Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
women who don't own land in the study area to access land for dry-season
irrigation. Thus women participation in these irrigation developments (about
30% of temporal shallow well farmers are women) is encouraged.
The temporal land arrangement however prevents most farmers from
investing in permanent infrastructure for their irrigation activities.
Permanent infrastructure, such as permanent shallow wells, is only developed
by some landowners.
Availability of labour, energy, farm inputs and credits
The availability of some important factors of production has also enabled the
emergence of these new irrigation technologies in the study area. All of the
available technologies require the use of labour and/or energy to apply water
to irrigation plots. For example the digging of wells and dugouts is labour
intensive. Fortunately there is abundant labour available for such activities
during the January-April season. Farmers have significantly depended on
such labour for the development of these irrigation technologies.
Also farmers need to have reliable access to farm inputs such as seeds,
fertilizer, chemicals and machinery. In the study area, access to these inputs
is good as well as the servicing of farm equipment, which is provided by the
private sector. Irrigation farmers in the study area thus have access to
sufficient labour, fuel for motorized pumps, chemicals, fertilizer, seeds and
servicing of farm equipments. The ability of some farmer groups to access
credits from banks, relatives and friends has also contributed to the current
trend of irrigation development in the study area.
7.4 V
ARIABLES
I
NFLUENCING
F
UTURE
I
RRIGATION
D
EVELOPMENT
The future trend of irrigation development in the study area is likely to be
affected by some more variables than those already discussed. These
variables include the availability of water and suitable irrigable land, policy
interventions, technology, output markets and, finally, reliable support
services.
7.4.1 Irrigation Potential of the Study Area
Irrigation potential simply refers to available land suitable for irrigation and
for which sufficient water is available (FAO, 1995b). However, irrigation
potential is not straightforward and implies a series of assumptions about
irrigation techniques, investment capacity, national and regional policies,
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