Farming Systems Research into the 21st Century: The New Dynamic
Farming Systems Research into the 21st Century: The New Dynamic

Author: Ika Darnhofer

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-05-30

Total Pages: 488

ISBN-13: 9400745036

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Farming Systems Research has three core characteristics: it builds on systems thinking, it depends on the close collaboration between social and biophysical sciences, and it relies on participation to build co-learning processes. Farming Systems Research posits that to contribute towards sustainable rural development, both interdisciplinary collaborations and local actor engagement are needed. Together, they allow for changes in understanding and changes in practices. This book gives an overview of the insights generated in 20 years of Farming Systems Research. It retraces the emergence and development of Farming Systems Research in Europe, summarises the state-of-the-art for key areas, and provides an outlook on new explorations, especially those tackling the dynamic nature of farming systems and their interaction with the natural environment and the context of action.

Irrigation Scheme Operation and Maintenance
Irrigation Scheme Operation and Maintenance

Author: W. Bart Snellen

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 9789251038765

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Irrigation Scheme Operation and Maintenance is the tenth in the series of training manuals on irrigation prepared jointly with ILRI (International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement). The manual presents some of the difficulties that irrigation organizations confront in undertaking their duties and provides some orientations on how to resolve them. The paper then proceeds to discuss the methods of operating an irrigation network and the working principles involved. The maintenance tasks are discussed. To draw similarities and differences the maintenance of a motorcycle is used as a reference for the corresponding activities in an irrigation scheme. Finally, a reference is made to the need for having an effective financial control whereby the management of the system has enough resources to undertake the operation and maintenance tasks. The manual is addressed to small and medium schemes and assumes that the management organization is already in place.

Fundamentals of Smallholder Irrigation
Fundamentals of Smallholder Irrigation

Author: B. Albinson

Publisher: IWMI

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 30

ISBN-13: 9290904712

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Smallholder irrigation systems–where farm sizes generally range from a fraction of a hectare to 10 hectares–pose special management problems, especially where the water available for irrigation is frequently less than the demand. The intensity of system adjustments required to meet individual farmer demands, and the administrative complexity of measuring and accounting water deliveries have generally proven excessive when attempting to meet “on demand” schedules, resulting in chaos (often characterized by illegal tampering with infrastructure, and vast differences of water use intensity at different locations in the system). The alternative–provision of a simple service, based on proportional sharing of available supplies on the basis of landholdings–has been resilient for many years over vast areas. The approach is based on a clear delineation between the part of the irrigation system that is actively managed (at various flow rates and water levels) and the part of the system that operates either at full supply level (with proportional division of water down to the level at which farmers rotate among their individual farms), or is completely shut. This operational design is known as a “structured” system, and has well-defined hydraulic characteristics, simplifying operation and management, in turn allowing a clearer definition of water entitlements and the responsibilities of agency staff and farmers. The approach is particularly suited to areas where water is scarce and discipline is needed to ration water among users. An additional benefit, which has been demonstrated in modeling studies using a well–proven model relating to water and yield, is that the productivity of water (which is more important than the more traditional productivity of land when water is scarce) is substantially increased when deficit irrigation is practiced–a widely observed and predictable response to rationed water supplies. Structured systems are most suited where water is scarce, clear definition of water entitlements is needed, management capacity is limited, and investment resources are limited. The approach to determining critical aspects of a structured system design is described in this report.

Irrigation Training in the Public Sector
Irrigation Training in the Public Sector

Author:

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1989-01-01

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 9780821313343

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This report provides guidelines for the management of irrigated agriculture to formulate long-term training policies, strategies and programs. The resulting systematic training should contribute to the improved performance of irrigation and drainage schemes and enhance the management of irrigated agriculture. The guidelines do not provide specific recommendations on how management and staff training should be organized and financed. Rather, they provide a fairly comprehensive overview of the main issues to be considered in forming a national or departmental training strategy. The main focus is on public sector irrigation organizations.