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K Palanisami - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • efficiency in sugarcane production under Tank Irrigation systems in tamil nadu india
    Journal of Environmental Professionals Sri Lanka, 2013
    Co-Authors: A Nanthakumaran, K Palanisami
    Abstract:

    An attempt was made to study the efficiency of sugarcane production by farmers under the two different sources of water supply viz., Tank water with well water and the well water only. The objective was pursued first by estimating a stochastic production frontier (SPF) using a random sample of 246 farmers under Tanks with wells situation (Typology I) and 250 farmers under wells only situation (Typology II.) The results indicated that 92 percent and 93 percent of sugarcane farms are technically efficient in Typology I and Typology II, respectively. The allocative efficiency had shown that 76 percent of sugarcane farms in Typology I and 78 percent in Typology II are allocatively efficient whereas 70 percent in Typology I and 75 percent in Typology II are economically efficient in the study area. The percentages of efficiency gap in sugarcane farms in Typology I and Typology II reveals that on average sugarcane farmers in Typology II were relatively more efficient in achieving the highest technical efficiency level in the same situation where as on average sugarcane farmers in Typology I were relatively more efficient in achieving the highest economic efficiency level in the same situation. This may be because of the higher prices of inputs due to local transport cost in the Typology II when compared to Typology I. The most allocatively inefficient farmer had an efficiency gap of 31 per cent in Typology I and 43 per cent in Typology II, if improved from the current level. In Typology II, though the water supply was assured, the cost of inputs was very high when compared to Typology I, had an impact on the allocative efficiency in the Typology II. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/jepsl.v1i1.5138 Journal of Environmental Professionals Sri Lanka Vol.1(1) 2012 1-13

  • the stabilization value of groundwater evidence from indian Tank Irrigation systems
    Hydrogeology Journal, 2012
    Co-Authors: K Palanisami, Mark Giordano, Krishna Reddy Kakumanu, C R Ranganathan
    Abstract:

    Groundwater is now a major source of agricultural water supply in many parts of the world. The value of groundwater as a new source of supply is well known. However, its additional buffering or stabilization value is less appreciated and even less analysed. Knowledge on groundwater’s stabilization value is advanced by developing and estimating an empirical model using the case of Tank Irrigation systems in Tamil Nadu, India. Unlike previous work, the model uses cross-sectional rather than time-series data. The results show that for the case-study region, the stabilization function added approximately 15% to supply value. Scenarios with surface water and electricity price were incorporated in the model. Increased surface-water supply and electricity price caused reduction in groundwater use but the percent of stabilization value of groundwater increased. The findings are used both to suggest improvements in Tank Irrigation systems and to further contextualize knowledge of groundwater’s stabilization value.

  • A Study on Tank Irrigation Productivity in the Dry Zones of West Bengal
    Indian journal of agricultural economics, 2012
    Co-Authors: Sebak Kumar Jana, K Palanisami, Amit Das
    Abstract:

    Rainfed areas in the country still account for 60 per cent of the cultivated area and are home to majority of rural poor and marginal farmers. Repeated droughts and erratic rainfall have severely affected the livelihood of rural people. The Irrigation sector will also likely to be strongly affected by climate change for the predicted increased variability in precipitation (Palanisami, 2010). It is well documented in the literature that Irrigation plays the vital role in improving the yield or productivity in the agricultural sector and the impact of Irrigation on reducing poverty is striking (Roy, 2006; Balasubramanian and Selvaraj, 2003; Anbumozhi et al., 2007). Among the Irrigation sources, Tank Irrigation is considered important as it can play a very critical role in the sustainable Irrigation development particularly in the dry zones. Tank means a small scale surface reservoir deriving the inflows mainly from rainfall run-off. Tanks can have a wider geological distribution than large-scale projects. Tank investments tend to be less capital intensive, have fewer negative environmental impacts and can provide variety of livelihood options to the rural people. In spite of the advantages, the development of Tank Irrigation deteriorated in almost every state in India. The main causes of degradation of traditional methods like Tanks are as follows: (i) Introduction of new technology like drilling methods enabling larger volumes of water to be lifted per unit of time, (ii) Weakening community cooperation, (iii) Government policy emphasising more convenient systems of centralised storage arrangements in the form of water reservoirs and canals (Agarwal et al., 2009, Shah, 2009, Palanisami and Easter, 2000, Vaidyanathan, 2006, Narayanamoorthy and Deshpande, 2003). Among the states, West Bengal is also one of the states with higher number of Tanks. The number of Tanks has reduced from 2.3 lakhs in 1987 to 1.16 lakhs in 2001 (about 50 per cent reduction) as Irrigation development in West Bengal is also biased in favour of well Irrigation. Out of 30.48 lakh hectares of irrigated land in West

