On Some Aspects of Irrigation Distribution in India

In recognition of the critical role irrigation plays in agricultural production and in alleviating poverty and reducing inequality in income distribution in rural areas, equity in irrigation distribution is now commonly adopted by almost all of the developing countries and is recognized by irrigation professionals across different disciplines as one of the most important objectives (Reidinger 1974; Bromley, Taylor, and Parker 1980; Bromley 1982; Coward 1980; Sampath 1984; Dhawan 1986). In spite of the wide acceptance of this objective, there is a dearth of both conceptual and empirical work done in developing countries to understand the problem of inequity in irrigation distribution. In fact, this author is not aware of a single macro inequity analysis of irrigation development in any of the Asian countries, though there are a number of empirical studies that have looked at inequity in distribution in terms of farm location on the water course and farm size in particular project contexts (Bromley et al. 1980, and references therein).