Project completion report : on-farm water management project, 391-0413

Despite a slow start, a financial shortfall, and several implementation problems, the pilot project was an innovative and successful program which has been copied by several organizations around the globe. The most significant accomplishment was in the area of institutional development. The creation of Pakistan"s provincial OFWM organizations was a direct result of this project. The project also established a federal-level water management cell and four provincial training institutions (which by 6/81 had trained 6,351 irrigation and other government personnel, farmers, bankers, contractors, and tractor operators). In addition, 1,319 watercourses were improved by this date, and five volumes of technical manuals were developed (and are still in use). On the other hand, extension services were neglected (due to emphasis on watercourse improvement by the provincial OFWM directorates) and precision land level activities failed to generate the level of farmer interest that had been expected. The institution strengthening element of the project registered remarkable growth following the 1982 project amendment, when the project emphasis shifted away from construction (which had become the focus of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank). The project TA team accomplished the following: (1) establishment of a functional management information system in each provincial directorate and training center and at the federal cell; (2) surveying and training field personnel in the operation of six widely separated micro-irrigation systems in Baluchistan; (3) establishment of a training farm in each province to demonstrate OFWM practices and provide on-the-job training for field staff, extension workers, and farmers; and (4) establishment of a media center and materials production center at the federal cell. Special water management studies were conducted on the following subjects: (1) canal roads feasibility, (2) sociological study of earth borrowing for canal rehabilitation, (3) status of precision land leveling, (4) surface drainage of irrigated land, and (5) water user associations.