Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process to irrigation project improvement: Part II. How professionals evaluate an irrigation project for its improvement

Planning improvement of an irrigation project often depends on irrigation professionals who conduct the initial survey of the irrigation project. Accordingly, activities for improvement will be different depending on who evaluates the status quo of the irrigation project, because of the diversity of expertise and experience of professionals. A questionnaire survey was conducted to examine how irrigation professionals evaluate an irrigation project, that is, on what evaluation factors (EFs) they place the importance. In the questionnaire, professionals ranked the relative importance of EFs derived from internal process indicators of the Rapid Appraisal Process (RAP). Answers to the questionnaire were processed by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP, Part I), and then local weights of EFs were obtained as a measure of relative importance of EFs. Those local weights were statistically analyzed by the Anderson-Darling normality test, the F-test and the t-test. Then, they were modeled by probability density functions. The results implied (a) that irrigation professionals give the first priority to water delivery services project-wide and (b) that they consider that irrigation infrastructure (hardware) of primary canals is more important than that of secondary canals. These findings infer that irrigation professionals first consider how well water is controlled and distributed project-wide and second how appropriately primary canals are designed and maintained. Also, their views are divided into two regarding importance of hardware and management, namely some insist that hardware is more important than management and the others insist that management is more important than hardware.     

Performance analysis of public funded irrigation projects in Tanzania

Application of indicator-based management tools to evaluate performance and taking measures to mitigate the negative effects on project performance contributes to improvement. This research paper presents the findings of the analysis of performance of public funded smallholder irrigation projects in Tanzania with the aim to inform improvement actions. Through opinion survey of a sample of policy or decision makers and implementers of projects, and a case study of 16 smallholder irrigation projects, conceptual and physical data were collected and analyzed. The findings show that performance assessment in irrigation sub-sector in Tanzania is ad hoc, fragmented and done mainly during the construction phase, in donor funded projects. Seventy percent of 20 highly ranking performance indicators considered suitable in Tanzania also have high potential to improve project performance in the Tanzanian irrigation industry. These indicators constitute the key performance determinants. Forty percent of performance indicators currently used in Tanzania, which include the traditional time and cost indicators, are considered not significant in improving performance. Time and cost overrun of 16 investigated projects was in the tune of 50% and 8% respectively. The factors affecting project performance are diverse but interrelated, with possible common root causes, and effects cutting across various project processes. The mitigation measures are also interrelated and cut across project processes, and therefore, require integrative approaches.     

The value of performance studies of irrigation projects for lending agencies

This paper looks at the World Bank's experience with irrigation and drainage projects and compares their performance expected at appraisal stage with the performance re-assessed at completion and at the time of impact evaluation, typically 3 to 5 years later when projects have reached their full potential. This review confirms the over-optimistic assumptions of project performance at appraisal and completion stages. The deficiencies in water distribution are far greater than suspected, affecting cropping intensity and crop yields much more than originally thought. An important lesson from this memo is the need to adopt more realistic values of key parameters in the preparation of irrigation projects.     

Assessment of water delivery efficiency in irrigation canals using performance indicators

Agricultural water is delivered by open irrigation canals in system of reservoirs with a widespread distribution in South Korea. Traditional irrigation management problems include water distribution systems with less capacity than the peak demand, irregular delivery rates, and low irrigation efficiency and uniformity. It is necessary to strategically compare the estimated irrigation demands with the actual water supplies for decision making in order to maintain the water supply according to the demand. Accurate measurement and monitoring of water distribution systems is essential in order to solve the problems of water efficiency and availability. Auto water level gauges installed at the head and tail sections of each irrigation canal in the Dongjin River were used to measure the discharge during irrigation periods. In this study, we introduced an approach to assess the water delivery performance indicators of the open irrigation canals, which is essential for identifying the key issues for water management improvement. The irrigation efficiencies according to the water delivery performance indicators were measured with an automatic water gauge in the irrigation canals and were calculated from the spatial and temporal distribution of the water supply for the lack of planning in water delivery. The calculated performance indicators are useful to understand the irrigator behavior and general irrigation trends. Analysis of the results yielded insights into possible improvement methods in order to develop water management policies that enable irrigation planners to improve the temporal uniformity and equity in the water distribution.     

