Farmers' participation in operation and maintenance of irrigation systems : a case study of Lakhe irrigation scheme, Red River Delta, Vietnam | |
| Author | Tran Van Dat |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. AS-01-06 |
| Subject(s) | Irrigation farming--Vietnam--Red River Delta Irrigation--Vietnam--Red River Delta Farmers--Vietnam--Red River Delta |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. AS-01-06 |
| Abstract | Irrigation management with farmer participation has been reported to have significant effect on the performance of the irrigation systems and agricultural production in general. Therefore, Vietnam's national program aims to improve the efficacy of irrigation systems as well as provide the opportunity for the farmers to manage their irrigation systems. This study focuses on comparing and assessing the performance of agricultural production and organizational efficacy of farmer and government managed secondary canals with the consideration of farm level irrigation facility. Three secondary irrigation canals were selected from a typical irrigation system in the Red River Delta namely Lakhe irrigation scheme. Among which, one being managed by the government agency with adequate irrigation facilities at upper (G-AIF), other one being managed by the government agency with inadequate irrigation facilities at middle (G-IIF) and the third one being managed by the farmers with inadequate irrigation facilities at lower (FIIF) irrigation scheme. Almost all the data were collected from the field survey, observations were made and the documents reviewed. Findings of the study show that, there was no significant difference in irrigation and agricultural production performance between two secondary canals managed by the government agency. Performances of irrigation and agricultural production of F-IIF canal, however, were significantly higher than that of G-AIF canal and G-IIF canal although the irrigation facility levels were similar. This means that the irrigation facility levels did not so much affect the performance of agiicultural production and irrigation effectiveness of the secondary canals. The key factors that influenced the performances of irrigation and agricultural production included the management structures. A significant correlation was found between organizational effectiveness, level of participation and benefits from rice production. In this sense, the findings support the proposition that as benefit from crop production increase so do the participation of farmers and their perceptions of irrigation scheme effectiveness. Other important conclusion of the study that improvement of irrigation facilities at main canal level including headwork as well as enhancing the capacity of the irrigation scheme, it will be possible to distribute equally water among the water users within the irrigation scheme. The important policy implication of the research is that, it is needed to install the monitoring system and apply a water pricing structure for the irrigation scheme. However, clarifying the rules, rights and duties of the irrigation management organizations and the authorities should be the most prior consideration in policy of the government. |
| Year | 2001 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. AS-01-06 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agricultural and Aquatic Systems(AS) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shivakoti, Ganesh P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Zoebisch, Michael A.;Gupta, Ashim Das; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) ; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2001 |