Prof. Dr Chakrapani Luitel

Nepal is known as a country rich for water resources. The existence of number of rivers and streams, distribution in different parts of the country and permanent flow of water from north to south are creating greater prospect for the utilization of it for economic development. The water resources can be used for the benefits of nation in different ways such as electricity, tourism development and irrigation. As Nepal is dependent on the agricultural activities since a long time and still is, irrigation is considered as the most important input for its development. By realizing this fact, the government has invested large amount of money for the development of irrigation sector.

2. Importance of Irrigation.

Irrigation is important for agricultural development. It supports the agricultural sector directly for increasing the productivity, crop intensity and indirectly in other ways. The information related to the productivity has indicated the positive effect of irrigation on crop production. Either for the improved seeds or local ones, the irrigation facilities is helping to increase the productivity of agricultural areas.

Livestock raising is the important part of the Nepalese agriculture. Farmers of all regions have kept some number of cattle and buffaloes integrating with the crop production since ling time. There is input out relationship between crop production and livestock rising. The increment in the agricultural production is necessary for the improvement of livestock since the agricultural by-products and other concentrates also increases with the agricultural productions. The livestock sector is the source of income for rural farmers and improvement in the livestock sector would be helpful for the improvement in the quality of rural life.

The irrigation facilities in the different regions of country provide the opportunity of perennial crop production. The perennial agricultural production would be helpful for maintaining the food security. As most of the industries are based on the agricultural production for raw materials, the higher level of production provides the assurance for running such industries in the optimum way.

The development of the nation depends on the agricultural production because of the involvement of the large number of people in this sector. The development requires modernization in the production techniques. Any modernization process depends on supply of different inputs among which irrigation is the important one. Irrigation facilities help to modernize the agricultural sector providing the opportunities of effective utilization of other inputs. Farmers become ready to apply the improved varieties of seeds.

The irrigation facilities are the basis of crop intensity and perennial crop production. It helps to increase the agricultural production as well as the crop residues, which can be used as the animal feed. As the agricultural land provides sufficient amount of feed, it helps to reduce the pressure on the forest. In the same way perennial vegetation would also be helpful for the conservation of environment.

The contribution of irrigation is remarkable for providing year round employment to the rural people. As the people can do the jobs for all seasons, the income can be high. Providing irrigation facilities can increase the attraction towards the agricultural sector.

The cost of the high yielding varieties of crops is high in comparison to the local ones. As the cost is high, farmers would not be ready for investing on the improved seeds. The irrigation facilities would be helpful for taking the risk in application. Farmers would be ready to invest more and more money for improved seeds because of the assurance in production so far.

The extension of the agricultural land is important for increasing the agricultural production. Realising this fact APP has taken irrigation as the most important component of agricultural development.

3. vestment in Irrigation Extension and Problems

The government has invested large amount of money for the development of irrigation facilities since the inception of plan development efforts in Nepal. Resources have been managed from internal and external sources in the form of grant and loan. In spite of this, large area of agricultural land is still out of coverage of irrigation facilities in all regions as shown in the following table.

Table

Investment in Irrigation in Different Plan Period (Million Dollars)

Source: Compiled by Somnath Poudyal in Irrigation in Nepal, 2059.

In spite of the investment of government and importance for agricultural development, there are various problems regarding the irrigation development in Nepal. Government efforts are not sufficient. Government has implemented irrigation policy in different plan periods regarding the investment and involvement of people, but the participation of the people is still negligible. The farmers in different locality have launched some small irrigation projects but those are not sufficient as per need. In this situation the government has to manage financial resources for its development. It should give priority for the agricultural development in the country. But the problems of stability in policy, inadequate participation of people are the main problem for its development.

4. Conclusion

As Nepal is agricultural country, the development of irrigation facility can play an important role in the development process. Although farmers need irrigation facilities, they cannot invest large amount of resources for its development, but they can share in different ways. In this situation the government has to make participatory policy for the development of irrigation facilities. The participation of the farmers for irrigation facilities would be helpful for reducing the government’s economic burden and would be helpful for protection in local areas. Government has announced the irrigation policy in different times, but lack of stability has created problems in the implementation of the irrigation projects so far. Because of the attachments of agriculture to other various sector of economy, irrigation facilities can be the means of sustainable development of the economy.

(From jalasrot by mounthly 2063)