关中灌区管理体制改革成效的综合评价

对关中灌区监测指标体系进行了层次分析。通过一些定性指标的量化,利用层次分析法(AHP),建立了综合考虑灌区改制的政策评价、灌溉效果评价、工程项目实施评价和社会评价的指标体系及其综合评价模型,对各灌区的改制成效和历年综合改制成效进行了目标评价值计算,其结果可以比较客观、全面地反映灌区改制的成效。     

Usefulness and limitations of decision support systems for improving irrigation scheme management

SIMIS (the FAO Scheme Irrigation Management Information System) is a decision support system that integrates tools and performance indicators to facilitate the planning and management of irrigation schemes. The authors used SIMIS to compute performance indicators in an irrigation scheme in Southern Spain that were used to identify distribution system constraints affecting the flexibility of water deliveries and to identify scheme sectors where deliveries could not meet the predicted crop water demands. Applying SIMIS, the authors and the irrigation scheme manager evaluated measures to overcome the constraints for future irrigation campaigns, and to refine the water orders made every 2 weeks to the basin authority. On the other hand, SIMIS presented limitations to the evaluation of on-demand delivery schedules. To overcome these limitations, an external model, developed outside SIMIS, showed that the current distribution network of the scheme has the capacity to deliver water on-demand only if a slight water deficit is accepted during the peak demand period. The analysis showed that by relaxing the stringency of the quality of operation of on-demand systems, rotation systems may be transformed into on-demand systems without changing their structures. This analysis could also be done using Clément's hypothesis, but doing so resulted in overestimates of the quality of operation and of the relative irrigation supply.     

Water uses and productivity of irrigation systems

Reducing overall water diversions for agriculture, while maintaining or increasing production to keep up with increasing world population, has been and will continue to be a challenge. Yet there is not good agreement regarding the programs needed to improve the productivity of agricultural water use, nor what increases are feasible. It is recognized that field irrigation is inherently nonuniform. So also is the distribution of water to users and water delivery service nonuniform. Here, we suggest that crop-scale irrigation uniformity can be examined at a project scale by understanding how field, farm and project irrigation systems contribute to nonuniformity. We also discuss the interrelation between project scale uniformity and the relative irrigation water supply, and their combined impact on project productivity. We provide an example which relates internal measures of project performance (e.g., water distribution operations) and external measures of project performance (e.g., project-wise water productivity).     

A furrow irrigation model to improve irrigation practices in the Gharb valley of Morocco

In developing countries, modernization of surface irrigation is the most common solution to water management problems in irrigated areas because it is well adapted to the socio-economical context. This solution was adopted in the Gharb area near Kenitra in Morocco where an experimental site was set up to obtain irrigation and drainage references. Meaningful improvements in irrigation efficiency and better crop yields have yet to result from the modernization effort. Different sources of heterogeneity affecting the infiltration process can hinder the improvement of irrigation efficiency even in a modernized furrow irrigation context. The respective impact of deterministic and stochastic heterogeneity sources on the advance-infiltration process is analyzed. Then, a model based on the spatial and temporal variability of infiltration is developed to simulate the impact of irrigation practices on water saving during an irrigation season. This work will later contribute to the elaboration of a modelling approach simulating fertilization and irrigation practices.     

Assessing irrigation projects performance for sustainable irrigation policy reform

This study examines the socio-economic and financial performances of irrigation projects under the Ogun-Oshun River Basin and Rural Development Authority (O-ORBRDA) in Nigeria. Primary data on the farming activities of the project farmers during the 2001/02 seasons and the projects' records for the period of 1995/96 to 2001/02 were summarised into socio-economic and financial performance indicators. In the Sepeteri Project, a revenue recovery level of 96% was estimated. The project is not financially viable as only 29% of its recurrent expenditure is covered. The farmers do not show commitment to making the project successful. An approximate 67% social capacity level was estimated. The relative irrigation cost and profit indexes do not show sufficient evidence that farmers would prefer irrigation farming to rain-fed farming. The Itoikin Project records a lower revenue recovery level of 75%. The project covers about 50% of its recurrent expenditure. In addition, the farmers do not appear to have a commitment to making the project successful, with a 33% social capacity level. A number of problems may be the causes of unprofitable irrigated cropping. If government increases the subvention, the O-ORBRDA prioritises irrigation service in disbursing the subvention to the projects, and the project manages the risks in the project sites, conscientises and incorporates the intended beneficiaries into managing the projects, the projects would be equipped to supply more irrigation services thereby making it more profitable and encouraging more participation of the intended beneficiaries. This would improve the socio-economic and financial performance of the projects.     