  • climate change and water supplies options for sustaining Tank Irrigation potential in india
    Economic and Political Weekly, 2010
    Co-Authors: K Palanisami, Ruth Meinzendick, Mark Giordano
    Abstract:

    K Palanisami (k.palanisami@cgiar.org) is with the International Water Management Institute, ICRISAT; Ruth Meinzen-Dick is with the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington; and Mark Giordano is with the International Water Management Institute, Colombo. Climate change will affect water supplies in south Asia, where high-intensity floods and droughts are expected in the future. Increasing water storage is a key adaptation strategy, and the experience of Irrigation Tanks illustrates both the potential and challenges of this adaptation response. Although there are over 2,08,000 Tanks in India, irrigating about 2.3 million hectares in 2000-01, the net area irrigated by Tanks declined by 29% between 1990-91 and 2000-01 and by 32% between 2001 and 2008. This paper reviews the challenges faced by Tank Irrigation and examines options for improving their performance – revenue mobilisation through multiple use of Tanks, augmenting groundwater resources in the Tanks, integrating social forestry and desilting, and Tank modernisation. The Fourth Assessment report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007a) has confirmed the increasingly strong evidence for the influence of human activity on the global climate. The IPCC has projected that average global temperature of the air above the earth’s surface would rise by 1.1°C-6.4oC over the next 100 years depending upon the scenario. Although there is considerable uncertainty in the precipitation projections for the future, it is likely that precipitation may increase in high latitudes and parts of tropics and decrease in some sub-tropical and lower mid-latitude regions. More floods, droughts, decreases in agricultural and aquaculture producti vity, displacement of millions of coastal dwellers due to sea level rise and intense tropical cyclones, and the degradation of mangroves and coral reef ecosystems are considered to be some of the likely consequences of climate change (IPCC 2007c). Indeed, heavy precipitation related floods, storm surges, and relatively higher temperatures have led to devastating consequences in recent years. For south Asia (Indian region), the IPCC has projected a rise in temperature of 0.5oC-1.2oC by 2020, 0.88oC-3.16oC by 2050 and 1.56oC-5.44oC, depending on the scenario of future development (IPCC 2007b). Overall, the temperature increases are likely to be much higher in the winter (rabi) season than in the rainy season (kharif). Precipitation is likely to increase in all time slices in all months, except during December-February when it is likely to decrease. Such global climatic changes will affect agriculture through their direct and indirect effects on crops, soils, livestock and pests.

  • stabilisation value of groundwater in Tank Irrigation systems
    Indian journal of agricultural economics, 2008
    Co-Authors: K Palanisami, Masahiko Gemma, C R Ranganathan
    Abstract:

