Impact of Irrigation Management Practices on Land and Its Productivity in Addressing Hunger and Poverty

Birendra Kc, Bart Schultz and Krishna Prasad
Additional contact information
Birendra Kc: Aqualinc Research Limited, New Zealand
Bart Schultz: IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Netherland
Krishna Prasad: Freelance Irrigation and Water Resources Management Consultant, Nepal

Journal of Development Innovations, 2017, vol. 1, issue 2, 15-28

Abstract: Improvement in land and water productivity of existing irrigation and drainage schemes will be required to meet the increasing food demand and attenuate poverty. However, current practices of irrigation water management in quite some schemes are at a low level, with outputs per unit of arable land and irrigation supply substantially below potential. With the view to enhance the productivity levels, this paper analyses various agriculture development and irrigation water management practices in existing irrigation schemes. Based on geographic, economic and climatic conditions four sample schemes were selected for the study comprising two schemes from least developed and two from emerging countries. These schemes represent different water management policies and irrigation supply technologies. The studied schemes include: Sunsari Morang Irrigation Scheme (Nepal) and Goha W Irrigation Scheme (Ethiopia) from the least developed countries, and Sri Ram Sagar Irrigation Scheme (India) and Yaqui Irrigation District (Mexico) from emerging countries. Organizational, financial, technological and operational indicators were used to evaluate the land and water productivity in these schemes. CropWat 4 was used to estimate the potential yields of the currently cultivated crops. The results of the analysis show that institutional and technological improvements can contribute significantly to land and water productivity increment.

Keywords: Land and Water Productivity; Irrigation and Drainage Schemes; Poverty; Agricultural Development; Irrigation Water Management; CropWat 4; Potential Yields (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 O22 O40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kqi:journl:2017-1-2-2

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