An assessment of collective action for pond management in Zhanghe Irrigation System (ZIS), China

Ponds are common property resources that allow users to obtain water on-demand because of their capacity to store rainwater and other surplus water close to users. Effective management of these ponds is crucial, especially with increasing water scarcity and decreasing water deliveries for agriculture that are taking place in many irrigation systems, including the Zhanghe Irrigation System (ZIS) in China. The purpose of this study was to determine the nature and performance of collective action in pond management, and to quantify the factors affecting that collective action. We used two different approaches to measure the performance of collective action: a performance indicator based on soil conditions, and farmer’s perceptions based on their satisfaction with the current level of management activities. The results using the two approaches were consistent, and indicated that, among other variables, dependency on pond water, pond size, and household size were important variables affecting the performance of collective action. There was also limited evidence that clarification of property rights through the use of contractors for pond management improved outcomes for farmers.     

Water user associations in Inner Mongolia: Factors that influence farmers to join

Irrigation districts in Inner Mongolia face problems that are familiar to irrigation areas around the world: shortage of water resources, poor management of water, inefficient use of water resources, and imbalance of financial revenues and expenditures. Water user associations have been promoted to address water supply problems and to encourage efficient water use. In this study, farmers from three distinct areas in Inner Mongolia were surveyed to determine their level of understanding of water user associations and the factors that affect their becoming members. A majority of respondents thought that water user associations were useful to safeguard farmers’ interests, to help reduce labour inputs and disputes about water, to reduce irrigation costs, and to promote efficient water use. The factors found to be most important were: (1) being a village cadre; (2) good state of health; (3) high degree of understanding about water user associations; (4) small percentage of the household in the labour force; (5) cropping income a high percentage of family income; (6) having had previous conflicts involving water use issues.     

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.     

中国节水灌溉装备与技术发展展望

分别从灌排设施、灌排管理体制和投资政策3个方面,回顾了中国灌溉排水70 a以来所取得的成就.随着灌溉面积增大,灌排设施极大提高了中国粮食产量和农业生产能力;灌排管理体制发生巨大变化,由农民集体管理为主转化为骨干工程国家事业单位管理为主,促进了灌排工程快速发展和良性运行;投资政策有效地服务了水利基本建设.但目前中国依旧存在灌溉用水利用率较低、水肥一体化灌溉农田占比较低和灌溉系统信息化程度较低等问题,与高质量的农业生产发展还有很大的距离.结合国家粮食与生态保障的战略需求,分别从大中型灌区节水改造、水肥一体化节水灌溉装备与技术和喷滴灌、管道输水灌溉和泵站改造方面,提出了中国节水灌溉装备与技术的未来机遇和挑战.为了促进中国节水灌溉行业发展,加强灌排装备的理论研究和自主创新,发展高效、节能和环保的技术和产品,提高产业信息化、智能化和网络化,是实现农业现代化生产建设的必然趋势.     

A Farmer-Centered Analysis of Irrigation Management Transfer in Mexico

With the rewritten Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution and the National Water Law of 1992, Mexico embarked on an ambitious program of transferring the management of many irrigation systems to local user groups, primarily farmers. By 1996, 372 water user associations had been formed to control water delivery to 2.92 million hectares. During this time water prices increased by 45–180% and government O&M subsidies were eliminated. Limited economic analysis of stakeholder impact has been conducted of the irrigation management transfer (IMT) program. This research effort pilots a partial budget analytical framework for analyzing the social benefits and costs of IMT. Two irrigation modules near Culiacan, Sinaloa were selected as case studies. Results reveal that even with significantly higher water prices, water users have invested more in their systems than during the post-IMT period and consider their overall irrigation costs to be lower. Lower transaction costs in the pre-IMT period explain the majority of these cost savings. Efforts to quantify incremental benefits and costs associated with IMT at the module and district levels proved difficult given the unavailability of reliable, time series information.     

