Study On The Impact Of Reform On Farmers' Participatory Irrigation Management

Irrigation plays a critical role in agricultural production, however, there is a grim situation of the coexistence of the shortage and waste of irrigation water in China. To solve the problem, people have often used engineering and technology tools, but in fact poor water management have been the significiate cause for water shortage.Therefore, it has been gradually put on the agenda to improve water resources management level. In this course, farmers' participation is one of the basic conditions that can not be ignored.2004 World Bank Report pointed out that improving public serves in developing country had lightly success and bitter failures, the main difference of the two is participatory level of the public in determining the quality and quantity of the services they received. From late 90's in the 20th century, Paticipatory Irrigation Management(PIM) based on the concept of "Water users'Participation" have experimented and developed rapidly. The paper is aim to understand the inner law of farmers' PIM, and to analyze the realization of the expected objectives, the effectiveness and impact of PIM, which may providing a scientific basis for the China's steady progress in irrigation management reform at the present stage.Based on the survey data from 35 communities and 710 farmers in Northern Jiangsu, The core of this paper is to analyze four aspects of the PIM reform:Firstly, this paper analyzes the farmers'decision-making whether to cooperate before WUAs was founded, which aims at exploring the mechanism of such factors how to affect farmers'willingness to cooperate in PIM as the policy, the farmers' characters and region difference, etc. The result shows that farmers'willingness to cooperate in PIM mainly be affected by facters as education and kownledge of PIM of the head of the households, the rate of non-farm labors to total family labors, social capital, the rate of the irrigation infrastructure in good condition in village levels, government support, etc.,which changes frequently. In these factors, the rate of non-farm labors to total family labors and social capital affect farmers'willingness to cooperate in PIM complicately, and it is difficult to make certain the direction of its impact, which must be according to the specific circumstances of the case.Secondly, through the analysis of impact of PIM on channel maintenance and water distribution, it is found that PIM are more likely to design the channel maintenance plan and water distribution plan than the village collective management, therefore, PIM pay more attention to management irrigation system normatively.This could ensure the smooth flow of the channels and a fair and equitable distribution of water, which is the premise of providing sufficient and timely irrigation water for the farmers. Through the analysis of the impact of PIM on irrigation water on two levels of the community and farmers, this paper found although the farmers'irrigation water quantities have increased, but in the community level, the reform reduced the the overall community irrigation. Therefore, compared to the traditional village collective management, PIM can achieve the dual goals of meet the water needs of farmers and to save water in communities, which reflects its high efficiency water-saving from management. Morever, The study also found that farmers'irrigation water increasing manifests obviously on the crops which demand for irrigation highly.Thirdly, this paper found that PIM ensure farmers to get irrigation normal timely and adequate water. This stabilitate farmers' expectation to get irrigation water, and then farmers could invest more agricultural production factors, thus this may raise crop production, which shows obviously in irrigation crops of high water demand, such as rice, wheat. The study also find that PIM can enable farmers to increase per capita income of farming, and this income effect has a strong effect of income distribution, that is, the benefit of the poor from participating in irrigation management is greater than the benefit got by the rich. Therefore, PIM will enhance the equity of income distribution and can play a larger role in helping the poverty,and it is an important means of elimination of the future gap between rich and poor in rural areas.Fourthly,using cumulative odds Probit model, this paper analyze and evaluate the factors influencing farmers' satisfaction with WUAs. The result shows that seven important variables-the support of governments on WUAs, farmers' participation in WUAs' training, the numbers of farmers'participation in WUAs' regular meeting, the numbers of WUAs' accounts opening, reducing farmers' water fee, the operating time and size of WUAs-significantly determine satisfaction. Except for negatively influencing the farmers' satisfation of the size of WUAs, other factors have positive impacts on the farmers' satisfation.In addition to that, some factors influencing farmers'satisfation are not statistically significant, which are collecting the farmers'solicit opinions before WUAs were founded, the farmers' paticipation in Water Users' Meeting and election of the WUAs' chairmen, identity of the WUAs'chairmen and some basic characteristic variables of farmers, etc. In these above factors, the influencing mechanism of some is complicated.Finally, the paper proposes some advices that may improve PIM development. First, it is important to further improve the institutional environment for PIM, which is a favorable external environment.Second, it is useful to strengthen financial and technical support for WUAs. Third, it should improve participating ways and means of farmers in the management of WUAs. Fourth, the government may increase investment in rural education and training, and improve approach of advocacy and training, and pay attention to increase farmers'human capital and the establishment of of community norms of new co-operation type. Fifth, to strengthen the standardization of the labor market, which may promote non-farm transfer of surplus agricultural labor.All in all, the development of PIM mainly based on farmers have a certain degree of regularity. In designing the development policies of PIM, every government should be full respect for this law.It is correct to start from the wishes of farmers, according to local conditions, to establish PIM's development policies suitable for local farmers, which could promote the stable, sustained, rapid and healthy development of irrigation management reform.