OPTIMAL USE OF LAND AND WATER RESOURCES OF DERJANG IRRIGATION PROJECT, ORISSA

Abstract

Derjang Irrigation Project , a medium irrigation project in Angul district of Orissa has a CCA of 7392 Ha. Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) has been successfully implemented in this project . The whole ayacut is divided into 17 Water Users Associations (WUAs) and there is an Apex committee. As per Memorandum of understandings (MOUs) the WUAs will look after the branch canals, minors, sub-minors and field channels in their jurisdiction. Irrigation Department look after the main canal and the Head works i.e. Dam and Spillway. Apex Committee will receive water on volumetric basis from the reservoir and it will distribute it among WUAs. Also it will collect water tax from WUAs and deposit to Irrigation Department. Apex Committee will receive maintenance grant on the basis of area irrigated. MOUs have been signed between Chairman Apex Committee and Executive Engineer, Angul Irrigation Division. The reservoir is to supply 500 Ham water per annum to Angul town for drinking water purpose. Now the farmers are organised through WUAs and are interested to maximize their return by using their land and water resources optimally. In this dissertation an attempt is to be made to find out a policy for-optimal use of land and water resources to maximize net returns satisfying the nutrient and calorie requirement of the inhabitants of the study area . The study has been done both on the basis of fixed irrigation and variable irrigation for various crops . FAO Penman- Monteith method has been used to determine the reference crop evapotranspiration. (ETo ). Quadratic function has been utilized as the production function in variable irrigation model. Linear Programming technique have been utilized for optimization in the present study.