Operation of village irrigation schemes in Mali (IPRODI)
Village irrigation schemes provide irrigation for areas of between 20 and 40 hectares, surrounded by low earthen dikes. The system includes a stilling basin, which receives water from a mobile motor pump, a main channel, secondary channels and irrigation ditches. The scheme gives total control over the water available in the area, using a motor pump to move it around the system. The channels are open earth, and stretches where infiltration is high are lined with riprap. The structures are made of concrete. Village irrigation schemes require a source of water, and are therefore generally located along rivers or near permanent bodies of water.
Irrigation systems of this kind were constructed in Mali after the droughts in the 1970s under numerous development projects implemented to increase rice and wheat production. Between 1996 and 2010, for example, the IPRODI project established 450 irrigation schemes in northern Mali, creating an irrigated area of over 13,000 ha farmed by 55,000 farmers.
The water is pumped into the stilling basin and driven by the force of gravity into the main channel and the secondary and tertiary channels to the plots of individual users. Village irrigation schemes are an effective means of expanding the area of irrigated farmland and increasing production. As they permit the total control of the water available, farmers are practically unaffected by variations in rainfall, as long as the water source remains available. They therefore guarantee the production of food crops and straw for livestock. Village irrigation schemes create new irrigated farmland, which enable farmers to achieve high rice yields: around 6 tonnes per hectare. With an average price of 125 CFA francs a kilo for paddy rice, the value of output per hectare is around 750,000 CFA francs. Profit is estimated at around 300,000 CFA francs per hectare. At some sites, a second harvest is possible. Other plots are used for market gardening, with the production of onions, tomatoes, herbs, spices, etc. After the crops have been harvested, animals are allowed to graze on the plots.
The process to select an area to be developed begins with a request submitted by the community through the commune authorities. A feasibility study is conducted to determine potentially viable sites. The final choice is made in consultation with the regional and commune authorities and the villages concerned and in accordance with the financial resources available. The highly labour intensive approach is used, with beneficiaries participating in the construction work. The beneficiaries receive support from a project to plan and construct the irrigation system, purchase and install the pumping units (with financial contribution), purchase the tools and establish a start-up fund for the first season. Two technicians are trained per scheme. The village irrigation systems are operated and maintained by the beneficiaries and their management committee. The management committee must set up an operating and maintenance fund to purchase fuel and carry out any repairs. Farmers are required to pay a charge of seven sacks of paddy rice (around a third of their harvest) into the fund. In this way, the pumping units can be replaced after a number of years.
Those who participated in the construction work are given preference when the plots are distributed among the village’s families. A quarter-of-a-hectare plot is assigned to each ‘able-bodied person’ who participated in the work to construct the system. The total area assigned to each family therefore depends on the number of able-bodied people in the household. Once the system is in operation, technical services provide support to farmers for a time to teach them adapted farming practices.
الموقع: Mali, Burkina Faso, مالي
عدد مواقع تنفيذ التقنيةالتي تم تحليلها:
انتشار التقنية: منتشرة بالتساوي على مساحة (approx. 1,000-100 كم2)
في منطقة محمية بشكل دائم؟:
تاريخ التنفيذ: منذ 10-50 سنة
نوع التقديم
| تحديد المدخلات | الوحدة | الكمية | التكاليف لكل وحدة (غير متاح) | إجمالي التكاليف لكل مدخل (غير متاح) | % من التكاليف التي يتحملها مستخدمو الأراضي |
| غير ذلك | |||||
| total construction | 1,0 | 2893,14 | 2893,14 | 100,0 | |
| إجمالي تكاليف إنشاء التقنية | 2'893.14 | ||||
| إجمالي تكاليف إنشاء التقنية بالدولار الأمريكي | 2'893.14 | ||||
Village irrigation schemes are an effective means of expanding the area of irrigated farmland and increasing production. Farmers are practically unaffected by variations in rainfall, as long as the water source remains available. They therefore guarantee the production of food crops and straw for livestock.
