Small dams command area development provides no support for farmers: ADB report

In addition to water management and land preparation constraints, the development of the command area of small dams has not effectively involved human resources or provided support for farmers who are supposed to make the transition from Barani to irrigated agriculture in Pakistan.
This was disclosed in an update report of Central and West Asia Department (CWAD) of Asian Development Bank (ADB). According to CWAD report, Barani farmers in Punjab and NWFP have had success in cultivation despite substantial barriers and exposure to risks, however, they need assistance in adapting to new higher-value or more intensive cropping patterns that are appropriate for their soil and climatic conditions.
Orchard, vegetable, and other crops that were not feasible under Barani conditions can significantly improve farmer livelihood, but farmers must have the capacity and confidence to grow such crops. Improved water supply may necessitate changes to existing cropping practices such as rotation to maximise yield gains.
Due to the unreliability of water supply, Barani farmers are often reluctant to risk significant investment in inputs. With improved water supply, they often need guidance in developing the most productive input regime. Changed cropping and agricultural practices may also require new and unfamiliar post-harvest techniques.
New crops may require new marketing channels and offer new value-added activities for farm communities, but assistance is needed to fully exploit these opportunities, CWAD report mentioned.
The CWAD report observed that increased production intensity can also create employment opportunities and allow for fuller employment of landless labourers. Due to the unreliability of farming in Barani areas, livestock plays a vital role in the productivity, livelihood, and wealth maintenance of Barani communities and accounts for nearly one third of the average household income. Irrigation from small dams can increase fodder yields and correspondingly significantly increase livestock production.
Increased production of milk and meat will result in livelihood and nutritional benefits to Barani communities. Farmers may require assistance in adapting to more stall and fodder versus range-oriented production and to greater intensification.
The directorate of agricultural extension and the directorate of livestock in the department of agriculture (DA) is responsible for agricultural extension activities, however, extension activities to farmers in the command area of small dams have been limited and DA capacity is generally weak. Support to farmers for improved livestock productivity is needed if small dams are to achieve their full potential, CWAD report pointed out.
According to CWAD report, about one quarter of Pakistan's cultivable area remains outside the Indus canal system and suffers from chronically low agricultural productivity. In Punjab, about 19 percent of cultivable lands lie in Barani areas where local rain-fed farming systems and existing water sources can no longer support the growing local population. Yet significant gains in agriculture and livestock productivity and related economic growth can be obtained through water resources development for which little investment support has been made available to date.
With suitable topography and rainfall, the best potential option is the development of water storage through the construction of dams, said report. The CWAD report urged that an integrated approach must be used in developing dams in Barani areas to ensure the full attainment of the potential economic benefits.
As such, the provision of infrastructure will need to be demand-driven and accompanied with the development of community-managed irrigation schemes, on-farm water management support, irrigated agriculture support services, and support for developing market linkages, watershed conservation to prevent fast sedimentation, and targeted interventions to ensure the full development of stored water for domestic water supplies.
According to CWAD report, the agricultural benefits anticipated to be generated by small dams have not materialised due to both the failure to adequately prepare the irrigation distribution system in the command area, but, more importantly, the failure to prepare farmers to take full advantage of the new water supply.
In general, Small Dams Organisation (SDO) puts much of its technical emphasis on construction of the larger structures, the dam and feeder canal to the command area. In the development of most dams, the distribution network has received limited or no development.
Given the small size of the distribution systems and the proximity of the water supply, improved design and operating procedures that are more demand-responsive may be possible and could improve yields as well as increase water use efficiency.
Watercourse development below the mogha (outlet) is left to the discretion of farmers since this activity traditionally falls under the purview of the directorate of command area development (DCAD) within the department of agriculture.
In the larger Indus River irrigation systems, DCAD is generally quite active and engaged, however, it is generally not involved in the development of small dams, and watercourse and field channels are inadequately developed.
This presents a significant problem since due to the small size of the small dam irrigation systems, watercourses and field channels are often the primary distribution features of their command areas. In addition, adequate land preparation for irrigation is generally absent, and small dam command areas are often in undulating terrain.
Another reason for slow development of irrigated agriculture in small dams is that farmers do not generally practice warabandi (rotating water distribution at the field level where farmers are allocated specific time duration for drawing irrigation water for their fields).
The warabandi turn is essentially the farmer's water entitlement as specified in the Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Act of 1873, which is still the overarching policy document for irrigation in Punjab. The lack of rotation and the resulting often inequitable distribution may be due to inadequate attention given to warabandi development during construction of the dam or due to weak institutions for irrigation management with no irrigation rules for O&M that could be followed.
The above factors, combined with the reality that most farmers have no history of managing irrigation, warrant considerably more resources to be devoted to effective system design, and farmer guidance and capacity development with regard to watercourses, field channels, and on-farm water management activities, report concluded.