ABSTRACT
The solution to the problems of irrigation development have been sought in the realm of better irrigation technology: lined canals to replace earthen channels, more efficient pumps to lift water, better control structures to regulate water flows. As with many other elements of agricultural development, irrigation development is likely to proceed most effectively when attention is given to the technology-organization interactions. In Asia, the transfer of large-scale Irrigation technology has fostered the development of large and powerful technical agencies which often have acted to reduce local-level rights and responsibilities for irrigation management. The intensification of irrigated agriculture in public systems serves to draw more tightly together the traditional spheres of agency responsibility and community responsibility. Irrigation development policies have been insensitive to the rich tradition of community governance of, and Investment in irrigation works that characterizes the Asian scene. One of the most fundamental changes will be the timing of, and the effort to create new, local irrigation organization.
