SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE MODERNIZATION AND WATER BODIES RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT (IAMWARM) PROJECT IN PUDUKKOTTAI DISTRICT OF TAMIL NADU
Loading...
Files
Date
2012
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ACHARYA N.G. RANGA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
Abstract
Irrigated Agriculture Modernization and Water Bodies Restoration and
Management (IAMWARM) project was implemented in Tamil Nadu during the
year of 2007 with the aim of improving irrigation service delivery including
adaptation of modern water saving irrigation technologies. To study the socioeconomic
impact in of the IAMWARM project in Pudukkottai district of Tamil
Nadu an ex-post facto research design was followed. The study was conducted
in Tamil Nadu state during the year 2012.
Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu was purposively selected, since this
project was first implemented in the district under first phase sub-basin of the
project during the year 2007. Four taluks were selected randomly out of thirteen
taluks and three villages were selected from each taluk for the study. Ten
respondents were selected from each village by following simple random
sampling method thus, making 120 respondent beneficiaries and for nonbeneficiary
farmers two taluks were selected to make 60 respondents.
Data were collected with pre-tested interview schedule coupled with case
study by selecting the independent variables viz., age, education, land holding,
farming experience, information source utilization, training received, economic
motivation, scientific orientation, innovativeness, risk orientation and
dependent variable socio-economic impact in terms of direct changes and
indirect changes viz., knowledge, adoption, income, asset acquisition, yield,
water use efficiency, participation in the project activities, labour use under
indirect changes and social participation, cost of cultivation, empowerment
under indirect changes. Besides, list of project activities undertaken by the
project were collected. For the purpose of statistical analysis of the coded data various statistical
tools were used viz., frequency and percentage analysis, Z – test, correlation
analysis, multiple regression analysis, step wise regression analysis, principal
component analysis, ranking and class interval.
The detailed analysis of profile of farmers indicated that majority of the
respondents were under middle age group, had middle school level education
and small farmers with medium level of farming experience who had medium
level of information source utilization, medium level of training received and
medium level of economic motivation coupled with medium level of scientific
orientation, medium level of innovativeness with medium level of risk
orientation. ‘Z’ value indicated that there was significant difference between
beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in respect of almost all the variables except
– age, land holding and farming experience.
Most of the respondents indicated field level demonstration of System of
Rice Intensification (SRI) as the predominant project activity, followed by field
visits, subsides for adoption of improved technologies, training programmes,
promotion of micro-irrigation system, water user association election,
promotion of commodity groups, exposure visits, IAMWARM DAY, model
Seed village, promotion of precision farming, promotion of fish pond.
Majority of beneficiary farmers experienced medium level of direct
changes due to the implementation of the project. The direct changes were
medium level of knowledge and adoption, moderately increased income, same
level of asset acquisition, moderately increased yield, slightly increased water
use efficiency, medium level of project participation and decreased labour use.
Majority of beneficiary farmers experienced medium level of indirect
changes. The indirect changes experienced by the project beneficiaries due to
implementation of the project were same level of social participation, same
level of cost of cultivation and medium level of empowerment. ‘Z’ value
indicated that there was significant difference between beneficiaries and nonbeneficiaries
in respect of almost all the variables except – social participation.
The correlation analysis revealed that education, land holding, farming
experience, information source utilization, training received, economic
motivation, scientific orientation, innovativeness and risk orientation were
positively and significantly correlated with socio-economic impact. Whereas,
age with socio-economic impact had non-significant relationship. All the
independent variables together explained up to the extent of 86.10 per cent to
the total variance in the socio-economic impact.
The multiple Linear Regression analysis gave the 86.10 per cent of the
total variation in the socio-economic impact. The most important subcomponents
in order of their importance were farming experience; training
received economic motivation, innovativeness and risk orientation.
Stepwise regression analysis revealed that ten significant variables
explained 98.7 per cent of the variation. Income alone explained 47.9 per cent
of the variation, emerging as a single most variable that predicted variation in
socio-economic impact of beneficiary farmers.
Principal component analysis revealed that socio-economic impact was
directly related to the variables namely; knowledge, adoption, income, asset
acquisition, yield, water use efficiency, participation in the project, labour Use,
social participation, cost of cultivation, empowerment.
The information collected from four beneficiary farmers under case study
indicated that most of them were middle aged, educated more than middle
school and had experience in farming for more than ten years. Most of them
were had five and more acres of land. Besides, they possessed cow, poultry
birds and sprayers. They came to know about IAMWARM project through the
meetings held in their villages. And all of them became aware about the soil
and conservation through meeting. All were having good organizational
participation.
They adopted System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in their field. And they
experienced the advantages of the method as – water saving, rat control, no
lodging of the crop, vigorous single seedlings, less labour requirement, more
yield and more economic returns than conventional method of rice cultivation.
Farmers attended to most of the trainings conducted by the project and had
some future plan to do. They suggested to intensify the project activities, in
order to increase awareness among farmers about the soil and water
conservation.
Major constraints faced by the beneficiary farmers were, increased labour
cost, adequate quantity of FYM/ Compost was not available, high cost of
chemical fertilizers, non- availability of labour at peak time, lack of
remunerative price for paddy, lack of marketing facilities, resistance from
women labour to transplant single seedling, difficulty in intercultural
operations, lack of cooperation and coordination among the farmers, nonavailability
of quality seed on time, problem of middlemen in marketing,
inadequate credit facilities, lack of co-operation of members in water users
association, bad tenurial system, water ways running through holdings of
different farmers leading to social problems, managerial problems due to
fragmentation of land holdings, poor socio-economic status of farmers in
adoption of new technology, non-availability of implements for intercultural
operation, negligence among farmers to take responsibility to protect
community assets, lack of proper compensation settlements against crop
insurance for inundated fields.
The suggestions given by the beneficiaries for improvement of project
functioning were timely supply of inputs and subsidies will be useful to
increase the benefits of the project, proper communication about the inputs,
subsidies availability and their sources to all the farmers, labourers need to be
trained to do effectively the intercultural operations, follow up activities need to
be undertaken, more awareness should be created towards benefits of the
farmers level organizations to improve their participation and more number of
field level demonstrations to be conducted
Description
Keywords
biological phenomena, irrigation, participation, land resources, manpower, tillage equipment, rice, technological changes, economics, marketing