Abstract
Assessing the performance of an irrigation scheme is an important management function which will indicate the state of the scheme and suggest possible remedial measures to improve the effectiveness of the scheme. This study was conducted to assess the technical and agricultural performances of the Okyereko irrigation scheme in the Central Region of Ghana. Secondary data were collected from the scheme with respect to rainfall, yield for the period of 2011 to 2015 seasons whilst field measurements were carried out to determine the water supply and demand. This study assessed three technical performance indicators and two agricultural performance indicators during the 2014/2015 season. The V-notch and the rectangular weir were used to measure the water delivery and the Manning formula was used to calculate the flow-rates in canals. Water requirements were estimated using the modified Penman method. The results from this study indicated an overall scheme conveyance efficiency of 78.2%, a maximum dependability of irrigation intervals between water applications of 2 and a scheme relative irrigation supply of 1.38. The agricultural performance indicators, output per unit irrigation supply and water productivity per unit crop evapotranspiration (ET), were found to be 0.90 and 20.53 kgm-3, respectively for rice. This study recommends that farmers should be actively involved in all performance assessments and scheme organizations in order to improve the performance since the farmers are major stakeholders of irrigation schemes and are responsible for operation and maintenance after the introduction of Participatory Irrigation Management. Keywords: Irrigation scheme, agricultural productivity, performance assessment.
Highlights
Water for irrigation is increasingly becoming limited owing to increased demand from other uses such as domestic water, industries and the environment (Perry, 2005) which give higher economic and social returns
This study focuses on some of the technical aspects of irrigation performance; agricultural performance, which will be evaluated using output per unit irrigation supply and output per unit water consumed
The scheme consists of an earthen dam with a catchment area of about 1685 km2; the reservoir is fed by the tributary from the Ayensu river with Coastal Savannah vegetation and annual average rainfall of 750 mm
Summary
Water for irrigation is increasingly becoming limited owing to increased demand from other uses such as domestic water, industries and the environment (Perry, 2005) which give higher economic and social returns. As Ghana’s agriculture is faced with seasonal rainfall, irrigation remains one of the obvious options to meet future food demands. To meet the increasing demands for food with an increasingly limited water supply, water resources management must be improved. Unpredictable climate, depleted water resources and the critical shortage of other production resources pose a challenge to increased food production. In anticipation of a food deficit in future, most researchers in the agricultural sector are looking at efficient utilization of water (Mukherji et al, 2009)
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