A.Z.M. Obaidullah Khan
Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative
for Asia and the Pacific,
Bangkok, Thailand (address presented by Dong
Quingsong, Deputy Regional Representative)
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen:
1. On behalf of the Director-General of FAO, and on my own behalf, it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome you to the 4th Expert Consultation of the Asian Network on Irrigation/Water Management. The theme of the consultation is “Modernization of Irrigation Schemes: Past Experiences and Future Options”.
2. We are grateful that you accepted our invitation to attend this consultation. The presence here of international and national experts on water resources management in general and irrigation development in particular, indicates the priority accorded to water resources as the lifeblood of agriculture.
3. FAO is privileged to be associated with member countries in the development of sustainable agricultural production systems. This task is urgent. By the year 2010 the world population will grow to 7.2 billion. Of this increase, 93% will occur in developing countries and about 60% in Asia. World food production, therefore, must also accelerate to satisfy the demand for food. World Leaders deliberated over this critical issue in Rome, between 13-17 November at the World Food Summit.
4. It is not easy to boost crop production at a time when many developing countries throughout the world are pushing against the frontiers of arable land. In Asia, the ceiling has been reached, if not breached. A substantial amount of productive land continues to be buried under the concrete of urban and industrial development. Adequate and clean water is also becoming scarce. The competition between agricultural and industrial use is severe. Thus, we have to produce more food per unit of land and unit of water.
5. Worldwide, irrigated agriculture covers 17% of the cultivated land presently but contributes to more than 30% of the total food production. Irrigation development in the past three decades has been most impressive in Asia. The irrigated area increased by about 70 million ha to the present 136 million ha and food production until now has outpaced the population growth. However, according to FAO forecasts, the share of irrigated agriculture in the world’s food production must increase to about 45% worldwide in the year 2010 in order to meet the demand of our growing population.
But how can we achieve this goal in view of the constraints I have just mentioned? A partial answer to this question is the improvement of performance in irrigation systems, a subject which has been addressed in various FAO workshops and expert consultations since 1983. In the late 1970s and 1980s, many countries in Asia put major efforts into improving the overall performance and in particular the water use efficiency. However, despite some progress resulting from ongoing programmes in on-farm development, rehabilitation, introduction of water fees and the establishment of WUAs, the overall irrigation performance remains far below the expectations. Also, a sharp decline over the last decade of international investments in irrigation development has been observed. National governments, on the other hand, do not allocate sufficient funds for maintenance works. The result is a rapid deterioration of existing irrigation infrastructure.
7. The decline in international funding has forced many governments to look for adjustment and changes in existing institutional arrangements. A recent development approach is to transfer irrigation management responsibilities to the water users, widely known as irrigation management transfer (IMT). It is receiving considerable attention by major international organisations like IIMI, WB, ADB and FAO. FAO organized an Expert Consultation of the Asian Network on Irrigation/Water Management in 1995, on the subject. Irrigation management transfer alone will not be sufficient to increase productivity. It has to be supported by other measures, particularly by the modernization of irrigation schemes which is the theme of this expert consultation.
8. While rehabilitation aims to restore a scheme back to it’s original concept and design, modernization goes beyond and aims to improve the infrastructure according to a new or adjusted concept of water distribution. In its broadest sense it can be defined as a process of change from supply oriented to demand oriented irrigation. Modernization, however, involves not only technological changes but also institutional and organization reforms. The major objectives can be summarized as follows:
Modernization can be modest with only simple improvements such as lining of main canals and provision of concrete farm turnouts while maintaining the original water delivery and distribution concept. However, if a change from the usual fixed water delivery schedule to a flexible, demand driven schedule is considered, modernization involves a great deal more. I am sure, we will get guidance on the key variables from the experts assembled here.
9. Today, new design concepts, design tools, modern equipment, communication systems, etc. are available. What we now urgently need is that designers and planners become familiar with such tools and concepts. To ensure sustainability it will be necessary to involve the water users right from the beginning in the planning process so that the new system concept is accepted by the farming community. This will often result in a compromise between the technical optimal solution and what farmers are willing to adopt. This will also imply humility on the part of the experts and the willingness to learn from the farmers. Hence this expert consultation has been convened for exchanging experiences and refining the analytical framework. Also, can we further strengthen regional collaboration in this regard? Your advice will be critical in shaping FAO’s programmes and services for the coming years in Asian countries.
I wish you a very successful meeting and a pleasant stay in Bangkok. Thank you for your attention.
OPENING STATEMENT
Roongrueng Chulajata
Director General, Royal Irrigation Department,
Thailand
(statement presented by Chaiwat, Prechawit, Deputy Director
General)
Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the Royal Irrigation Department and the Kingdom of Thailand, it is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to the FAO Expert Consultation on Modernization of Irrigation Schemes-Past Experience and Future Options, being held in Bangkok for the whole week, during the special occasion, the Golden Jubilee Celebration of His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne.
Thailand, as well as many countries are facing the same crucial problem - the limited land and water resources to feed the growing population and meet the multiplying demand in various competing purposes-irrigation, domestic water supply, hydro-power electricity, industry, navigation, etc. The Royal Irrigation Department, as the main agency in Thailand responsible for water resources development, especially for agricultural purposes, has constructed many large, medium and small scale irrigation projects over the past four decades, which still do not meet the demands. Water resources development in the future seems to be no longer promising, as suitable sites for new systems are almost exhausted and new projects are impeded and need environmental studies.
As the agricultural sector is accused as the biggest water consumer with low economic return and new irrigation projects cannot come up, the Royal Irrigation Department set up 4 measures, viz.,
In order to maintain the food production in the situation of increasing competition with non-agricultural sectors. The first two measures are the top priority so that the systems are responsive to the agricultural demand and water losses would be minimized with higher irrigation efficiency. Of course, it can be achieved only with the improvement and rehabilitation of the existing irrigation systems. But, in some cases, only improvement and rehabilitation are not enough. The Royal Irrigation Department started the modernization of some projects such as Night Storage that permits greater flexibility in delivery of irrigation water in the Mae Klong Project, automatic gates in Klong Tron Project, automatic gates with distributors that permit fairer water distribution in Nongwai Project. The systems show more response to the changing socio-economic situation. However, modernization of irrigation systems in Thailand is at the beginning stage with a small beneficial area such as the pilot projects. Many more projects are still left for modernization.
Mr. Chairman, modernization is one of the key solutions to sound irrigation water management. This Expert Consultation is therefore of high interest. I am looking forward to the conclusions and recommendation from the consultation. I hope that the Consultation will lead all of us to better understanding, not only of the technical, but also of the social aspects. And I would like to take this opportunity to invite all of you to join the boat ride along the Chao Phraya River this evening. Finally, I wish you success in your deliberations.
Thank you.
