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.     

Strategy and programme development for international irrigation training

The Centre for International Irrigation Training and Research has been established to provide a focus in Australia for training and research in irrigation engineering management, and to develop management training programmes, in the first instance for responsible managers of regional irrigation supply and distribution networks. The core programme is a six month course in irrigation engineering management that has been developed with a careful balance of academic coursework and “on-the-job” training, strongly oriented towards practical management. The syllabus material has been drawn largely from the Australian experience, which provides a basis for mutual exchange and interaction between the course participants. The academic content will follow three general themes which are Institutional Frameworks (20%), Physical and Environmental Framework (40%) and System Operation, Management and Maintenance (40%). Field training will be undertaken in regional irrigation centres in four states of Australia.     

Future irrigation training and research: Needs,strategies and means

The paper presents an analysis of the needs, strategies and means for training and research in irrigation. Some of the existing and proposed training programmes in irrigation and related fields are evaluated. The importance of enhancing professional skills of irrigation personnel through training and research, and of training farmers and communal leaders in water management skills for succesful irrigation is highlighted. The major concerns in future irrigation training and research are focused on social, economic and political issues which affect the basic tenets of efficiency and quality in irrigation water allocation and management. Action programmes to enhance both capabilities and investment in training and research in irrigation are proposed.     

山区灌溉技术及应用研究

解决干旱、半干旱山地的农用灌溉用水问题,是帮助干旱山区农民脱贫致富的关键。采用YD型移动式高扬程灌溉及SYD型移动式滴灌技术,具有投资少、转移快捷方便、灌溉效率高及增产增效等优势,通过典型干旱山区的应用研究,该灌溉技术具有推广使用价值。     

精准畦灌过程实时反馈控制技术

为了研究一种以关口时间为控制参数的地面灌溉实时反馈控制方法,构建了以灌溉信息实时采集与传输设备为支撑条件、以计算机处理系统为核心基础、以灌溉水流控制设备为应用条件的精准畦灌过程实时反馈控制系统.灌溉信息实时采集与传输设备自行研发的田间水流水位检测装置和无线信息接收管理装置,解决了灌溉信息容易漏测、接收距离短以及野外供电等难题;计算机处理系统根据实时采集的灌溉信息借助灌溉模型估算土壤特性参数值,预测灌溉过程,并根据选取的灌溉控制目标生成优化控制方案;最后由灌溉水流控制设备进行田间闸阀开闭.系统在北京、河北、新疆等地的试验基地进行了应用,结果表明:精准畦灌过程实时反馈控制系统对于加强畦灌过程可控性,提高畦灌田间灌溉效率,促进灌溉农业由经验型的粗放式管理向计算机控制的集约型管理转变具有十分重要的理论意义和现实意义.     

Farmer's perspective on irrigation performance

Of the many client groups with interests in irrigation system performance, farmers are probably the least often considered. This paper attempts to explore the meaning of irrigation performance from their perspective, highlighting at the outset basic difference between this perspective and that of system managers. It then reviews several important concepts underlying a consideration of performance in irrigation systems. The paper then proposes and discusses a set of twelve measures of irrigation service judged to be of interest to farmers. These are adequacy, timeliness, equity, tractability, convenience, predictability, temperature, sediment content, salt content, nutrient content, toxics, and pathogens.     

滴灌技术在农业节水灌溉中的应用探讨

滴灌是农业灌溉技术的一项革命性变革。这种灌溉方式,对节省灌溉用水、实现高产、控制杂草等有它独到之处。本文对滴灌进行了简述并分析了滴灌技术在我国节水灌溉中的应用,对其优势、节水效果等方面的进行了分析探讨,为我国节水灌溉的发展提供借鉴。     

Satellite remote sensing in irrigation

Data on flows in irrigation and drainage canals and data on climate, crops, and cropped areas are essential for the management of irrigation systems. Only part of these data can be collected with satellite remote sensing (SRS). This paper discusses the possibilities for the practical use of SRS data in the management of irrigation systems. Satellite remote sensing images are more useful for intra- and inter-seasonal monitoring, with a time horizon of months or years, than for use in day-to-day management of irrigation schemes: either the operation of the system cannot be changed quickly, or the operation would require a more frequent input of SRS data than is at present feasible.     