Water management institutional reform: A representative look at northern China

Our goal is to provide information regarding water management reform in China by increasing understanding of newly emerging water institutions and identifying factors that lead to the creation of reform-oriented irrigation institutions (Water User Associations and/or contracting) in one place but not in another. Using two sets of survey data, one of which is representative of northern China, we find that water management reform has spread steadily. Between 20% and 30% of villages in northern China have shifted away from traditional forms of management. In their places, some villages are hiring individual contractors; others are adopting Water User Associations. While China's new forms of water governance are not very participatory (from the farmer's point of view), water managers—especially contractors—are increasingly being given more incentives to save water and to manage their village's water more effectively. Water scarcity, other village characteristics, and policies implemented by local and regional government water officials are the main drivers of water management reform.     

Pricing of irrigation water under alternative charging methods: Possible shortcomings of a volumetric approach

The European water framework directive aims to protect the environmental quality of water and encourage its efficient use. EU member states are required to implement efficient water management systems and appropriate water-pricing methods. This paper examines the economic effects that may arise given the introduction of two different methods for pricing irrigation in the Mediterranean area. The considered pricing methods charge farmers for the costs incurred by water user associations (WUAs) in managing water distribution networks. The first method, based on the metered use of water by farms, is known as the volumetric pricing method. The second is an area-based pricing method, whereby fees are charged per hectare according to the estimated average water use for each crop. The economic effects and the impacts on the water usage of these two schemes are analyzed using a mathematical model that represents the farm sector in a Mediterranean area that relies on a dam for irrigation. The possible effects are analyzed under two scenarios: first, the methods are applied to the observed water-pricing conditions, second, an additional charge is introduced to recover unaccounted costs of the water supply system (e.g., long-term costs related to infrastructure, and the operational and maintenance costs of dams) in line with the water framework directive principle of cost recovery. The results show that the introduction of an additional charge via the volumetric pricing method could stimulate the substitution of water provided via collective networks with groundwater. This could adversely affect the financial situation of the WUA and have negative environmental consequences. This negative outcome does not arise in the case that an additional charge is applied via the area-based pricing method.     

Wandering off the paths of planned innovation: The role of formal and informal intermediaries in a large-scale irrigation scheme in Morocco

For many years, large-scale irrigation around the world was based on state-driven water management and on a planned innovation process and diffusionist extension services. The purpose of this study is to show that formal extension services are not the only intermediaries of innovation and that local innovations take place at the initiative of farmers even in state-driven irrigation schemes. The study addressed changes in farming systems in a large-scale irrigation scheme in Morocco from two angles: a review of planned innovations and analysis of the actual innovation process at the village level. We show that the implementation of the large-scale irrigation scheme contributed to agricultural development, but often indirectly, and that it was not the only source of innovation. We also show how these results support recent thinking on innovation systems. Today, informal labour, neighbour and marketing networks are the main innovation intermediaries. New practices in agricultural extension are required to facilitate local innovations and to link farmers to more global innovation networks.     

Making the user visible: analysing irrigation practices and farmers’ logic to explain actual drip irrigation performance

The actual performance of drip irrigation (irrigation efficiency, distribution uniformity) in the field is often quite different from that obtained in experimental stations. We developed an approach to explain the actual irrigation performance of drip irrigation systems by linking measured performances to farmers’ irrigation practices, and these practices to the underlying logic of farmers who operate these systems. This approach was applied to 22 farms in Morocco. Four sets of variables helped explain the gap between the actual irrigation performance and the performance obtained in experimental conditions: (1) farmers have agro-economic motivations or want to improve their social status, and for them, irrigation performance is at best an intermediate objective. (2) Irrigation performance is not a static value, but a rapidly evolving process, related to the (perceived) ability of farmers to change irrigation practices and renew irrigation equipment, but also to farmers’ aspirations. (3) The social network of farmers, supporting the introduction and use of drip irrigation, determines how farmers may share experience, information and know-how related to drip irrigation. (4) Today, there is no social pressure to irrigate carefully to save water; only the state explicitly links the use of drip irrigation to saving water. Making the drip user visible in research and policy studies would lead to more realistic assessments of irrigation performance and draw the attention of policy makers to the actual conditions in which drip irrigation is used, and as a consequence help incorporate ‘saving water’ as an objective for drip irrigation users.     

