This book presents a comprehensive account of problems and issues associates with command area development. It is a longitudinal study where the same set of villages and households were studied at two points of time with a gap of eight years. The main thrust of the study, among other things, is on on-farm development, water management, agricultural extension and the locational advantages of a farm plot in ensuring timely and adequate supply of water.
In many countries irrigated agriculture consumes a large proportion of the available water resources, often over 70% of the total. There is considerable pressure to release water for other uses and, as a sector, irrigated agriculture will have to increase the efficiency and productivity of its water use. This is particularly true for manually operated irrigation systems managed by government agencies, which provide water for a large number of users on small landholdings and represent 60% of the total irrigated area worldwide. --
It is a comprehensive treatise on Water Resources Development and Irrigation Management. For the last 30 years the book has enjoyed the status of an definitive textbook on the subject. It has now been thoroughly revised and updated, and thus substantially enlarged. In addition to the wholesale revision of the existing chapters, three new chapters have been added to the book, namely, Lift Irrigation Systems and their Design, Water Requirement of Crops and Irrigation Management, and Economic Evaluation of Irrigation Projects and Water Pricing Policy.
A challenge to re-examine beliefs, biases and actions is presented through the exposure of misleading research and faulty diagnosis in the current policies and pratices of canal irrigation.
This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND license. This book addresses the issue of how a country, which was incorporated into the world economy as a periphery, could make a transition to the emerging state, capable of undertaking the task of economic development and industrialization. It offers historical and contemporary case studies of transition, as well as the international background under which such a transition was successfully made (or delayed), by combining the approaches of economic history and development economics. Its aim is to identify relevant historical contexts, that is, the ‘initial conditions’ and internal and external forces which governed the transition. It also aims to understand what current low-income developing countries require for their transition. Three economic driving forces for the transition are identified. They are: (1) labor-intensive industrialization, which offers ample employment opportunities for labor force; (2) international trade, which facilitates efficient international division of labor; and (3) agricultural development, which improves food security by increasing supply of staple foods. The book presents a bold account of each driver for the transition.
Globalisation has become today s buzzword. It has also become a battle ground for two radically opposed groups. There are the antiglobalists, who fear globalisation and stress only its downside, seeking therefore powerful interventions aimed at taming, if not (unwittingly) crippling it. Then there are the globalists (a class to which I belong) who celebrate globalisation instead, emphasize its upside, while seeking only to ensure that its few rough edges be handled through appropriate policies that serve to make globalisation yet more attractive.
Contents: System Analysis and Irrigation Management, Groundwater Markets and Sustainable Water Resource Management, Irrigation Development: Implications of Recent Experience of Aid Policy, The Political Economy of Irrigation Development, Minor Irrigation Development, Interdisciplinary View of Irrigation System, Land Reforms in India and their Significants in Equitable Distribution of Water, Why Farmer Participation, What Kinds of Participation, Irrigation Legislation and Participatory Management.
Water Is One Of The Essential Resources In Ag¬Ricultural Production, Which Has Several Unique Characteristics. Individual Farmers, Acting Alone, Can Seldom Acquire Water For Irrigation. Con¬Struction And Maintenance Of The Physical Struc¬Tures To Divert, Convey, And Distribute Water Usually Require Huge Investments, Which Is Beyond The Capacity Of A Farmer Surface Wa¬Ter Cannot Be Easily Stored And Particularly By The Individual Farmer, As Fertilisers, Pesticides Etc. Can Be. Water Must Be Used Whenever It Is Available. However, Farmers Generally Can¬Not Transport Water Economically Over Great Distances And The Locations. All Irrigation Systems Require That Certain Es¬Sential Tasks Should Be Accomplished, If The System Is To Function Productively, For Which Three Sets Of Management Activities Become Essential.For An Efficient Management Of Irrigation Projects, The Role Of Organisation, Channels Of Communications, Patterns Of Influence, Lines Of Authority And Loyalty, Which Can Ensure Some Sort Of Efficiency, Equity And Social Jus¬Tice, Cannot Be Overemphasized. This Neces¬Sitates That Irrigation Management Must De¬Vote A Large Part Of Its Attention To Its Organi¬Sation.This Noble Objective Can Be Achieved Through An Interdisciplinary Approach To The Manage¬Ment And Organisation, Water Distribution, Crop¬Ping Pattern, Complementary Inputs, Land Re¬Forms, Fanners' Participation, Pricing Of Wa¬Ter And Energy, Economic And Financial Evalu¬Ation, Institutional Needs, Command Area De¬Velopment Etc. This Could Be Possible Through The Structuring Of Individuals And Functions Into Productive Relationships In An Organisation. This Book Addresses To This Crucial But Ne¬Glected Element In The Equation Of Efficient Irrigation Management. It Starts From The Premise That Irrigation Management Is Best Regarded As A Socio-Technical Enterprise, Where The Human Dimension Interacts With The Physical And Technical Ones. The Book Thus Covers A Series Of Organizational Variables And Human Behaviour Backed With Critical Inputs, Insti¬Tutional Needs And Services.