Design and management nomograph for furrow irrigation

There exist capabilities for analyzing the behavior of surface flow and the ultimate distribution of infiltrated water in furrow irrigation. The corresponding synthesis, i.e., the selection of appropriate combinations of inflow rates, cutoff times and length of furrow — design and management, currently not so well established, is treated herein. A design-management nomograph is proposed for free draining graded furrows. This is a plot of efficiency, time of cutoff and uniformity coefficient contours each given on a length-flow rate space adjacent to one another, for a furrow with given infiltration characteristics, flow geometry, slope, roughness and required depth of application. The nomograph can be used to determine the combinations of length, time of cutoff and flow rate that would yield in optimum combination of efficiency and uniformity.     

Water delivery models for irrigation projects

Water is the most essential input for the development of agriculture. However, its availability, in developing countries, for gainfull utilisation is limited. This calls for spreading irrigation to the benefit of the largest possible section of the farmers. A successful irrigation water delivery model must ensure equity among the beneficiaries or land-holding based allocation, their active participation, and its availability at right time and right place. In this context the performance of various models, as practised in India, has been reviewed. It is inferred that: a) water cooperatives or societies are not a success, b) volumetric system is not economically feasible, and c) warabandi model — as adopted in Northern India is the most suitable having been tested over a century. A few suggestions for further improvement in its structure have also been listed.     

适应排灌行业需要 建设岗位培训制度——由江苏理工大学流体机械工程技术中心连续15年举办培训班引发的思考

由排灌机械行业的现状 ,结合江苏理工大学流体机械工程技术中心 15年来举办培训班的实践 ,提出了培养一大批掌握现代科学技术的工程技术人员和高素质员工是促进排灌事业发展最直接、最有效的措施 ,而制定和完善岗位培训制度是这一措施规范化、制度化、科学化的保证。文章阐述了岗位培训的概念 ,对建立岗位培训制度的原则、框架和体系作了探讨。     

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     

From on-farm solid-set sprinkler irrigation design to collective irrigation network design in windy areas

In this paper, a contribution to the design of collective pressurised irrigation networks in solid-set sprinkler-irrigated windy areas is presented. The methodology is based on guaranteeing minimum on-farm performance, using a historical hourly wind speed database and a ballistic solid-set irrigation simulation model. The proposed method was applied to the Montesnegros Irrigation District (central Ebro basin, Spain). The district irrigates an area of 3493 ha using an on-demand schedule. The average wind speed in the area is 2.8 m s⁻¹. An analysis of district water records showed that farmers often reduce water demand when the wind speed is high, but their irrigation decision making is limited by the capacity of the irrigation network and by the unpredictable character of local winds. Simulations were performed for 11 irrigation seasons, 2 triangular sprinkler spacings (18 m × 18 m and 18 m × 15 m), and 2 sprinkler models. The percentage of monthly suitable time for irrigation was determined for four management strategies. The first one was based on a wind speed threshold (3 m s⁻¹), while the other three were based on three levels (standard, relaxed and restrictive) of two irrigation performance parameters: the Christiansen Uniformity Coefficient (CU) and the Wind Drift and Evaporation Losses (WDEL). The standard strategy classified the time as suitable for irrigation when CU ≥ 84% and WDEL ≤ 20%. The thresholds limits of the irrigation parameters for the relaxed strategy were CU ≥ 80% and WDEL ≤ 25%. Finally, the restrictive strategy used thresholds of CU ≥ 90% and WDEL ≤ 15%. The suitable time for the first strategy (56%) was always lower than for the standard and the relaxed strategies (with respective average values of 75 and 86%), and higher than for the restrictive strategy (30%). In order to design the collective network, the hydrant operating time was equalled to the suitable time for irrigation. The differences in the cost of the collective network plus the on-farm equipment were particularly relevant between the restrictive strategy and the other three. Differences in suitable operating time were clear between sprinkler spacings, and less evident between sprinkler models. The application of the proposed methodology may be limited by the availability of historical wind speed records and CU estimates for different combinations of sprinkler models, sprinkler spacings and wind speed.     

