Communal Irrigation Systems Research Articles

Evaluation of communal irrigation system performance in the Philippines: The case of farmer irrigation organization

This study evaluates the performance of communal irrigation organizations in the Philippines. Analysis of 18 sample communal organizations showed variations in the structural characteristics. Relating structural variables with total annual yield shows that an increase in the number of employees results in a decline in total annual yield per hectare. Decentralized decision-making results in an increase in yield per hectare. Structural variables that are significantly related to fee collection ratio are the number of positions and number of members involved in decision-making, with beta coefficients of 0·63 and 0·59 respectively. The fee collection ratio increases with an increase in the authority network within the organization. This facilitates coordination, integration and control of fee collection tasks.

The Informant Survey as a Method for Studying Irrigation Systems

Although informant surveys are probably as old as formal organization, the methodology has only recently been codified and standardized. In its present form, it consists of a questionnaire administered to one or several general (not key or specialized) informants, objective questions about the institutional aspects of the social systems under study, and statistical analysis oriented to explicating group-level properties. As such, it is a low cost and appropriate technique for surveying 50 or more communities, districts, bureaucracies, businesses, or other formal organizations. It is illustrated and explained here by two recent studies of communal irrigation systems. Its capacity is greatly enhanced, as is true of all research methods, by harnessing it to an appropriate theoretical frame of reference, and one approach to the study of irrigation systems is outlined.