Project assistance completion report : Lam Nam Oon integrated rural development project, project number 493-0272, loan number 493-T-020

The end of project status specified in Project Implementation Letter No. 14 has largely been reached: the LNO irrigation system (comprising 314 km of main and secondary irrigation canals, and another 178 km of drainage canals) is capable of providing water to 167,000 rai of land in the wet season and 67,000 rai in the dry season. Long-range land development plans have been formulated, and on-farm land development has been completed on 90,500 rai; alternative on-farm irrigation models have been tested; and a revised agricultural research program emphasizing cropping patterns and integrated farming systems has been developed. In addition, Royal Thai Government (RTG) personnel have been trained to provide TA to farmers in water management, 18 LNO area families have been trained in silk production, and fish production has been improved through fish cultivation and villager training programs. The irrigation facilities are generally in satisfactory condition, and operation and maintenance have improved over time, although there is a persistent shortage of maintenance funds (due to RTG budgetary constraints). A computerized water management system is being tested. The project teaches that for budgetary purposes large systems such as LNO should constitute a separate region so that RTG agencies would be required to take the special needs of irrigated areas into account when preparing budgets, and as a way of giving different government agencies a common framework within which to cooperate. Other lessons are: (1) LNO water user groups have functioned well, although they require a long-term TA program in water management and cropping systems; (2) training should be provided to the children of current farmers to ensure successful operation of the system into the second generation; (3) dry season agriculture will expand only if agricultural marketing opportunities are increased (the RTG needs to adopt specific measures to encourage private investment in LNO); (4) support should be given to the further development of the computer-based water management system at LNO to ensure adequate water management in the face of complex multi-crop watering schedules; and (5) a detailed implementation strategy should be incorporated into a project from the beginning, even though it will be changed over the course of implementation. LNO eventually developed such a strategy, but outputs could have been greater if it had been in place from the beginning.