Enhancing links between irrigation and agriculture: policy innovations and initiatives

Satya Priya, PhD

National Programme Coordinator (Land and Water)

FAO, India

Policy roots • Agriculture Policy - supply-side approach to water

management

– often inconsistent with principles of efficiency, equity and

conservation

• Over time, pieces of water/irrigation policy - laws,

institutions, agencies, politicians and special

interests have merged into:

– perpetual motion machine with a goal to ensure water is

available for agriculture (abundant and free)

• Therefore, contentious debate over future water

demand can only be met through

– a paradigm shift in the management of WR

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Some key facts

• Increasing gap between irrigation potential

created (IPC) and irrigation potential utilized

(IPU) is substantial and growing

– lack of capacities, low water discharge, insufficient

water distribution, incorrect recording of irrigated area

• Agriculture consumes ~80% of water resources

• Agriculture Water Use Efficiency

– ~38% (India)

– ~45% in Malaysia and Morocco

– ~50-60% in Israel, Japan and Taiwan

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Gaps between IPC-IPU

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Paradigm shift – getting right signals?

• India's goal to increase water use efficiency by 20% through:

– higher efficiency ratios, equitability;

– sufficiency and reliability in distribution, increased productivity; and

– rationalized use aligned with basin water balance

• Bridging the gap between principles and practice:

– increased reliance on demand-side management;

– conjunctive use, crop switching and practices for improving efficiency

• Review polices legal status of “environmental baselines” of:

– minimum in-stream flows, water quality and supplies

– water uses and management to ease out pressures on agri. users

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Signs of change: Irrigation WUE

• Objective of improving WUE

– Stakeholders involvement essential before taking up WUE

improvement projects

– In the project context, irrigation WUE relates to project command

alone (conveyance + distribution + on-farm systems);

– Volumetric water supply is the only means to ensure equitable

distribution?

• Command irrigation should include all sources of water

such as canal, groundwater, tanks, etc.

– Performance of system management according to demands at

field and

– Performance of drainage to speedily remove surplus water from

the farms are essential

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Signs of change: Integrated operation

• Surface water projects: planned, developed, operated and

managed in standalone mode despite being in basin context

– Dynamic nature of base and return flows in streams and losses from

canals/farms can only be assessed if projects are operated in an

integrated manner in real time mode

• Integrated operation and management increases WUE and

productivity

– Better understanding of the agronomic factors affecting crop growth

(climate, soils, soil moisture, fertilizers, plant population)

– Increasing WUE requires continuous research on crop management (Shift to Micro Irrigation, System of Rice Intensification etc)

– Soil Nutrient management approaches (field management, evaluation

of soil fertility status)

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Fertilizer policy

• Agricultural

productivity

and balanced

fertilization

• Fertilizer

subsidy

• Indigenous

production and

overall supply

of fertilizers

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R&D

Water Auditing, Bench-marking

and M&E

CROP MANAGEMENT

Diversification,

better Management and micro irrigation systems

PARTICIPATORY EFFORTS

Promoting the role of beneficiaries in management and accountability

ON-FARM APPLICATION

Improved on-farm practices, quality inputs leading to better productivity and production

CONVEYANCE

Volumetric water deliver, Improved conveyance in engineering

STORAGE

Enhance performance by improving availability of flows at canal head(s)

Priority Areas Requiring

Specific Attention

WUE - requires

to cover 6

distinct areas

Policy innovations and initiatives • Increase irrigated area by investing in command area

development - the micro distribution network

• Catalyze, support and incentivize irrigation departments – Strengthening HR, capacitating WRM knowledge institutions, training and

research institutes

– Move from water “tax” to Irrigation Service Fee

– Rationalizing ISF with accountability and responsiveness to farmers

• service fees, volumetric water supply, water user associations (WUAs)..

– Irrigation departments need to evolve from construction based institutions

to water management institutions

• Setting up a National Irrigation Mgmt. Fund (NIMF) – to catalyze demand of irrigation management & institutional reform

• E.g., State govt. Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) acts 10

• Govt. of India will establish NIMF

– matching farmer collected ISF on a 1:1 ratio,

• To promote PIM, the NIMF will provide

– a bonus if State ISF has been collected through WUAs

• To promote volumetric water delivery

– NIMF will provide additional incentives to WUAs

• As such NIMF is meant to catalyze policy reforms:

– Improving WUE,

– revamping irrigation sector and water resources dept.

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Policy innovations and initiatives

Lessons learned from India

• Performance based planning and management of

irrigation systems

– Enhance resources and capacity of MMI sector

– Improve ISF collection ratio

– Demand based volumetric water supply for delivery

– Generate more accurate data on irrigation

• Foster partnerships and incentives between irrigation

agency, PIM, WUAs for increased productivity

– Speed up CAD&WM

– Promote rationalization of ISF

– In turn, reduce the gap between IPC and IPU 12

Thank you!

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