Abstract
Timing of supply of irrigation water is an important measure of water management performance. Yet despite this widely accepted importance of timeliness, few studies have attempted to quantify this performance indicator. This paper suggests a methodology for quantifying timeliness. The indices thus generated are used to compare the performance of some types of smallholder irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe. Results indicate that applying measures of timeliness helps to assess water management practices across scheme types.
The methodology given in this paper differentiates between timely irrigation deliveries which meet Crop Water Requirements (CWR) and surplus water supplies due to poor timeliness which cannot be used by the crop, hence denoting wastage. The timeliness indices provide more information regarding management practices than simple measures of total water applications over a given season.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abernethy C.L. 1986. Performance measurement in canal water management. ODI-IIMI Irrigation Management Network Paper 86/2d.
Abernethy C.L. 1989. Indicators of the performance of irrigation water distribution systems. Symposium on the Performance Evaluation of Irrigation Systems. 23 November 1989. Colombo: IIMI.
Bos M.G. & Nugteren J. 1990.On Irrigation Efficiences, 4th edition. Wageningen: International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement/ILRI Publication 19.
Lenton R.L. 1984. A note on monitoring productivity and equity in irrigation systems. In: Niranjan Pant (ed)Productivity and Equity in Irrigation Systems. Ashish Publishing House.
Levine G. 1990. Some reflections on irrigation performance evaluation. A note presented at the IFPRI-IIMI Workshop on Irrigation System Performance at Pangbourne, U.K. in February 1990.
Makadho J.M. 1994. An analysis of water management performance in smallholder irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zimbabwe.
Meinzen-Dick R. 1994. Adequacy and timeliness of irrigation supplies under conjunctive use in the Sone irrigation system, Bihar. Paper presented at IFPRI/ICAR Workshop on Agricultural Growth in India: Review of Research Findings, 1–6 May 1994, New Delhi.
Ng, Poh-kok. 1988. Irrigation systems performance monitoring and evaluation: Reliability, resiliency and vulnerability criteria for assessing the impact of water shortage on rice yield.IIMI Review 2(1):12–16.
Small L.E., Capule C. & Oallares M. 1981. An index to evaluate the effects of water shortage on the yield of wetland rice.IRRI Research Paper No. 70.
Small L.E. & Svendsen M. 1990. A framework for assessing irrigation performance.Irrigation and Drainage Systems 4(4): 283–312. Revised edition as: Working Paper on Irrigation Performance 1. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C.
Rao P.S. 1993.Review of Selected Literature on Indicators of Irrigation Performance. Colombo: International Irrigation Management Institute.
Wijayaratna C.M. 1986. Assessing irrigation system performance: A methodological study with application to Gal Oya Scheme, Sri Lanka. Ph.D. thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Makadho, J. Irrigation timeliness indicators and application in smallholder irrigation systems in Zimbabwe. Irrig Drainage Syst 10, 367–376 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01104900
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01104900