The Punjab government will launch a new mega project "on-farm water management" during the 2004-05 financial year with a total cost of Rs 6.5 billion with the financial assistance of the World Bank.
The overall development objective is that 7,000 new Water Users Associations (WUAs) will improve irrigation water efficiency and management in tertiary level irrigation systems (watercourses) and on member farm fields, to increase agricultural productivity and farm incomes.
According to official source, the project will be implemented province-wide in canal command areas as well as in Barani areas.
The Punjab government has estimated the total cost of the project to be 111 million dollar for four years, of which the farmers' share is estimated at 19 million dollar, the Punjab government will contribute nine million dollar and IDA credit will be 83 million dollar.
Presently, Punjab plays an important role in the country's agriculture sector. Its contribution to overall agricultural production is estimated at 80 percent.
More than 70 percent of the cropped area under the Indus Basin is situated in Punjab. Out of 135,000 watercourses that deliver water to farms nation-wide, 56,000 (42 percent) are in Punjab.
So far, the Punjab government has improved 24,000 watercourses and intends to improve the remaining 32,000 in the next few years.
Recent reviews of the irrigated agriculture system indicate that Punjab faces major issues.
BESIDES SEASONAL WATER SHORTAGES, IT FACES THE FOLLOWING:
-- Low water delivery efficiency (35-40 percent water losses from canal head to crop root zone, major part of the water losses occurring in tertiary channels and on-farm); -Water distribution inequities (arising from poor O&M and illegal withdrawals).
-- Wasteful onfarm water use (arising from over watering, poorly levelled fields, inefficient cultural practices).
-- Water-logging and salinity (exacerbated by poor on-farm water management, inappropriate water scheduling).
-- Recurring and prolonged drought accompanied by serious water shortages in the irrigation system.
The Punjab government has given top priority to these issues and, through the Federal government, has requested the World Bank to assist in OFWM project.
As a province with the largest population, irrigated agriculture and unimproved watercourses, the World Bank's support to on-farm water management improvement could have a major impact on overall agricultural production and water use efficiency.
The economic and social impact is positive and highest relative to interventions in other parts of the irrigation conveyance systems and, with improved screening and targeting of beneficiaries, it could be one of the key instruments for addressing poverty and growth.
The economic rate of return for the programme was estimated at 23 percent and the farmers were able to bring additional land under cultivation, and increase the yield and production of crops.
The proposed project supports the CAS goal of reducing poverty through pro-poor growth interventions such as improving agricultural productivity and governance in the irrigation system.
It would foster partnerships between public sector entities and community-based organisations.
It would take into account main lessons learned from the implementation of similar projects in the past, including, inter alia, the need to: (i) adopt an approach that allows for individual watercourse design with full farmer participation and according to what farmers want and are prepared to finance and implement; (ii) ensure community organisations to be formed on a voluntary basis for long-term sustainability and (iii) have an affordable system of cost-sharing, as well as an O&M system fully owned by community organisations.
The overall development objective is that the new Water Users Associations (WUAs) improve irrigation water efficiency and management in tertiary level irrigation systems (watercourses) and on member farm fields to increase agricultural productivity and farm incomes.
The project interventions would: (a) improve the reliability, efficiency and equity of irrigation water distribution; (b) support agricultural productivity enhancement and diversification measures to complement and enhance the benefits of improved water management, and (c) enhance long-term sustainability of the irrigation system by fostering self-supporting and self-managing WUAs that will be the foundation for future higher tier farmer organisations.
The project is aimed at establishing and supporting the WUAs at the chak level to improve, operate and maintain watercourses, improve on-farm water management and carry out agricultural productivity enhancing practices.
The WUAs will also form the foundation for the formation of farmer organisations (FOs) at higher tiers of the irrigation conveyance system as envisaged in the reform policy of the government, although the project will not organise the higher tier organisations.
THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS ARE ENVISAGED IN THE PROPOSED PROJECT:
-- Social mobilisation and capacity-building -Establish and build the capacity of close to 7,000 WUAs to implement watercourse improvement schemes, carry out O&M functions, participate in the introduction/dissemination of improved agronomic practices, technologies and inputs.
-- Improvements and development of irrigation facilities - renovate about 6,000 watercourses, including 2,000 in fresh ground water areas and 4,000 in saline ground water areas.
-- Construct minor irrigation schemes and water storage tanks in non-canal command areas and lift water from natural nallahs and low-lying water ponds to farmer fields.
-- Undertake pilot schemes in installation of community tube-wells and construction of community water storage ponds at the head of watercourses.
-- Agricultural productivity enhancement - disseminate irrigation technologies to achieve higher level of irrigation application efficiency and water productivity.
-- Demonstrate irrigation agronomy practices and resource conservation technologies such as Rabi drill, bed shaper, bed planter, ridge planter, and widely introduce farm designing and precision land levelling (PLL).
-- New irrigation technologies such as gated pipes, sprinklers and trickle systems, etc, will be demonstrated and introduced to the farmers.
-- Input and output marketing arrangements will support to maximise the benefits from the introduction of new technologies.
-- Project management. - Support executing entities including the district and tehsil administrations and entities at the provincial level.
-- Baseline surveys, impact/outcome evaluation, technical assistance for implementation and supervision, financial management and audits, management information system and monitoring of environmental and social impacts and implementation of mitigation measures will be supported.
-- Sites and the specific interventions would be selected based on a screening process, which would include eligibility criteria related to poverty focus, willingness to form voluntary WUA and to assume watercourse improvement responsibility, concentration of small farmers in a given watercourse, location of watercourses within a distributary or minor giving priority to those that are at the tail reach, hydrological factors and areas where system rehabilitation improvement and quality of services needs are the highest.
-- The government would complete an Integrated Environmental and Social Assessment (IESA) before project appraisal and this would include a well articulate environmental and social management framework.
-- The framework will provide a roadmap with clear and measurable screening criteria, a transparent process and procedure, adequate technical and managerial capacity and financial resources, as well as timetable and monitoring system.
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