Darshanie Sewwandika Yapa, Loku Gamage
(2022)
Factors Affecting Farmers’
Participation In Participatory
Irrigation Management In Tail-End Of
The Uda Walawe Irrigation Scheme,
Southern Sri Lanka.
PhD thesis, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Abstract
Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) was introduced in the late 19th
century as a type of irrigation reform for dealing with poor irrigation system
performance in many agricultural areas of the world, including Sri Lanka. However,
the emergence of head-tail disparity along the canal network has frequently resulted in
inefficiency in irrigation management, causing this issue to become a subject of heated
debate among scholars. Although some scholars have pointed out that an appropriate
level of farmers’ participation is difficult to bring about at the tail-end of many
irrigation schemes in Sri Lanka, no one has pinpointed the factors influencing the tailend
farmers’ participation in PIM. Therefore, the objectives of the study are to assess
the non-spatial, spatial, and overall factors that significantly affect tail-end farmers’
participation in PIM. The study was conducted at the tail-end of the Uda Walawe
irrigation scheme, which remains as one of the perpetually water deficit schemes in Sri
Lanka. Data were collected from 482 irrigated plots of cultivators by conducting a
questionnaire survey, field observations and informal discussion. Apart from that, key
informant interviews and focus group discussion were held with Irrigation Agency
officers and farmer organization leaders to collect supplementary data and information
related to the study. QGIS 3.16.6 and SPSS ver. 20.0 were used for digitizing,
calculating, and analysing the collected data. The study revealed that 59% of the total
number of farmers at the tail-end of the scheme actively engaged in collective action
while 41% were inactive in PIM.
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