Group dynamics effectiveness of water user associations under different irrigation systems in an eastern Indian state

Abstract

Most of the irrigation systems in India, whether large or small, are reported to have problems relating to the management of irrigation system at grass-root level. Therefore, a solution that has been tried in various places is irrigation management transfer to water user groups. However, group dynamics plays a pivotal role in the functioning of groups in an efficient manner. The present study was conducted to study the group dynamics effectiveness of water users' associations (WUAs) under different irrigation systems in the state of Orissa, India. A group dynamics effectiveness index (GDEI) was formulated to measure group effectiveness of selected WUAs, which included 10 parameters. The study was carried out following an interview survey of 159 farmers representing eight WUAs under different irrigation systems. All 10 parameters of the GDEI were highly regarded by the farmers of lift irrigation WUAs, except social support. Most of the parameters of group effectiveness were found to be high in the case of minor irrigation WUAs. Farmers of major irrigation WUAs have perceived many of the parameters (participation, decision-making procedure, group atmosphere, empathy, interpersonal trust and social support) to be weak. Differential group effectiveness may be attributed to the temporal and spatial variation in the irrigation command areas under the group's jurisdiction. Copyright

Development of a Scale to Measure Group Dynamics Effectiveness (GDE) of FPO Members

“…The fi nal GDE Index consisted of 53 items under 11 indicators is presented in the Table 1. Ghosh et al, (2010) fi nally selected 10 indicators for the index. The responses had to be taken on a fi ve-point continuum viz., strongly agree (5), agree (4), undecided (3), disagree (2) and strongly disagree (1) with scores indicated in parenthesis for positive items and viceversa for negative items.…”

Spatio‐Temporal Variations and Links between Irrigation and Agricultural Development in an Eastern Indian State

“…Mukherji () pointed out numerous benefits of groundwater irrigation and emphasized its judicious management as well as the conjunctive use of both surface and groundwater. The gap between created and utilized irrigation potential (Ghosh et al , ; Mishra et al , ) has resulted in missing links between irrigation and the agricultural scenario in many of the districts in eastern Indian states. Thus, although the eastern region of India has abundant water resources, these are not accessible to farmers at the right time and place due to suboptimal development of the irrigation infrastructure, making it a high‐potential but poor‐performing region in the country (Narayanamoorthy, ).…”

Why Impacts of Irrigation on Agrarian Dynamism and Livelihoods Are Contrasting: Evidence From Eastern Indian States

“…It is observed that the majority of the districts (all 18 in Jharkhand, 11 out of 16 in Chhattisgarh and 15 out of 30 in Odisha) in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha showed both irrigation and agricultural scenarios at a low level; this may be attributed to the fact of a meagre groundwater‐irrigated area due to the low level of groundwater development and dependence on major and medium irrigation systems that mainly provide irrigation during the wet season with a low level of efficiency, where head‐reach farmers undertook extensive cultivation of paddy rather than assured productive irrigation in the dry season, with a gap between created and utilized potential (Ghosh et al ., , ; Mishra et al ., ). In Odisha's Hirakund project, head‐end farmers enjoyed negative deprivation as they irrigated far more areas than they are supposed to, at the expense of tail‐end farmers (Shah, ).…”