EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Title: Cost-Benefit Analysis and Management of Lift Irrigation Systems and Water Harvesting Structure.
Organisation: Seva Mandir, Udaipur
Reporting Officer: Mr. Shailendra Tiwari
Faculty Guide: Dr. H.S.Shylendra
Students’ Name: Anoop Mor, Malika Srrivasatava, Prashant Arora, Rajat Singhal, Sandeep Rajpurohit, Vijay
Kumar

Objective: The study has been undertaken on behalf of the Natural Resource Department of Seva Mandir. The
project consists of two parts- the first part being the financial cost benefit analysis of each irrigation system and the
second part involving the analysis of the existing systems of management of each irrigation facility to identify the
problem areas and to suggest mechanisms to rectify the same.
During the years 2002 and 2003 three lift irrigation systems - one in Ranpur (Jhadol block), two in Amarpura
(Kherwara block) and one anicut in Devpur (Kherwara block) have been set up with the main objective of providing
irrigation benefits to small and marginal farmers. All the 3 lift irrigation systems became functional before the
Kharif season in the year 2003.
Scope: The project has been undertaken in 3 villages in 2 blocks of Udaipur district where Seva Mandir has
implemented lift irrigation systems and constructed water harvesting structures with the funds made available by
Shell Foundation. The cost benefit analysis has considered the changes from these irrigation facilities during the
agriculture calendar beginning from Kharif in 2003 to Zaid in the year 2004 to calculate the impact on beneficiaries
in terms of costs and benefits as well as for the project as a whole. The cost benefit analysis is purely private in
nature and does not quantify the social costs and benefits involved. However an attempt has been made to track the
social impact of these irrigation facilities such as food security, fodder security etc. under impact assessment.
Methodology: The methodology for collecting data for the study included administering questionnaires to the
sample of beneficiaries from each irrigation system for determining various costs being incurred and the resulting
benefits in terms of increase in productivity, changes in cropping pattern as well as for other aspects to be considered
under impact assessment. The details of project cost were obtained from the concerned officials of the organization
involved in planning and implementation of each of the projects. For collecting information regarding management
aspects, focus group discussions were held with the block and zonal level workers of the organization associated
with the above-mentioned projects and beneficiaries of each irrigation system and a few non-beneficiaries in the
command area of each irrigation system. The major costs we included were cost of seeds, fertilizers, irrigation,
pesticides, transportation, diesel, loss due to reduction in migration and benefits, we included were sale value of total
farm produce and savings in fodder purchase. For the project level, discounted cash flow method was adopted and
discounted rate was taken at 8%.
Limitations: The cost benefit analysis is based on the information provided by the sample of beneficiaries. Though
we have made all attempts to increase the reliability of the data by triangulating through various means however,
data provided regarding indebtedness and asset creation may not reveal the actual change.
Findings: Though the magnitude of benefit cost ratio and other impacts vary across the three villages, however, the
findings clearly indicate that the benefits to the beneficiaries of the lift irrigation system have been significant not
only in terms of the increase in agricultural production and productivity of the land but also in terms of the other
impacts such as reduction in fodder scarcity and migration and asset creation.
In all the three villages of intervention, there are management committees to take care of the technical, financial and
administrative aspects of the irrigation system. However, each committee differs on various fronts such as criteria
and scheduling of water distribution, water charges, membership etc. The problems and conflicts in each of the
irrigation systems are different, arising out of the socio political scenario in the village, design of the irrigation
structure, criteria of water distribution, membership, and contribution to the Gram Vikas Kosh (GVK) etc. The
comparison among the three systems revealed the reasons for better performance of the irrigation system in Ranpur
as compared to the other two villages. Suggestions to constitute an efficient and equitable management system for
all the three groups of beneficiaries take into account all the aspects, which are a cause of present dissatisfaction or
conflicts or may lead to these in the future. The cost-benefit ratios at project level were 0.93 for Ranpur, 1.37 for
Amarpura and 0.76 for Deopur.