| Author | Singh, Sangita |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.RD-00-23 |
| Subject(s) | Irrigation--Nepal--Kavrepalanchok--Management
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Harvesting natural resources is now becoming a challenge for hill farmers. Under the situation
of climatic change and depletion of forest area with marginal land cultivation have been the
causes of limiting the water from the natural sources. This has been aggravated by population
growth in the hillside and intensification of land use in the fragile zones. Harvesting of water
is important for managing the irrigation system for the crop and sustaining the livelihood
systems of the people. The farmers have been managing the irrigation systems for many years.
The need for producing more food and the application of new technology is dependent on the
availability of water and support services from the external agencies. To support them in this
regard the government has tried to help the farmers in the Kavrepalanchok district through
District Irrigation Office providing technical and institutional services. The Water Resource
Policy of 1992 was formulated to channel the irrigation systems of Nepal and to secure water
rights to the farmers. On contrary to the general expectation, the situation is not perfectly
handled because of inability of the farmers, and mainly the Water Users Committee. This
situation is equally applicable to both the intervened as well as on the non-intervened farmers'
managed irrigation systems of Kavrepalanchok district.
In the Kavrepalanchok district, two irrigation systems are selected- Rayale Bakhreldihi farmer
managed irrigation system with non-intervention and Indra Bandh farmer managed irrigation
system with intervention by District Irrigation Office. To make an intensive study on the
functioning and management aspects of two irrigation systems, three sections (the head,
middle and the tail end) are selected in each irrigation system. It is assumed that the tail enders
do not get appropriate share of their water. As the command area expands towards the tail, the
irrigators (farmers) are proportionally taken more in the tail than in the head reach. Secondly,
18 other farmer managed irrigation systems were similarly selected to get the holistic
functional and structural view of the Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems.
A comparative study in Kavrepalanchok district situation shows that the farmers are getting
more involved in the irrigation schemes from the planning to the operation and maintenance
without aid from the outside agency. Those, which are intervened by the agency, are not well
organized as expected mainly because of lesser need of pool resources of the beneficiaries.
While the situations on the non-intervened shows that they are organized and help among
themselves otherwise they would be deprived from the agriculture production. Gender issues
need to be addressed at the field level for the optimum utilization of water as they work in the
farm and help irrigating the field in time when needed.
In such situations the government, mainly the District Irrigation Office in the respective
district should be active in monitoring and providing feedback to Farmer Managed Irrigation
Systems. Co-ordination among the line agencies within the study area is necessary to tap
maximum external resources, for gaining environmental knowledge and management of the
systems. The District Irrigation Office or the government should be able to scrutinize the real
Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems support needed so that it would be able to fulfill the need
of the deprived people of the remote area and sustain local economy and livelihood. |
| Year | 2000 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Routray, J. K.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Weber, Karl E. ;Shivakoti, G. P.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | The Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (NORAD); |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2000 |