Farmers' Organization in Surface Irrigation Projects: Three Empirical Case Studies from Maharashtra

In a country of uncertain rainfall and with a large population directly dependent on agriculture, multifarious role of Irrigation development can hardly be overemphasized. Subject to different agro-climatic conditions in a country of continental dimension, irrigation is expected to usher an era of high productivity with stability in agricultural production and a wider distribution of available water both in terms of area and number of users served. On counts of both efficiency and equity the performance of most surface irrigation systems in India leaves much to be desired. Apart from the technical difficulties, the main factor responsible for the below par performance is unsatisfactory irrigation management, particularly the delivery and utilization of water at the farm level. Viewed against this background the issue of farmers' involvement and participation in water management and distribution is mooted. In this study we present three case studies of farmers' participation in irrigation management through users' co-operative on three surface irrigation systems in Maharashtra.