of the open access to water free of charge. Well-chosen combinations of policy measures are thus needed to stimulate adoption of new cultivation practices. We developed a multi-objective linear programming (MGLP) model to explore the impact of: (i) modified rice cultivation including water-saving irrigation on farm profit; (ii) water pricing and water quota government policies on adoption of modified rice cultivation by farmers; (iii) a combination of (i) and (ii) to achieve the objectives of both farmers and society at large, and (iv) to study the trade-offs between income, water and nitrogen use. The analysis was carried out on four rice-based farm types for the state of Tamil Nadu, South India. Model results showed that observed farm profit of all four farm types could be increased using current practices simply by optimizing land use for specific crops. Adoption of modified rice cultivation further increased farm profit. Water-saving practices were selected only when water pricing was introduced. Farm profits were reduced even at low water prices but were compensated by farmers through adoption of modified rice cultivation. The combination of policies that stimulate adoption of modified rice cultivation was effective in achieving both increased farm income and water savings. The required water prices differed across farm types and seasons and impacted poor resource-endowed farmers the most. Providing water quotas could protect the poor resource-endowed farmers. The model helped to identify the optimal water price and water quota for each farm type to achieve both the objectives of farmers and society at large. Opportunities for reducing water use and avoiding environmental pollution at acceptable profits are available for all farm types, but need to be tailored to the farmers’ resource endowments.     

Farmers' participation in the National Accelerated Food Production Project (NAFPP) in Nigeria

A limited dependent-variable model is employed to determine factors influencing farmers in making decisions about whether or not to participate in the National Accelerated Food Production Project Scheme (a voluntary scheme launched in Nigeria to make the country self-sufficient in food production) and the number of farm practices adopted from its technological package for those who do participate.

The empirical results of the study indicate that the probability of a farmer participating in the NAFPP Scheme and the number of farm practices adopted can be influenced by farm size, the farmer's age and his ability to read and write, his membership of a farmers' co-operative society, the frequency of his contact with extension agents and his ability to acquire credit. In addition, it is estimated that age and membership of a co-operative society have a greater effect on the probability that a farmer will participate in the scheme while other factors have a greater effect on the number of farm practices adopted for those who do participate.

As a consequence, land reform and mass literacy policies are recommended to enhance farmers' participation in the NAFPP Scheme. It is also suggested that policies that encourage farmers to form and participate actively in the activities of their local co-operative societies, liberalise credit facilities and increase the number of agricultural extension agents are likely to enhance farmers' active participation in the Scheme, which may result in increasing food production in the country.