Organizational aspects of improved irrigation management: an experiment in Dewahuwa Tank, Sri Lanka


Book Description

This report is one of several IIMI publications addressing the issue of irrigation management to promote diversified crops during the dry season. As Sri Lanka approaches self-sufficiency in rice production, a target already achieved by some other countries in the region, there is little logic in growing rice using land and water resources which could support higher- value non-rice crops, using less water. Thus, one of the incentives in improving irrigation management is to find ways of stretching water further during the dry season in water-deficit systems, when rice is relatively more expensive to grow than during the wet season, and when other crops which can be grown only during the dry season (when there is less danger of water-logging) offer the farmer and the country a comparative advantage.







Organizational Aspects of Improved Irrigation Management


Book Description

This report documents part of an operational experiment in Kalankuttiya Block of Mahaweli System H during the 1987 yala (dry season). The experiment or "action research" was conducted by the International Irrigation Management Insti tute (IIMI) in cooperation with the Mahaweli Economic Agency of the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka. The experiment was the outgrowth of studies which focused on constraints to non-rice crops during the dry season. Careful monitoring of irrigation and cropping patterns in selected areas of the system, conducted from yala 1985, had documented three important constraints to di versified crops: 1) inadequate water control at the secondary and tertiary levels of the system, 2) lack of organization for water sharing from the secondary level downward, and 3) poor conununication between farmers and agency staff regarding water delivery schedules




Effectiveness of nongovernment organizations in developing local irrigation organizations: A case study from Sri Lanka


Book Description

This paper reports on a detailed sociological study carried out as the NGO (or change agent) was completing three-year projects in two sites, Nagadeepa and Pimburettewa. The study describes the change agent's strategy, and analyzes its impact and the perceptions of farmers and government officials regarding its impact. The case study is placed in a wider context, in terms of both the participatory management policy of the Government of Sri Lanka, and the lessons learned that are relevant for NGOs working in other countries as well.




Perceptions of Tank Cascade Systems in Sri Lanka


Book Description

Researchers have studied various aspects of the ancient civilization of Sri Lanka and probed deeply into the subject of village tank clusters (tank cascade systems) during the last 4 decades. A wealth of information was gathered and the knowledge of many components has been updated. This book brings you this updated information. The author brings new definitions of tank cascade systems and cascade ecology. The book begins with the historical perspective and moves on to explain various aspects, step by step, such as geography, geology and geomorphology, soil and climate, surface and groundwater, traditional agriculture and water management, flora and fauna, recent studies and the restoration of cascade ecology. The book will interest geomorphologists, geologists, geographers, archaeologists, ecologists, and historians. Specifically, university lecturers, students and researchers will find interest in these pages and may utilize the content to prepare their study materials.




Improving Management of Small-scale Irrigation Systems


Book Description

This paper analyzes the contributions of a non-goverment organization in improving management of small-scale irrigation systems in Sri Lanka. It documents the decision-making processes in the non-government organization and the context in which this decision making takes place: government policies and policies of non-government organizations in improving the performance of small scale irrigation systems and in assisting the rural population in general. The site selected for research was the Tank Settlement Project in Hamhantota District, Southern Sri Lanka.







Water Communities


Book Description

Water is the key to human civilization. Most of the ancient civilization had its roots to river basins, where people-water interaction was the key aspect. This book offers analytical case studies on different aspects of water communities, which is defined as the human-water interaction process.