2. Projects
3. Efficient participatory irrigation institutions to support productive and sustainable agriculture in south Asia

Efficient participatory irrigation institutions to support productive and sustainable agriculture in south Asia

This project, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ADP-2014-045), focuses on the devolution of responsibilities in irrigation to farmers. Broadly referred to as Participatory Irrigation Management/Irrigation Management Transfer (PIM/IMT), the project looked at the merits of this approach in different settings in south Asia. The research uses economics to help local irrigation managers better understand where and when PIM/IMT works and consider if a different approach is needed. The project uses empirical data drawn from four jurisdictions, Assam and Bihar in India and Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan, all with some unique characteristics. A large dataset has been assembled using both paper-based and mobile tablet surveys. The data covers: overall institutional performance and its relationship to agro-economic variables; drivers of compliance; gender differences and their impact on participation in water groups and perceptions of performance; data on preferred charging regimes and broader institutional arrangements for managing water at the local level. These data are unique, having been collected simultaneously across the four jurisdictions.

Data and resources