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Shallow Tube Well Irrigation Business in Bangladesh: Field Study in Ghatail Thana of Tangail District

Md. Alauddin Hossain*
Senior Scientific Officer (Ad. Ch.), River Research Institute, Faridpur-7800, Bangladesh

Md. Abul Ala Moududi
Senior Scientific Officer, River Research Institute, Faridpur-7800, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Primarily the farmers install Shallow Tube Well (STW) to irrigate their own land especially for Boro paddy. Simultaneously they sell pumped water commercially to other farmers to earn money like other businesses. Following the process of STW irrigation development a form of business has been established in Bangladesh. Field surveys were carried out with a view to examine the structure, management and performance of STW irrigation business in Dighalkandi union (covering five mouza) under Ghatail Thana of Tangail District. The study revealed that the study area is suitable and profitable for STW irrigation business due to aquifer characteristics & groundwater availability. Two types of irrigation equipment were mainly used in the study area for groundwater abstraction. In 1997, diesel operated STW (DOS) was 76% and electricity operated STW (EOS) was 24%, while in 2007, 46% and 56% respectively. EOS has been increasing due to upward trend of diesel price. The incidence and implications of management of STW irrigation business has been discussed and some policy implications about the development of STW irrigation business have been recommended in this paper.

Keywords: Shallow Tube Well, Irrigation business

Location: Department of Soil, Water and Environment, University of Dhaka

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Tubewell

Objectives:

The following objectives were considered to conduct this study. The specific objectives of the study are:

To examine the structure, management and performance of STW irrigation business;
To estimate and examine the farmers’ return from irrigation; and
To draw policy guidelines.

Methodology:

Selection of Study Areas The study area was chosen from an intensively irrigated area in the north-east Bangladesh, which falls under the Indo-Gangetic basin region. Boro paddy is the main crop of this area, which is cultivated rabi season by groundwater irrigation. The entire irrigation system of the area mainly depends on STW technology. Sampling Techniques, Sample Size and Data Collection Procedure Both STW owners and irrigators (water buyers) have been chosen as samples for this study. Complete survey technique was used for the STW owners. A total of 71 STW owners were found in the area operating their STW business. Out of 71 STW owners, data were collected from 64. Two-stage stratified random sampling technique was used to collect data from the irrigators (water buyers). Firstly, 20 STW owners were selected randomly from all and then five water buyers were also randomly chosen from each of the selected 20 STWs. During the selection of 20 STWs, equal weight was given to Diesel Operated STWs (DOS) and Electricity Operated STWs (EOS) to assess the performance of business in both cases. So a total of 164 samples (64 STW owners, 50 DOS water buyers and 50 EOS water buyers) were used for this study. The primary data were collected through two sets of interview schedule from STW owners and water buyers in January and February 2008. The locations of STWs were collected in the field by using Global Positioning System (GPS) and plot them on the mauza maps by identifying each plot. The command areas were also demarcated plot by plot on mauza maps by field survey. Four bore logs of BWDB present in the area were used for subsurface lithological and aquifer information. Data on groundwater level were collected from two observation wells of BWDB which are very close to the study area. To understand the command area characteristics and cropping pattern dynamics, data were collected from 5 command areas against 5 mauza. Moreover, data on all command areas and their landuse of Saitapara mauza was also collected to understand the changing pattern of STW command area plots over the time. Water discharge of STWs and irrigation channel characteristics data were also collected from 30 STWs for technical analysis. The secondary data were collected from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Bangladesh Economic Review (BER), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) and Department of Land Records and Survey (DLRS).

Source of Information: 2nd International Conference on Water & Flood Management (ICWFM-2009), BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The following conclusions are summarized from the study of STW irrigation business: a. The study area is suitable for STW irrigation business due to geographical location, topography, lithology, aquifer characteristics and groundwater availability. b. Most of the engines/motors were found of Chinese due to cheaper and availability in the local market. Chinese engines have taken control over the local markets and replaced the more expensive Japanese engines. d. Engines/motors belonging wide ranges of capacity were found in use in STW irrigation business, though the command area was almost equal. These wide ranges capacity indicates a somewhat indiscriminate selection of engines/motors or prime mover power with the fitted pump. e. Existing electricity connection procedure should be reviewed by the government which might be improved the present situations about electricity connection & billing system. If diesel price increase and paddy price do not increase rationally, then the DOS owners will loss their spirit to run the STW and ultimately the crop production will be reduced in a large scale. To sustain this system, government should take a decision for continuing the existing subsidy system to the DOS owners. h. STW business was profitable in current price of inputs and paddy but the business will unprofitable for DOS in uncertain situation considering 10% increase of cost or 10% decrease of benefit. But it would be fairly unable to sustain the STW business in severe uncertain situations with rise in diesel/electricity prices without commensurate rise in paddy prices.

Knowledge Management: Report/Proceedings