Water Resources

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Water Resources Agriculture planning
challenges for LAO PDR

• Presented by
• Mr. Phouthone SIRIPHANTHONG
• Deputy Director of OM Division
• Department of Irrigation, MAF.

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Contents

1. Irrigation Sector Overview
2. Irrigation Development
3. Lessons learnt
4. National Strategy and Policy direction in
   Irrigated Agriculture Sector

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I. Irrigation Sector Overview

• Irrigation sector has been given an important
  mandate to achieve national food security and
  commodity production.
• The Irrigation Development Program is aimed at
  increasing rural incomes and stabilizing rice
  availability by expanding irrigated areas for
  both wet season and dry season production and to
  improve the operation and maintenance of existing
  irrigation systems.

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I. Irrigation sector Overview. (Continue)

• Some of the water resource issues identified
  under the Irrigation Development Plan are the
• (i) need for participation of farmers and
  communities for effective and sustainable use of
  all resources
• (ii) need for efficient use of water for
  increased agricultural system performance
• (iii) concern for watershed degradation and
• (iv) insufficient funds to provide timely and
  adequate GOL support to the sector, at all
  levels.
• The Irrigation Strategy recognizes the need for
• (i) A participatory approach to ensure the
  participation of farmers, as well as district
  and provincial officials
• (ii) Training in technical matters related to
  irrigation
• (iii) Decentralization of responsibility for
  decision making to the provincial level with
  related administrative change and
• (iv) High levels of capital investment.

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II. Irrigation Development.

• Irrigation sector went through a radical
  transformation in the 90s with the boom in
  pumped irrigation, promoted to attain rice
  self-sufficiency, at that time, the main
  objective of national policy.
• Through the National Pump Installation and
  Management Project, GoL installed, between 1996
  and 2000, more than 7,000 diesel or electric
  pumps in villages along the Mekong and its main
  tributaries. In most of the cases, government
  technical services constructed the headworks but,
  as funds were insufficient, the distribution
  network was left to village community.

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II. Irrigation Development (Continue)

• Dry season irrigated areas increased from a
  50.000 hectares in 1997, to 120.000 hectares in
  2007.
• Although concentrated mainly in the southern part
  of the country, including some Mekong River
  District
• These efforts (along with agricultural research
  successes on rice varieties improvements)
  significantly contributed to increase rice
  production.
• In 2000, GoL declared rice self sufficiency
  nation wide.
• The Mekong River Provinces have contributed most
  to this increase in productivity

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II. Irrigation Development (Continue)
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Lessons Learnt

• Irrigation development has focused on food
  security with a small window for agricultural
  commodity production.
• Government has largely invested in the
  construction of irrigation systems especially
  under Pump Irrigation Priority Projects. There
  was large participation from the local
  communities, so, an irrigation management
  transfer (IMT) policy and regulations was
  developed and applied.
• Water user groups and associations were
  established in almost all irrigation systems
  hence, new water management mechanisms such as
  the collection of water fees, the development of
  OM and Village Development Funds were made.

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Lessons Learnt (Continue)

• Yet, the production in irrigated areas has
  largely decreased. Problems with efficiency in
  operation and maintenance. (is IMT the right
  approach?)
• Changing role of irrigation sector in agriculture
  development - should go further than the design
  and construction of irrigation systems.
• There many critical related activities, which
  have not been properly addressed by our
  sub-sector for example
• crops extension considered as the task of the
  Agriculture Sub-Sector
• planning for operation and maintenance of
  irrigation considered as the task of the
  provinces and water user organizations
• Mekong River districts have more access to water,
  transport of goods to markets and have increased
  production. They have more resources to purchase
  spare parts and maintain equipment.

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National Strategy and Policy direction in
Irrigated Agriculture Sector

• Irrigated Agriculture is an important contributor
  to the achievement of the goals of NSEDP
  2001-2020
• New strategy would need to be more holistic than
  in the past
• Irrigation development initiatives need to
  consider many factor, not only those related to
  the infrastructure
• New strategy should refer to irrigation as
  irrigated agriculture rather than irrigation
  engineering

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The wider environment
Economic factors
The irrigated agriculture sub-sector
Political factors

• Inputs
• Land water
• Labor
• Technology
• Seed
• Fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides
• others

Outputs -Main products -by-products Waste -Others
Irrigated
Agriculture crop production
Market
Market
Technology factors
Socio-cultural factors
Legal factors
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THANK YOU