Analysis of water control at farm level in selected areas of Kamphaengsaen Project
1997
Chatchom Chompradist
There is little knowledge and few studies about water control at farm level. Since water control is essential to farm productivity and it is changing quite rapidly. Therefore it is important to analyse water control at farm level, how it is developed and improved. The zone No. 5 of Kamphaengsaen Project (1600 ha) has been studied during the dry season of 1995 to the end of dry season 1996. Water level upstream and downstream of a FTO has been monitored by 2-hour interval with a data logger. Changes in land use and water use 1986 until 1996 have been mapped at the plot level and compared through the use of GIS techniques. The three main crops are rice, sugarcane and baby corn, cover respectively 20 percent, 57 percent and 13.7 percent of the total area being studies. Only the rice plots have been found to use water by gravity, counted 18.5 percent, while 77 percent all other plots used pumping. Water sources can be divided between irrigation water (60 percent) and non-irrigation water (35 percent), including water from main and farm drains, wells and ponds. The comparison of land and water use in 1986/1996 reveals a major change from sugarcane to baby corn (12.3 percent) and in water use from rainfed conditions (31 percent) to increased use of water from irrigation and other sources. The use of irrigation water increased 19 percent within 10 years. This is mainly the result of the development of tertiary ditches, which increased 175 percent since the construction of the project 25 years ago. This has been made possible both by budgets from the government (53 percent) and by farmers' initiative (47 percent). Wells also appear to be a very significant water resource, with density of about 1 well/31 rai (20 well/100 ha).
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