EVALUATION OF THE EXISTING WATER PRODUCTIVITY IN THE LOWER BARI DOAB CANAL (LBDC) COMMAND – A CASE STUDY

A study was conducted in the command area of the Lower Bari Doab Canal to evaluate the existing water productivity situation. Primary information was collected through a specially designed questionnaire from two secondary irrigation canals –Jandraka, located at the head reach of the doab (the area between two rivers) and 15-L, located at its tail. Six watercourses of Jandraka and seven of 15-L were selected for the study. At each watercourse, six farmers were interviewed, two each from the head, middle and tail. At Jandraka, the average yields for wheat, rice, sugarcane and spring maize were found to be 2,884, 2,606, 49,912 and 6,443 kg/ha, respectively, whereas the average water productivities were 0.73, 0.08, 2.01 and 0.54 kg/m^3, respectively. At 15- L, the average yield for wheat, cotton, sugarcane and spring maize were found to be 3,096, 2,056, 49,400 and 8,854 kg/ha, respectively, whereas the water productivities were 0.65, 0.33, 1.08 and 0.80 kg/m^3, respectively. Except for spring maize, the gap between the average yield and the potential yield at both distributaries was more than 50%, whereas the gap between the average and potential water productivity was more than 70%. Hence, there is a vast scope to increase the crops yield and the water productivity by adopting proper management of water and non-water inputs.