利益相关者视角下农村水资源管理模式实证分析

在农村水资源管理依然存在较多困难的情况下,十分有必要探索农村社区内不同利益群体共同参与的水资源管理模式。通过对云南省克木村水资源管理模式的实地调查发现,该村水资源管理中得到了政府部门的大力支持,在共同的文化背景下,该村以村民自治为基础进行水资源管理取得很好的效果。这种水资源管理模式将政府、村干部、村民等利益群体以一定的规则相连接,促使农村水资源的可持续利用,对农村水资源管理具有很好的借鉴意义。     

两种灌溉取水监督管理制度的分析

违规取用地表水灌溉水权，在水资源有限的情况下，从一定程度上损害了公共利益，并对他人不能进行补偿，因而是一种外部不经济的行为。我国对取水权的监督管理权掌握在政府手中，由流域机构具体管理。而国外某些地区对灌溉取水的监督权是分散在各个与灌溉系统相关的人员或机构手中，与此相关的人员或机构既是监督者，同时又被别人监督。文中比较分析了这两种不同的取水监督管理制度的优缺点，并给出完善我国取水监督管理制度的建议。     

Co-ordination processes in a collectively managed cropping system: Double cropping of irrigated rice in Senegal

Collective management of cropping systems is common in tropical countries when one production factor (e.g. machinery or an irrigated scheme) is shared by a number of farmers. To achieve their technical objectives in these contexts, farmers have to co-ordinate decision-making processes among themselves and with their economic partners. A 3-year study was carried out on two irrigated schemes in the Senegal river delta. Its aim was to understand (1) the problems farmers' organizations managing schemes faced when carrying out annual double cropping of rice and (2) how they managed to co-ordinate the different actors (individual farmers, contractors and collective organizations) interacting on these schemes. The results presented here relate mainly to the harvest part of the problem. They show double cropping success varies from one site to another and from one year to another, depending on different starting dates and global harvest performances. The comprehensive model proposed to explain this diversity includes (1) analysing individual farmers' and contractors' decision-making processes indicating the uncertainty of their behaviour and its effects on plot conditions (maturity and trafficability) and machinery performances and (2) classifying collective co-ordination processes under three main strategies of contractualizing relations with local contractors by granting harvest monopolies, simplifying complex decisions such as choosing a harvest starting date at scheme level and adjusting to unforseen events during task operation, mainly by looking for extra combine harvesters. The efficiency of these strategies is analysed in relation to the structural characteristics of the two schemes. In our discussion we propose a general framework to explain the co-ordination problems met by farmers in this context including lack of experience, diversity of individual behaviour and uncertainty. Some suggestions are put forward to improve and accelerate the organizational learning processes already acquired by farmers, in terms of technical references, scheme design and modelling.     

山东禹城市用水协会的实践与问题

禹城市自2001年开始在小型灌区成立用水者协会，正处于实践的初期，从运行效果来看，用水者协会(WUA)不但解决了小型灌区的管理维护、农民用水问题，同时还为推行农业节水提供了很好的平台。以禹城市用水者协会的发展过程为例，分析它的初步效益、潜在效益、存在的问题和发展方向，以期为农村小型灌区的改革提供参考。     

Access to groundwater and agricultural production in China

Although the ways in which farmers access irrigation services in areas that rely on groundwater have changed over the past decade, little empirical work has measured the impact of these changes. This is surprising given the potential effects—both positive and negative. In this paper we explore the impacts of the emergence of the markets for irrigation services from groundwater on agricultural production - including crop water use and crop yields - and farmer income in northern China. From a survey of 35 randomly sampled villages and 338 households in two provinces (Hebei and Henan Provinces) in 2001 and 2004, we show that when farmers access water from markets for irrigation services, they significantly reduce water use, compared with farmers who have their own tubewells. However, there is no significant difference between the volume of water used by farmers who access irrigation services provided by the village, and the volume used by farmers who access water from markets for irrigation services. Importantly, although water use decreases, we find little effect on either agricultural productivity (yields) or income.     