    Tank Irrigation accounts for more than one-third of total irrigated area in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu States in India. In Tamil Nadu, alone there are 39,000 Tanks of varying sizes and types. Normally one rice crop is grown from September to January months where the average rainfall during this period varies from 300 to 450 mm. Out of the 39200 Tanks in the state, 22 per cent are called Public Works Department (PWD) Tanks (i.e., which have a command area of more than 40 ha. and are maintained by the Irrigation department) and others are called Panchayat Union (PU) Tanks (i.e., which have a command area of less than 40 ha. and are managed by the local villages) where the small (ex-zamin) Tanks are also grouped under this category. Tanks are not only useful for Irrigation, but it also enriches the water table through percolation. This function of Tank is extremely useful in maintaining the water table to ensure sustained growth of flora and fauna in this region. In recent years, due to poorly maintained structures (bunds, surplus weirs), siltation of Tank beds and disintegrated channels and weirs, most of the Tanks are in a bad state. The main reason is current allocation of funds to modernise the Tanks are very meager. For example, the average operation and maintenance (O & M) budget allotted by the state Government for Tanks is about Rs. 164 per hectare compared to the requirement of about Rs. 250 per hectare (Palanisami and Easter, 2000). Tank water supplies fluctuate randomly from year to year and within a year. Using 40 years rainfall data, it was estimated that in five out of 10 years, Tanks will be experiencing deficient supply, in three years the Tank will fail and in two years the Tank will have full supply (Palanisami et al., 1997). The poor performance of the Tanks resulted in heavy dependence on groundwater supplementation. Groundwater stocks, on the other hand, are relatively stable because the wells get the recharge both from Tanks and from the irrigated rice fields (Palanisami and Easter, 2000). Normally the number of supplemental Irrigations required by the farmers could not be met as only about 15 per cent of the farmers owned wells in the Tanks. Most of

Esha Shah - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • seeing like a subaltern historical ethnography of pre modern and modern Tank Irrigation technology in karnataka india
    Water alternatives, 2012
    Co-Authors: Esha Shah
    Abstract:

    In various avatars the images of pre-modern knowledge and social organisations, also differently described as pre-colonial or traditional, are projected as alternative to the modern technologies and forms of governance not only in India but also elsewhere. I first review a few such representations of the idea of pre-modern invoked from politically diverse positions in order to demonstrate a unifying characteristic among them that form a 'view from the above'. I show how a situated position – seeing like a subaltern – can provide a way forward from the mutually opposing binary categorizations of the pre-modern and modern. Extensively referring to folk literature, I discuss here the historical ethnography of Tank Irrigation technology in Karnataka that covers both medieval and modern periods. I show how the technical designs of this thousand years old technology significantly transformed from the pre-modern to the modern times and how in each epoch the reproduction of the technology implied the reproduction of radically different social and cultural spaces and, most significantly, social and power relations

  • telling otherwise a historical anthropology of Tank Irrigation technology in south india
    Technology and Culture, 2008
    Co-Authors: Esha Shah
    Abstract:

    A significant number of influential critiques of modernity, the modern state, or modern science and technology are premised on the assertion that the pre-modern was environmentally non-intrusive and harmoniously embedded within a culture. The way these critiques pose the substantive distinction between the modern and the pre-modern through the reading of technology and knowledge systems insufficiently engages, this essay argues, with the history of pre-modern technology and knowledge creation. This paper draws an alternative picture of the social shaping of Tanks (Irrigation reservoirs) in south India in pre-modern times by using folk literature as primary source. The essay ultimately challenges any fundamental ontological contrast between a pre-modern and a modern technology and demonstrates instead that values emerge from historically situated actors and not solely from the artifacts or knowledge systems themselves.

