Small Holders' Irrigation--Problems and Options

• Published in: Water resources management Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 289 - 302
• Main Authors: Singh, Atul Kumar, Rahman, A, Sharma, S. P, Upadhyaya, A, Sikka, A. K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands 2009; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Affordable irrigation techniques; Agriculture; Atmospheric Sciences; Capital costs; Civil Engineering; Crops; Developing countries; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Employment; Environment; Exact sciences and technology; Farm income; Farmers; Food security; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Hydrogeology; Hydrology; Hydrology. Hydrogeology; Hydrology/Water Resources; Irrigation; LDCs; Poverty; Productivity; Small farm holders; Studies; Technology adoption; Water resources; Water resources management; Asia; India; Small farm holders; Poverty; Affordable irrigation techniques; Food security; cost; investment; surface water; pipes(igneous rocks); instruments; irrigation; productivity; water resource management; Third World
• ISSN: 0920-4741; 1573-1650
• DOI: 10.1007/s11269-008-9275-3

The land holding sizes in developing countries has been declining under continuous population pressure and average holding size is less than 2 ha. Small holders', however, were able to increase the land productivity and farm income by adopting the high yielding modern varieties of dominant food staples, supported by public sector investment for irrigation, but modern irrigation system and efficient modern technology has failed to meet the wide spread need for inexpensive, divisible system for small plots. The demand of the present scenario is to transform the technology-long viewed appropriate only for wealthier and large farm sizes--into a new form that's hold greater promise and opportunity for small holders. This paper discusses about the irrigation problems faced by the small holders and describes few affordable irrigation techniques for row and plantation crops. This paper also describes a new irrigation technology developed by the authors that could be affordable by the small farmers and suitable for closely spaced crops which covers sizeable area on most of the small plots globally.