Performance of agency-managed and farmer-managed irrigation systems: A comparative case study at Chitwan, Nepal

Management reforms are considered one of the best alternatives in increasing efficiency of the irrigation systems. Transfer of day-to-day operation and maintenance to farmers is not a new concept. However due to lags, even now it is a hot issue in developing countries and Nepal is not an exception. In this context of growing argument about the transfer of management of public irrigation systems to the Water Users' Group, this paper examines the comparative performance of farmer-managed and agency-managed irrigation systems. Khageri Irrigation System in the Chitwan district of Nepal was taken as the study site where complete management transfer has been done in 1996. The situations before and after complete transfer were compared. Intensive case studies of the selected farmers showed that equity in distribution of water and leakage had significantly improved after management transfer. Logit analysis revealed that age and education level of the household head, distance from main canal, leakage of the canal and equity in distribution are significantly related to the satisfaction level of the beneficiary farmers from FMIS compared to AMIS. However, landholding size of the respondent farmer has no significant effect. Similarly results from t-test revealed that rice productivity and overall profits from agriculture has also increased significantly due to irrigation management transfer.     

A benefit-cost analysis of smallholder irrigated farms in Zimbabwe

The government of Zimbabwe uses agricultural development as one of the ways to stimulate economic growth. Agriculture in Zimbabwe is characterized by a dual agrarian system comprising the large scale commercial sector and the smallholder communal sector. The communal sector, 47 percent of the country, supports more than 70 percent of the population. One strategy used to improve agricultural performance is the development of agricultural infrastructure. Of the 117, 830 ha developed for irrigation only slightly more than 6 percent is in the communal (smallholder) sector. The smallholder irrigation systems are managed under four different systems, namely the government-managed Agritex, farmer-managed community, the informal bani (dambo) managed by farmers and the ARDA outgrowers managed jointly by a parastatal and farmers. This paper evaluates the benefits and costs associated with these different management systems. Benefit-cost ratios are computed for each system. The bani system achieves higher benefit-cost ratios than the community, which achieves higher ratios than the Agritex management system. This indicates that the government should consider using the community system for developing the potential 93,000 ha of communal smallholder irrigation systems. It should also seriously consider the bani system as an alternative development strategy.     

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.     

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     

Drip Planner Chart: a simple irrigation scheduling tool for smallholder drip farmers

Drip irrigation is widely recognized as potentially one of the most efficient irrigation methods. However, this efficiency is often not achieved because systems are not always well designed or maintained and many farmers lack the tools to assess the crop water requirements and to monitor the soil moisture conditions in the field. There is a vast amount of literature on irrigation scheduling but little literature takes scientific information the next step by preparing practical guidelines for smallholder farmers. There is a large and widening gap between the state of the art irrigation scheduling tools and current on-farm irrigation practices. Most farmers find current irrigation scheduling tools overwhelming and lack the means and skills to install and operate them. It is suggested that farmers need simple, cheap and more comprehensive support tools to achieve improved irrigation management at the farm level. Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR) developed the Drip Planner Chart (DPC) to provide smallholder farmers with a simple tool to schedule drip irrigation to the crops?? needs. DPC is a manual disk calculator to calculate daily irrigation requirement. Farmers?? feedback was the basis for developing the DPC. Using DPC over a three-year period in Spain resulted in a 14 % water saving and improved irrigation timing. Trials at smallholder farmer fields in Nepal and Zambia showed DPC advice is more adapted to the changing demands of the crop over the different growth stages and responds to the farmer??s quest for practical drip scheduling advice. This paper presents the Drip Planner Chart and the scientific validation of the accuracy of the DPC. Experiments on farmers?? fields show water saving in Nepal and improved yield in Zambia. In both countries an improved scheduling over the growing seasons was found using DPC.     

奎屯河灌区水资源管理模式探析

新疆奎屯河灌区是全国主要大型灌区之一，是灌区管理改革试点地区之一，对该灌区实行的政府计划和市场结合配置水资源的管理模式进行了有意义的实证研究，认为在这种形式下的水资源管理必须制定相应合理的水价体系,才能确保农户积极的节约用水,起到与建立水市场同样合理使用水资源的作用,同时建立水资源的合理核算机制也有利于缓解管理者与农户之间的矛盾.得到的分析结果对今后灌区的管理具有良好的参考价值.