Projecten - Sri Lanka
Monitoring and evaluation of land preparation performance in irrigated agriculture in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka
Many irrigation systems in the dry zone of Sri Lanka have water shortage problems. In spite of the fact that water shortage is a problem, water consumption is very high during land preparation for which prolonged periods of time are taken. This project analyzes the impact of institutional interventions on efficient water management, especially during land preparation period, based on research conducted in Huruluwewa, R ajangana, Nuwarawewa and Minneriya irrigation schemes in Maha season 2001/2002. It provides a comprehensive understanding of factors behind prolonged periods of land preparation so that system managers and farmer communities can develop appropriate interventions to reduce water consumption during this period.
Methodology
To capture the impact of institutional interventions, three systems with intervention and one system without intervention were selected. First, a survey was conducted on all farmers in the pilot areas, which was followed by a more detailed survey on delayed farmers carried out after the completion of the land preparation period. Finally, data on crop yield was collected from all farmers to see whether there is any significant difference in yield between delayed and non-delayed farmers.
Results
In Rajangana and Nuwarawewa schemes the majority of farmers have land preparation delay. The length of delay is also longer than in the other two schemes studied. In Minneriya Yoda Ela and Huruluwewa the majority of farmers finished land preparation on time. In most cases land preparation delay occurs in the period between first water issue and commencement of land preparation. In general farmers complete land preparation within the time agreed at cultivation meeting, but not by the due date. This is mainly due to the fact that they do not start land preparation activities on time, immediately after water issuing for the season.
Both water and non-water factors have impact on land preparation progress. Water related factors play an important role only in Nuwarawewa and Minneriya while non-water factors are important in Rajangana and Huruluwewa. Main water related factors are maintenance problems and canal deterioration at main and distributary canal levels, operation of the distributary canal and maintenance and water sharing problems at field canal level. Non-water factors are a major reason for land preparation delay, especially in Rajangana. Delayed farmers mentioned non-water factors such as non-availability of tractors, labor shortage and problems related to acquisition of paddy seed as reasons for land preparation delay.
With the understanding that existing institutions can not improve land preparation progress a new institutional arrangement, the Jala Meheum Committee, was initiated by the Irrigation Management Division to monitor land preparation progress and to solve water related problems at field level that delay land preparation. A scheme level committee was proposed to supervise and guide the Jala Meheum Committees. However, the proposed Jala Meheum Committees cannot perform their water management activities effectively with totally defunct or weak farmer organizations and without active involvement of grass root level officers and turnout attendants. Impact of Jala Meheum Committees on land preparation progress is not observed, since the Jala Meheum Committee was only in operation to some extent in Huruluwewa, mainly due to heavy involvement of the Project Manager (IMD) in the program. In none of our sample systems the proposed scheme level committee was established.
Conclusions
Interventions like Jala Meheum Committees can not be successfully implemented within one or two seasons. It should be pilot tested several seasons prior to replication in other irrigation schemes. The research highlights that active involvement of grass root level officers can help Jala Meheum Committees to function even when FOs are weak.
The Jala Meheum Committee has its focus only on solving water related factors, but this research clearly indicates that besides water related factors, non-water related factors have serious negative impact on land preparation progress. Therefore even a perfect working Jala Meheum Committee will not be able to solve land preparation delays in systems where non-water related problems are the main reason for land preparation delay.
To further strengthen the proposed institutional changes the establishment of the scheme level committees to supervise the Jala Meheum Committees and provide guidance and assistance to improve land preparation progress is needed. The commitment of Production and Research Assistants to plan and implement activities of the Jala Meheum Committee is also needed. Jala Meheum Committee should monitor land preparation progress and provide feed back to FOs and agencies concerned for another two to three seasons until FOs develop their capacity to handle these activities independently. FOs should be further strengthened to participate effectively in planning and implementing agricultural programs with a special attention to manage limited water resources and take responsibilities over O&M of the tertiary system. Irrigation agencies need to maintain and operate the main system to avoid land preparation delays resulting from problems associated with main system management.
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