2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Supply Mechanism of Local Public Goods and Formation of Agricultural Water Capital: Farmers' Mainitenance Activity in South Asia
| Project/Area Number |
17380127
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Agro-economics
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| Research Institution | Hokkaido University |
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Principal Investigator |
KONDO Takumi Hokkaido University, Research Faculty of Agriculture, Associate professor (40178413)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
OSANAMI Fumio Hokkaido Univ, Research Faculty of Agriculture, Professor (00113697)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2005 – 2007
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| Keywords | South Asia / Irrigation / Water user's asociation / Water capital stock / Local public goods / Agricultural productivity / Bangladesh / Nepal |
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| Research Abstract |
Investment in irrigation infrastructure is indispensable for growing cash crops, as well as "green revolution" in Southern Asian countries. The purpose of the study is clarifying the supply mechanism of local public goods such as irrigation canals. The farm surveys were carried out in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Lao PDR.
Two typical farmer managed irrigation systems in Nepal show clearly the conditions of irrigation institution formation, which may promote farmer's communal maintenance work. Salinadi Irrigation System in Katmandu Basin has no water user's association and water distribution rule. Farmers grow profitable summer potato at irrigated land in dry season. Summer potato yield per hectare did not differ among upper and downstream farms in this system. Farmer's incentives to make the allocation of water distribution are very weak in such case. It also implies that communal maintenance work for irrigation canals is not necessary for the farmers in upper stream. On the other hand, Bishi Naubise irrigation water user's association has a strict water allocation rule, which the main intake water gates are locked with the key by the association in order to prevent unauthorized use of water. The main cropping pattern of water users in upper stream was paddy-potato-potato, which brought much more profit than paddy-fallow-potato. Under the scarce irrigation water, the water distribution rules and communal work for maintenance of facilities are carried out very well and the key helped to succeed in establishing mutual-trust relationship of association's members. The rule enables about 80% of farmers to use secure moderate quantity of irrigation water and about 60% of farmers to use water at appropriate time.
We may conclude that the difference of the economic motivation of the famers produces diversification of irrigation institution and make difference of agricultural productivity according to the availability of scarce irrigation water.
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