Influence of cross-regulator settings on the offtake discharge in a modern irrigation network

The hydraulic performance of canals and related delivery structures is highly dependent on the management of cross-regulators. The HEC-RAS model was applied to Ordibehesht Canal at the Doroodzan irrigation network, northwest of Fars province in Iran for evaluation of water delivery performance due to operation of cross-regulators. Discharge deviations of offtakes due to cross-regulator gate position changes and deviations of water delivery equity were evaluated. Results showed that small changes in gate positions of check structures (cross-regulators) cause considerable changes in the offtake discharges and equity (spatial uniformity) of water delivery to the offtakes along the main canal. Results of the study led to the development of two sensitivity indicators. “Offtake sensitivity to check setting” that represents the changes in offtake discharges due to changes in cross-regulator setting, and “Sensitivity of the equity indicator to the gate position change” are the two developed indicators which can be used for better management of water delivery systems.     

HydroLOGIC: An irrigation management system for Australian cotton

The worldwide need to improve water use efficiency within irrigated agriculture has been recognised in response to environmental concerns and conflicts in resource use. Within the Australian cotton industry, the imperative to reduce water use and optimise irrigation management through the understanding of risk, using information generated by computerised decision aids was identified and subsequently developed into the HydroLOGIC irrigation management software. This paper summarises the attributes of the HydroLOGIC irrigation management software, with particular emphasis on functionality and its application to irrigation decisions within the Australian cotton industry. The software development process is documented to provide direction for future software application initiatives, with particular emphasis on a process of user feedback, evaluation and support requirements providing direction to software development. On-farm experiments throughout the development period allowed the validation of internal software logic, irrigator decision processes, and the OZCOT cotton growth model. The software demonstrated the ability to improve yield and water use efficiency by optimising strategic and tactical irrigation decisions in the Australian furrow irrigation cotton production system. In 7 of the 11 on-farm experiments conducted, the use of HydroLOGIC helped improve overall field water use efficiency by optimising the timing of irrigation events or by indicating further irrigations would not provide yield or maturity benefits. The paper also presents useful insights into the development of software targeted for irrigation utilising in-field measurements of soil water, crop growth and a crop growth simulation model.     

Guilan,a successful irrigation project in Iran

This rapid appraisal study compares the actual and projected performance of a large, rice monoculture irrigation project in the humid climate of the Caspian Sea in Iran. The uniqueness of this project is the co-existence of East-Asia rice farming techniques with advanced technologies of automatic water control found generally in the Mediterranean countries. The paper emphasizes the need to do field tests at the design stage in order to make realistic assumptions on water efficiency and deep percolation. The study confirms that the advanced water control technologies are appropriate for small farm irrigation projects in the humid tropics, a conclusion often debated among experts. The Guilan project now provides some evidence to support that conclusion.     

Review of irrigation system performance with respect to initial objectives

This paper presents the results of assessment studies of the performance of gravity irrigation projects, in six countries in different climate and social environments, with respect to their original objectives in terms of water availability, water use efficiencies, equity of water distribution, cropping intensity and crop yields, and project economic rates of return.An important lesson is the need for more realistic assumptions in the adoption of design standards, especially irrigation efficiency which affect the cropping intensity, the overall productivity of the project and its economic viability. This comparative method of performance assessment applied to a variety of projects has also provided some useful insights into the relative value of the different approaches to design of gravity irrigation systems.The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and are not presented as official views of the World Bank.     

