Efficient participatory irrigation institutions to support productive and sustainable agriculture in south Asia

The project, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ADP-2014-045), focuses on the devolution of responsibilities in irrigation to farmers. Broadly referred to as Participatory Irrigation Management/Irrigation Management Transfer (PIM/IMT), the project looked at the merits of this approach in different settings in south Asia.

The research uses economics to help local irrigation managers better understand where and when PIM/IMT works and consider if a different approach is needed. The project uses empirical data drawn from four jurisdictions, Assam and Bihar in India and Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan, all with some unique characteristics.

A large dataset has been assembled using both paper-based and mobile tablet surveys. The data covers: overall institutional performance and its relationship to agro-economic variables; drivers of compliance; gender differences and their impact on participation in water groups and perceptions of performance; data on preferred charging regimes and broader institutional arrangements for managing water at the local level.

These data are unique, having been collected simultaneously across the four jurisdictions.