Small scale irrigation project

Project completion report covers the period 1976-1982; no methodology is stated. Pump sales, due to begin during the 1976-77 irrigation season, were delayed by a shortfall in the Government of Bangladesh's provision of pipe and lack of a financial mechanism for allocating pump materials to the private sector. The joint project implementation committee was unable to address these problems. The project was restructured in 6/77 and the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) was given implementation responsibility. The revised project emphasized pump fabrication rather than sales and procured the services of a consultant engineering firm. The BADC was to be reimbursed from pump sales for local purchases of pump heads, strainers, and pipes; targeted sales were reduced from 240,000 to 200,000 pumps. Prices were fixed initially at about 60% of manufacturing cost; as farmers became more familiar with the advantages of handpump irrigation, prices were increased twice and now stand at about 70% of cost. About 120,000 pumps have been sold to farmers. Although the revised sales target was not met, recent data indicate farmer acceptance and use of handpumps and improved domestic manufacturing capability. In view of a planned World Bank follow-on project and the development of two new handpumps which may prove to be competitors, the project has been terminated and funds deobligated as planned.