ABSTRACT
A number of important issues face decision makers, ranging from government strategies for investments in small-scale irrigation projects to the selection of alternative procedures for allocating irrigation water. Many of these issues involved both a concern for efficiency in water use and for an equitable distribution of benefits. The project design will determine what operation and maintenance options are possible. Future irrigation investment policy must take a much broader view than has traditionally been the case. Questions must be asked about the environmental and institutional sustainability of irrigation projects. Irrigation project performance can be measured in a number of ways including changes in farm income, total production, distribution of benefits and yields and rates of return. There is growing concern that irrigation projects must be analyzed in a broader physical context. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book.