Flexible delivery schedules to improve farm irrigation and reduce pressure on groundwater: a case study in southern Italy

This study was conducted on an irrigated area of southern Italy to analyze the current operation of a large-scale irrigation delivery system and the effects of the operation procedures on crop irrigation management and aquifer salinity increase. The area is characterized by relatively high levels of groundwater salinity in the summer that are probably due to intensive groundwater pumping by farmers during periods of peak irrigation demand, with the resulting seawater intrusion. Two alternative delivery schedules, namely the rotation delivery schedule and the flexible delivery schedule, referred to as RDS and FDS, respectively, were simulated using a soil-water balance model under different combinations of crop, soil and climatic conditions. The first set of simulations concerned the farm irrigation management constrained by the rotational delivery used by the local water management organization. The second scenario simulated the farm irrigation schedule most commonly used by growers in the area for maximizing crop yields. Based on crop irrigation management under RDS and FDS, two alternative operational scenarios were also developed at the scheme level and then compared for evaluation. Winter and summer salinity maps of the aquifer were developed by interpolating salinity measurements of the groundwater samples collected during the 2006 irrigation season. From these maps, a close relationship can be inferred among delivery schedule, aquifer exploitation and salinity increase, which justifies the need for implementing FDS that might reduce the groundwater demand for irrigation.     

Developing an improved operational strategy for the Thup-Salao irrigation system,Thailand

A combined monitoring-modelling analysis of the past operation of the Thup Salao irrigation scheme (Thailand) is performed with a view to developing an improved operational strategy. The IMSOP computer model was used to simulate the operation of the delivery system using monitoring operational data since its commissioning (1988–1991). Temporal deviations of up to 80% are observed between the planned irrigation supply, the requirement irrigation delivery and the actual irrigation delivery in the wet season and up to 20% in the dry season. A real-time rainfall adjustment of the planned delivery scheduling resulted in a substantial improvement in the ability to match crop water demand and use rainfall more effectively. This suggests that a dual scheduling strategy consisting of seasonal (tactical) planning and real-time adjustment is required to improve operational performance.     

Timeliness of irrigation

Despite considerable discussion of the importance of timeliness as a key dimension of irrigation performance, few studies have assessed how well irrigation systems deliver timely water supplies, nor the magnitude of the effect on agricultural production. This paper lays out indicators of timeliness of irrigation supply which distinguish between deliveries which meet crop needs, and surplus water supplies which cannot be used by crops. These indicators are then applied to empirical data from the Sone Irrigation System of Bihar, India. Using these indicators in an analysis of the contribution of irrigation to rice production shows that incorporating measures of timeliness explains much more of the variability in agricultural production than do simple measures of total water applications over a season. Results of production functions show that if water deliveries cannot be matched with crop requirements, they have a negative, rather than a positive, impact on yields. Water scarcity has the greatest adverse impact in production in the middle of the season, while surpluses are most damaging at the beginning and end of the season. Temporal redistribution from surplus periods to times of water scarcity therefore offers considerable scope to increase productivity without increasing water use.An earlier version of portions of this paper was presented at the IFPRI/ICAR Workshop on Agricultural Growth in India: A Review of Research Findings, 1–6 May 1994 in New Delhi.     

Management model for decision support when applying low quality water in irrigation

Use of low quality water for irrigation of food crops is an important option to secure crop productivity in dry regions, alleviate water scarcity and recycle nutrients, but it requires assessment of adverse effects on health and environment. In the EU-project “SAFIR¹” a model system was developed that combines irrigation management with risk evaluation, building on research findings from the different research groups in the SAFIR project. The system applies to field scale irrigation management and aims at assisting users in identifying safe modes of irrigation when applying low quality water. The cornerstone in the model system is the deterministic “Plant-Soil-Atmosphere” model DAISY, which simulates crop growth, water and nitrogen dynamics and if required heavy metals and pathogen fate in the soil. The irrigation and fertigation module calculates irrigation and fertigation requirements based on DAISY's water and nitrogen demands. A Water Source Administration module keeps track of water sources available and their water quality, as well as water treatments, storage, and criteria for selection between different sources. At harvest, the soil concentrations of heavy metals and pathogens are evaluated and the risk to consumers and farmers assessed. Crop profits are calculated, considering fixed and variable costs of input and output. The user can run multiple “what-if” scenarios that include access to different water sources (including wastewater), water treatments, irrigation methods and irrigation and fertilization strategies and evaluate model results in terms of crop yield, water use, fertilizer use, heavy metal accumulation, pathogen exposure and expected profit. The management model system can be used for analysis prior to investments or when preparing a strategy for the season.     

