FARMERS' TENDENCIES TOWARD PARTICIPATORY IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT

In most developing countries, irrigation management is heavily dominated by the public sector. However, government operated irrigation schemes are poorly maintained with steadily deteriorating infrastructure. A current solution to this dilemma is participatory irrigation management (PIM). This participatory approach seeks to share the burden of irrigation operation and maintenance cost with the beneficiaries. For any participatory approach to be effective, qualitative studies are needed to assess how beneficiaries think about the outcome of such projects. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to assess farmers' tendencies towards participatory irrigation management among members of Sarabbas and Sefidbarg Water Users Association (WUA in Kermanshah province. Using focus group techniques among 103 members, results indicated that farmers have somewhat weak tendencies toward PIM. They felt that farmers can not share the cost of irrigation facilities and the current facilities are out-of-date. Further, they were not interested to install water meters and applying for loan was against their religious beliefs. Although farmers were willing to solve water problems among themselves, but they believed irrigation operation and maintenance should be the responsibility of government agencies.