A Research Of Farmers’ Participative Behavior In Ganfu Plain Irrigation Area And Affecting Factors

Located in the Gan River and Fu River delta plain which is in the middle-northJiangxi Province, Ganfu Plain irrigation area is a large-scale comprehensive waterconservancy project which takes irrigation as the priority while gives consideration toflood control, shipping, electric power generation, fish-farming, water supply, etc.Since theHousehold Contract Responsibility System is adopted in China at the end of70s, theconstruction and management of water conservancy projects in rural areas of Ganfu Plainmainly depends on village committee while in the direct supervision of villagecollectives.The above management patten had been feasible for a long period of time.However, as the rural labor force flows to non-agricultural industry, problems such asunclear property rights, absent main body, projects aging and reduced benefits appears,which prevent the irrigation and the sustainable agricultural development of Ganfu Plainirrigation area. In the new century, like most areas in China, farmer-participatorymanagement patten such as contract-management, joint stock partnership, waterconservancy association is applied in small-scale water conservancy projects in GanfuPlain irrigation area. The above patten provides an effective way to increase managementefficiency. However, farmers’ enthusiasm to this and the main factor affecting itssustainable development are worth researching.Based on present and comprehensive researching fruits both home and abroad, usingpublic management theory, finance theory, economic theory, social exchange theory, etc,the author carry on an investigation into farmer-participatory management patten. Restedon field-research data, the author studied the farmer-participatory management patten andits effecting factors theoretically and empirically. The results indicates that, in Ganfu Plainfarmers’ planting water mainly rely on irrigation water in irrigated area. Since theestablishment of farmer-participatory management patten, farmers joined water userassociation, and farmers’ enthusiasm for management was improved accordingly.Throughcorelation study to farmers’ participation willingness, we found that the main factorsaffecting farmers’ participation to management includes gender, profession, workforcenumber, migrant workforce number, and farmers’ social capital,etc.According to researchconclusion, targeted policy suggestions to encourage farmers’ participation to rural waterconservancy project management are put forward, which aims at achieving the optimalallocation of water resources in Ganfu Plain irrigation area and improving the efficiency ofsmall-scale water conservancy projects.