Petra Hellegers - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Climate-smart Tank Irrigation: A multi-year analysis of improved conjunctive water use under high rainfall variability
    Agricultural Water Management, 2015
    Co-Authors: C Siderius, V. Munaswamy, C. Ramana, E. Van Ierland, Harry Boonstra, Peter Kabat, Petra Hellegers
    Abstract:

    Although water harvesting is receiving renewed attention as a strategy to cope with increasing seasonal and inter-annual rainfall variability, many centuries-old local water-harvesting reservoirs (Tanks) in India are rapidly deteriorating. Easy access to groundwater is seen as one of the major threats to their maintenance and functioning. Potentially, however, conjunctive use of water from rain, Tanks and groundwater reserves, supported by proper monitoring, could improve the resilience and productivity of traditional Tank Irrigation systems. To date, few quantitative multi-annual analyses of such climate-smart systems have been published. To redress this, we assess the sustainability of a rehabilitated Tank Irrigation system, by monitoring all inputs and outputs over a period of six years (12 cropping seasons). Our results show that during the period considered, improved conjunctive use resulted in a more stable cropping intensity, increased economic water productivity and higher net agricultural income. Groundwater tables were not negatively affected. We argue that improved conjunctive use can considerably reduce the vulnerability of Tank Irrigation to rainfall variability and thus is a valuable strategy in light of future climate change.

Palanisami Kuppannan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

C R Ranganathan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • the stabilization value of groundwater evidence from indian Tank Irrigation systems
    Hydrogeology Journal, 2012
    Co-Authors: K Palanisami, Mark Giordano, Krishna Reddy Kakumanu, C R Ranganathan
    Abstract:

    Groundwater is now a major source of agricultural water supply in many parts of the world. The value of groundwater as a new source of supply is well known. However, its additional buffering or stabilization value is less appreciated and even less analysed. Knowledge on groundwater’s stabilization value is advanced by developing and estimating an empirical model using the case of Tank Irrigation systems in Tamil Nadu, India. Unlike previous work, the model uses cross-sectional rather than time-series data. The results show that for the case-study region, the stabilization function added approximately 15% to supply value. Scenarios with surface water and electricity price were incorporated in the model. Increased surface-water supply and electricity price caused reduction in groundwater use but the percent of stabilization value of groundwater increased. The findings are used both to suggest improvements in Tank Irrigation systems and to further contextualize knowledge of groundwater’s stabilization value.

  • stabilisation value of groundwater in Tank Irrigation systems
    Indian journal of agricultural economics, 2008
    Co-Authors: K Palanisami, Masahiko Gemma, C R Ranganathan
    Abstract:

    Tank Irrigation accounts for more than one-third of total irrigated area in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu States in India. In Tamil Nadu, alone there are 39,000 Tanks of varying sizes and types. Normally one rice crop is grown from September to January months where the average rainfall during this period varies from 300 to 450 mm. Out of the 39200 Tanks in the state, 22 per cent are called Public Works Department (PWD) Tanks (i.e., which have a command area of more than 40 ha. and are maintained by the Irrigation department) and others are called Panchayat Union (PU) Tanks (i.e., which have a command area of less than 40 ha. and are managed by the local villages) where the small (ex-zamin) Tanks are also grouped under this category. Tanks are not only useful for Irrigation, but it also enriches the water table through percolation. This function of Tank is extremely useful in maintaining the water table to ensure sustained growth of flora and fauna in this region. In recent years, due to poorly maintained structures (bunds, surplus weirs), siltation of Tank beds and disintegrated channels and weirs, most of the Tanks are in a bad state. The main reason is current allocation of funds to modernise the Tanks are very meager. For example, the average operation and maintenance (O & M) budget allotted by the state Government for Tanks is about Rs. 164 per hectare compared to the requirement of about Rs. 250 per hectare (Palanisami and Easter, 2000). Tank water supplies fluctuate randomly from year to year and within a year. Using 40 years rainfall data, it was estimated that in five out of 10 years, Tanks will be experiencing deficient supply, in three years the Tank will fail and in two years the Tank will have full supply (Palanisami et al., 1997). The poor performance of the Tanks resulted in heavy dependence on groundwater supplementation. Groundwater stocks, on the other hand, are relatively stable because the wells get the recharge both from Tanks and from the irrigated rice fields (Palanisami and Easter, 2000). Normally the number of supplemental Irrigations required by the farmers could not be met as only about 15 per cent of the farmers owned wells in the Tanks. Most of