Diagnosing irrigation performance and water productivity through satellite remote sensing and secondary data in a large irrigation system of Pakistan

Irrigation policy makers and managers need information on the irrigation performance and productivity of water at various scales to devise appropriate water management strategies, in particular considering dwindling water availability, further threats from climate change, and continually rising population and food demand. In practice it is often difficult to access sufficient water supply and use data to determine crop water consumption and irrigation performance. Energy balance techniques using remote sensing data have been developed by various researchers over the last 20 years, and can be used as a tool to directly estimate actual evapotranspiration, i.e., water consumption. This study demonstrates how remote sensing-based estimates of water consumption and water stress combined with secondary agricultural production data can provide better estimates of irrigation performance, including water productivity, at a variety of scales than alternative options. A principle benefit of the described approach is that it allows identification of areas where agricultural performance is less than potential, thereby providing insights into where and how irrigation systems can be managed to improve overall performance and increase water productivity in a sustainable manner. To demonstrate the advantages, the approach was applied in Rechna Doab irrigation system of Pakistan’s Punjab Province. Remote sensing-based indicators reflecting equity, adequacy, reliability and water productivity were estimated. Inter- and intra-irrigation subdivision level variability in irrigation performance, associated factors and improvement possibilities are discussed.     

Simulation of furrow irrigation practices (SOFIP): a field-scale modelling of water management and crop yield for furrow irrigation

Because of the spatial and temporal variabilities of the advance infiltration process, furrow irrigation investigations should not be limited to a single furrow irrigation event when using a modelling approach. The paper deals with the development and application of simulation of furrow irrigation practices (SOFIP), a model used to analyse furrow irrigation practices that take into account spatial and temporal variabilities of the advance infiltration process. SOFIP can be used to compare alternative furrow irrigation management strategies and find options that mitigate local deep-percolation risks while ensuring a crop yield level that is acceptable to the farmer. The model is comprised of three distinct modelling elements. The first element is RAIEOPT, a hydraulic model that predicts the advance infiltration process. Infiltration prediction in RAIEOPT depends on a soil moisture deficit parameter. PILOTE, a crop model, which is designed to simulate soil water balance and predict yield values, updates the soil moisture parameter. This parameter is an input of a parameter generator (PG), the third model component, which in turn provides RAIEOPT with the data required to simulate irrigation at the scale of an N-furrow set. The study of sources of variability and their impact on irrigation advance, based on field observations, allowed us to build a robust PG. Model applications show that irrigation practices must account for inter-furrow advance variability when optimising furrow irrigation systems. The impact of advance variability on deep percolation and crop yield losses depends on both climatic conditions and irrigation practices.     

Evaluating irrigation performance in a Mediterranean environment

Assessment of irrigation performance is a prerequisite for improving water use in the agricultural sector to respond to perceived water scarcity. Between 1996 and 2000, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of the performance of the Genil–Cabra irrigation scheme (GCIS) located in Andalusia, southern Spain. The area has about 7,000 ha of irrigated lands distributed in 843 parcels and devoted to a diverse crop mix, with cereals, sunflower, cotton, garlic and olive trees as principal crops. Irrigation is on demand from a pressurized system and hand-moved sprinkler irrigation is the most popular application method. Six performance indicators were used to assess the physical and economic performance of irrigation water use and management in the GCIS, using parcel water-use records and a simulation model. The model simulates the water-balance processes on every field and computes an optimal irrigation schedule, which is then checked against actual schedules. Among the performance indicators, the average irrigation water supply:demand ratio (the ratio of measured irrigation supply to the simulated optimum demand) varied among years from 0.45 to 0.64, indicating that the area is under deficit irrigation. When rainfall was included, the supply:demand ratio increased up to 0.87 in one year, although it was only 0.72 in the driest year, showing that farmers did not fully compensate for the low rainfall with sufficient irrigation water. Nevertheless, farmers in the area made an efficient use of rainfall, as indicated by the relatively high values (0.72–0.83) for the ratio of actual:attainable crop yields. Water productivity (WP) in the GCIS oscillated between 0.72 €/m³ and 1.99 €/m³ during the 4 years and averaged 1.42 €/m³ of water supplied for irrigation, while the irrigation water productivity (IWP) averaged 0.63 €/m³ for the period studied. WP is higher than IWP because WP includes production generated by rainfall, while IWP includes only the production generated by irrigation.Communicated by A. Kassam