Sustainable Irrigation Management in Paddy Rice Agriculture: A Comparative Case Study of Karangasem Indonesia and Kunisaki Japan

Scott Jansing Scott Jansing,Mahichi Mahichi,Dasanayake Dasanayake

doi:10.3390/su12031180

Scott Jansing Scott Jansing, Mahichi Mahichi + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031180

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Abstract

Irrigated paddy rice agriculture accounts for a major share of Asia Pacific’s total water withdrawal. Furthermore, climate change induced water scarcity in the Asia-Pacific region is projected to intensify in the near future. Therefore, methods to reduce water consumption through efficiency measures are needed to ensure the long-term (water) sustainability. The irrigation systems, subak of Karangasem, Indonesia, and the tameike of Kunisaki, Japan, are two examples of sustainable paddy rice irrigation. This research, through interviews and an extensive survey, comparatively assessed the socio-environmental sustainability of the two irrigation management systems with special reference to the intensity and nature of social capital, equity of water distribution, water demand, water footprint, and water quality, etc. The prevailing social capital paradigm of each system was also compared to its overall managerial outcomes to analyze how cooperative action contributes to sustainable irrigation management. Both systems show a comparable degree of sustainable irrigation management, ensuring an equitable use of water, and maintain relatively fair water quality due to the land-use practices adapted. However, the systems differ in water demand and water efficiency principally because of the differences in the irrigation management strategies: human and structural. These findings could help devise mechanisms for transitioning to sustainable irrigation management in the commercially-oriented paddy rice agricultural systems across the Asia-Pacific region.

Highlights

IntroductionGiven the frequent and intense precipitation events (e.g., wet seasons, monsoons, annual typhoons, etc.) and the water resource availability, water scarcity in the Asia-Pacific region is a counter-intuitive concept
Given the frequent and intense precipitation events and the water resource availability, water scarcity in the Asia-Pacific region is a counter-intuitive concept
The corresponding metrics used to measure the performance of the above factors were: water demand (WD) in meters per square meter, water footprint (WF) in cubic meters per ton of rice, water quality (WQ), and managerial effectiveness (ME)

Summary

Introduction

Given the frequent and intense precipitation events (e.g., wet seasons, monsoons, annual typhoons, etc.) and the water resource availability, water scarcity in the Asia-Pacific region is a counter-intuitive concept This region too is projected to face water scarcity if the populations continue to rise and climate change goes unmitigated [1,2,3]. A total of 70% of the global freshwater withdrawal is used in irrigation, of which an estimated 60% is wasted because of irrigation systems’ inefficiencies and the incompatibility between the crops and the environment they are grown in [4,5] This points to a resource management issue and underscores the urgent need to find sustainable water management and irrigation solutions, especially for water-intensive cropping systems such as paddy rice agriculture

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