Asian Canal Irrigation

Asian Canal Irrigation Contingencies: Then and Now

Then Now

Nature of state

Hard state and strong authority structures

Soft state and weak authority structures

Land revenue the only source of state income

Land revenue insignificant for the state

Nature of society

Forced labor was common Forced labor is uncommon

Low demographic pressure on farm land made extensive farming viable

High demographic pressure encourages intensive land use

Most Asian irrigation systems irrigated rice

Irrigation systems support diversified cropping patterns

Institutions No private land ownership with farmers

Farmers have secure ownership rights on land

Technology Well irrigation was laborious and costly

Well irrigation is easy and relatively cheap

Meta Questions for Canal Irrigation SRP

• What is the relevant concept of ‘irrigation system performance’ under different ‘contingency clusters’?

• How best to benchmark the performance of irrigation systems in different ‘contingency clusters’?

• How to use performance benchmarking to identify and design levers for change; best practices and ‘next practices’?

• How to use performance benchmarking to evolve and implement change-management strategies for canal systems?

• Coordination and accountability between farmers and agencies. (e.g. ISF, WUA)

• Operation and maintenance expenses.

African Irrigation

SSA Irrigation

• Assessing irrigation potential based on biophysical and socioeconomic factors

• Improving livelihoods through expansion of smallholder irrigation

• Evaluating consequences of foreign direct investments in irrigated landscapes?

Groundwater Irrigation

Knowledge Gaps: Groundwater Irrigation

• Potential role of groundwater storage in CC scenarios• Groundwater Energy Nexus• Groundwater quality and impact on livelihood

(arsenic, fluoride)• Performance of groundwater agencies• Expanding small holder groundwater irrigation

Irrigation Salinity

Salinity Can be Managed(Middle Iraq)

Salinity in 1950Salinity in 2011

Solutions are known, but which one(s) is for my backyard?

• Issues– Scale (basin, scheme, farm, Field) – Recycling, mixing, pollution– Trans-boundary issues– Climate change & Salinity Control

Peri-Urban Agriculture

1. How do we assess potential of PU towards food security, poverty alleviation and improved livelihoods?

2. How do land and water resources constrain achieving PU its potential?

3. How do PU farmers cope with urban development pressures?

4. PU and improved nutrition5. IFPRI, IWMI, Bioversity, FAO, WorldFish, RUAF, AVRDC