Canal irrigation conundrum: applying contingency theory to irrigation system management in India.

This report presents a discussion among IWMI?s Asian researchers on the strategy for policy research on canal irrigation in India. Poor service delivery, persistence of head-tail inequity, growing gap between irrigation potential created and utilized, shrinking of command area despite growing invest...

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Main Authors: Shah, Tushaar, Anwar, Arif A., Amarasinghe, Upali A., Hoanh, Chu Thai, Reddy, Junna Mohan, Molle, Francois, MMukherji, Aditi, Prathapar, Sanmugam A., Suhardiman, Diana, Qureshi, Asad Sarwar, Wegerich, Kai
Format: Brief
Language:Inglés
Published: International Water Management Institute 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/34574
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author Shah, Tushaar
Anwar, Arif A.
Amarasinghe, Upali A.
Hoanh, Chu Thai
Reddy, Junna Mohan
Molle, Francois
MMukherji, Aditi
Prathapar, Sanmugam A.
Suhardiman, Diana
Qureshi, Asad Sarwar
Wegerich, Kai
author_browse Amarasinghe, Upali A.
Anwar, Arif A.
Hoanh, Chu Thai
MMukherji, Aditi
Molle, Francois
Prathapar, Sanmugam A.
Qureshi, Asad Sarwar
Reddy, Junna Mohan
Shah, Tushaar
Suhardiman, Diana
Wegerich, Kai
author_facet Shah, Tushaar
Anwar, Arif A.
Amarasinghe, Upali A.
Hoanh, Chu Thai
Reddy, Junna Mohan
Molle, Francois
MMukherji, Aditi
Prathapar, Sanmugam A.
Suhardiman, Diana
Qureshi, Asad Sarwar
Wegerich, Kai
author_sort Shah, Tushaar
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This report presents a discussion among IWMI?s Asian researchers on the strategy for policy research on canal irrigation in India. Poor service delivery, persistence of head-tail inequity, growing gap between irrigation potential created and utilized, shrinking of command area despite growing investments in construction and rehabilitation, sustained build up of deferred maintenance of infrastructure, patchy performance of Farmer Participatory Irrigation Management, poor service fee recovery - these are part of the litany of problems that concern irrigation managers and policy makers in India and elsewhere in Asia. This paper argues that state, society, technology and agrarian institutions - all had a better ?fit? with the canal irrigation technology during the colonial and earlier times in ways that does not obtain today. A contingency hypothesis is proposed to explore why, as socio-technical systems, canal irrigation systems would behave differently under different ?contingency clusters?. A research program around irrigation management performance benchmarking - with four meta questions - was proposed but received little support from the IWMI research group. The paper concludes the discussion with the lead author?s dissenting note which argues that, though difficult, benchmarking of managerial performance - as routinely done in businesses, educational institutions, governments, even research institutions - may be the way to go if IWMI aims to contribute to effective reform in canal irrigation management.
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spelling CGSpace345742025-11-07T08:29:41Z Canal irrigation conundrum: applying contingency theory to irrigation system management in India. Shah, Tushaar Anwar, Arif A. Amarasinghe, Upali A. Hoanh, Chu Thai Reddy, Junna Mohan Molle, Francois MMukherji, Aditi Prathapar, Sanmugam A. Suhardiman, Diana Qureshi, Asad Sarwar Wegerich, Kai irrigation canals irrigation systems irrigation management constraints policies research This report presents a discussion among IWMI?s Asian researchers on the strategy for policy research on canal irrigation in India. Poor service delivery, persistence of head-tail inequity, growing gap between irrigation potential created and utilized, shrinking of command area despite growing investments in construction and rehabilitation, sustained build up of deferred maintenance of infrastructure, patchy performance of Farmer Participatory Irrigation Management, poor service fee recovery - these are part of the litany of problems that concern irrigation managers and policy makers in India and elsewhere in Asia. This paper argues that state, society, technology and agrarian institutions - all had a better ?fit? with the canal irrigation technology during the colonial and earlier times in ways that does not obtain today. A contingency hypothesis is proposed to explore why, as socio-technical systems, canal irrigation systems would behave differently under different ?contingency clusters?. A research program around irrigation management performance benchmarking - with four meta questions - was proposed but received little support from the IWMI research group. The paper concludes the discussion with the lead author?s dissenting note which argues that, though difficult, benchmarking of managerial performance - as routinely done in businesses, educational institutions, governments, even research institutions - may be the way to go if IWMI aims to contribute to effective reform in canal irrigation management. 2012 2013-11-21T05:03:00Z 2014-02-02T16:39:50Z 2013-11-21T05:03:00Z 2014-02-02T16:39:50Z Brief https://hdl.handle.net/10568/34574 en Open Access application/pdf International Water Management Institute Shah, Tushaar; Anwar, Arif; Amarasinghe, Upali; Hoanh, Chu Thai; Reddy, Junna Mohan; Molle, Francois; Mukherji, Aditi; Prathapar, Sanmugam A.; Suhardiman, Diana; Qureshi, Asad Sarwar; Wegerich, Kai. 2012. Canal irrigation conundrum: applying contingency theory to irrigation system management in India. IWMI-Tata Water Policy Research Highlight, 25. 9p.
spellingShingle irrigation canals
irrigation systems
irrigation
management
constraints
policies
research
Shah, Tushaar
Anwar, Arif A.
Amarasinghe, Upali A.
Hoanh, Chu Thai
Reddy, Junna Mohan
Molle, Francois
MMukherji, Aditi
Prathapar, Sanmugam A.
Suhardiman, Diana
Qureshi, Asad Sarwar
Wegerich, Kai
Canal irrigation conundrum: applying contingency theory to irrigation system management in India.
title Canal irrigation conundrum: applying contingency theory to irrigation system management in India.
title_full Canal irrigation conundrum: applying contingency theory to irrigation system management in India.
title_fullStr Canal irrigation conundrum: applying contingency theory to irrigation system management in India.
title_full_unstemmed Canal irrigation conundrum: applying contingency theory to irrigation system management in India.
title_short Canal irrigation conundrum: applying contingency theory to irrigation system management in India.
title_sort canal irrigation conundrum applying contingency theory to irrigation system management in india
topic irrigation canals
irrigation systems
irrigation
management
constraints
policies
research
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/34574
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