Watercourse improvement in Pakistan; pilot study in cooperation with farmers at tubewell 56L

This loss was primarily through the upper porous portions of the banks and in the vicinity of junctions where banks were thin. The 35 farmers in the 900-acre area served by this watercourse were motivated to organize themselves to rebuild their own earthen improved watercourse (28,000 feet), according to design specifications drawn up by young Pakistani engineers. Low-cost concrete diversion structures were developed and installed at junctions to eliminate continued borrowing of soil and degradation of banks near the junctions. The improvements reduced losses to about one-half their previous values and increased deliveries to the fields by over 50 percent. The cost was about Rs. 2/foot (10RS = $1.00 U.S.) of watercourse improved, including farmers" labor. Additional benefits from reductions in seepage damage to crops and reduced labor at junctions are obvious, but more difficult to evaluate. Maintaining the benefits will require the investment of about 10 man hours of labor per acre foot of water saved. This is some of the least expensive water available in countries where rural labor has a low value during some seasons. This watercourse improvement appears to be an ideal component for a development program designed to increase crop production.