Turnover and irrigation service fees

This paper reviews the implications of the new economic policies of turning over public irrigation systems to local water users and irrigation service fees that are in the process of being implemented by the Indonesian Government. These policies are designed to ensure that irrigation is economically sustainable over the next decades. The turnover program has already made considerable progress and, once government policies are clarified, has the potential to major impact on irrigation in the more mountainous provinces. It is expected by the year 2002 that 108 billion Rupiah will be raised from service fees. However, with respect to the collection of such fees, there is still bureaucratic uncertainty and local resistance that must be overcome before the policy can be successfully implemented throughout the country.     

闸管灌溉技术及其田间工程系统设计

结合新疆生产建设兵团农7师127团承担的“干旱地区规模化灌溉农业类型区农业高效用水模式与产业化示范”项目工作，介绍闸管灌溉技术及其田间工程系统的设计步骤，并给出了具体的设计实例和简单的经济分析。结果表明，按常规使用年限、系统移动次数及灌溉控制和度，系统每公倾投资为75-240元。由此可见，闸管灌溉技术的投资强度较低，是一种值得在类似新疆棉花沟灌条件地区大力推广的地面节水灌溉技术。     

Community managed irrigation in Eastern Nepal

This paper examines several farmer managed irrigation schemes in the eastern hills of Nepal. The development and management structure of these is considered in order to identify characteristics of successful schemes which could be used in planning future projects.     

Using drainage systems for supplementary irrigation

The use of drainage systems for supplementary irrigation is widespread in The Netherlands. One of the operating policies is to raise the surface water level during the growing season in order to reduce drainage (water conservation) or to create subsurface irrigation. This type of operation is based on practical experience, which can be far from optimal.To obtain better founded operational water management rules a total soil water/surface water model was built. In a case study the effects of using the drainage system in a dual-purpose manner on the arable crop production were simulated with the model. Also, the operational rules for managing this type of dual-purpose drainage systems were derived.The average annual simulated increase in crop transpiration due to water conservation and water supply for subsurface irrigation are 6.0 and 5.4 mm.y^–1, respectively. This is equivalent with 520 × 10³ and 460 × 10³ Dfl.y^–1 for the pilot region (2 Dfl 1 US $). The corresponding investments and operational costs are 600 × 10³ Dfl and 9 × 10³ Dfl.y^–1 for water conservation and 3200 × 10³ Dfl and 128 × 10³ Dfl.y^–1 for subsurface irrigation. Hence, water conservation is economically very profitable, whereas subsurface irrigation is less attractive.Comparing the management according to the model with current practice in a water-board during 1983 and 1986 learned that benefits can increase with some 50 and 500 Dfl per ha per year, respectively.     

Performance indicators for irrigation and drainage

This paper summarises the performance indicators currently used in the Research Program on Irrigation Performance (RPIP).Within this Program field data are measured and collected to quantify andtest about 40 multidisciplinary performance indicators. These indicatorscover water delivery, water use efficiency, maintenance, sustainability ofirrigation, environmental aspects, socio-economics and management. Theindicators now are sufficiently mature to be recommended for use inirrigation and drainage performance assessment.     

Water saving technology for paddy rice irrigation and its popularization in China

In consideration of the fact that drought occurs very often in China and the demand for paddy rice irrigation is very large, the technology of water saving irrigation for paddy rice is studied, and popularized in a demonstration region of the city of Yancheng. Test results show that dry-foot paddy irrigation saves 48.5% of water, and increases from 8.9 to 12.9% of yield, increasing 1302 Yaun of benefit per hectare, compared to traditional flooding irrigation. The technology has the advantages of clear index, notable effectiveness of water saving, reduction of soil loss and high production; besides, the rice is of good quality and the investment is economical. So, it is easy to be popularized in large areas.     

浅埋式滴灌技术在新疆阿苇灌区的应用探讨

新疆是全国第二大牧区,通过浅埋式滴灌种植,研究苜蓿的根系、株干生长情况,对比分析发现浅埋式滴灌技术,能够节约水资源,大大减轻劳动强度,使牧区落后的生产经营方式和管理机制得到改变,为牧业丰产丰收奠定了坚实的基础,也为项目区牧民脱贫致富做出积极贡献.对新疆的稳定和发展具有重要的经济效益和社会效益.