| Abstract: | Enhanced long-term management ofnatural resources, farmer profitability, and overallsocial well-being are essential to sustainableirrigated agriculture. Because these objectives oftenseem to conflict, all agriculturalstakeholders – farmers, irrigation districts, supportand regulatory government agencies, and otherinterested parties – need to interact proactively toidentify and address common needs. To this end, theManagement Improvement Program (MIP) was tested in theMaricopa-Stanfield Irrigation and Drainage District(MSIDD) area in central Arizona, USA, as a managedchange process to improve the performance of anirrigated agricultural system. The three-phased MIPprocess consists of (1) analysis of the currentperformance of the agricultural system, on- andoff-farm, to gain a common, shared understanding; (2) developmentby the stakeholders of plans foralternatives to address identified opportunities forimprovement; and (3) collaborative implementation ofthe plans. This paper describes the MIP process andits methodological origins, provides an account of theinitial application of the MIP process to an irrigatedagricultural system in the United States, andhighlights some important outcomes of the MIPapplication. |
