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FAO
Regional
Office for
Asia and
the Pacific
Evaluation Study of Paddy
Irrigation under Monsoon
Regime (ESPIM) Project
Financed by the Government
of Japan
Viet Nam Institute for
Water Resources
Research,
Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development,
Viet Nam
REGIONAL WORKSHOP
ON
THE FUTURE OF LARGE RICE-BASED IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
26 TO 28 OCTOBER 2005
WINDSOR PLAZA HOTEL
HO CHI MINH CITY, VIET NAM
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
Modernization of irrigation systems, the previous consensus and agenda
In 1996, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations organized an Regional Expert
Consultation in Bangkok on the “Modernization of irrigation schemes: past experiences and future
options”. The rationale of this meeting was that, as irrigated agriculture produced about one third of
the world's food demand and contributed to about 40% of Asia's food production, increasing
competition with the urban and industrial and environmental sectors limited the quantities of water
available for further irrigation expansion, and the availability of land and water resources which could
be developed economically was limited, the main option which remained was to increase land and
water productivity. It was affirmed that: irrigation systems must be responsive to farmers' needs;
supply and demand should match as closely as possible; losses of water should be minimized; and
cropping patterns must respond to changes in the habits of societies.
The implication was that different objectives must be established for the irrigation systems than in the
past and that this brought the need for changes in the physical system as well as in the management
systems. Modernization of the irrigation systems could provide a part of the solution but the
traditional approaches to the modernization and improvement of irrigation systems needed to change
in the light of the new challenges which the irrigation sector was facing. A new definition of
modernization of irrigation systems to guide future understanding and efforts was coined at the
meeting: “Irrigation modernization is a process of technical and managerial upgrading (as opposed
to mere rehabilitation) of irrigation schemes combined with institutional reforms ,if required, with the
objective to improve resource utilization (labour, water, economic, environmental) and water delivery
service to farms.” The meeting had concluded that there existed significant justifications for irrigation
modernization in each country, although the specific reasons would vary by country and system.
Broader criteria which could be used to assess the needs for modernization included water
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conservation, improving the reliability of water distribution, reduction of environmental degradation,
support of crop diversification, reduction of operation and maintenance costs, and increasing farmer
income. It was highly desirable to be able to predict and verify the benefits which will result from
modernization actions, and more attention must be given to the development of evaluation procedures,
monitoring of existing and new projects, and isolation of cause/effect relationships so that benefits can
be more accurately estimated. There was a strong need for more and better adaptive and diagnostic
research, especially coupled with effective information dissemination programmes. An essential
ingredient of any modernization programme was an initial status and needs survey to establish
baseline conditions. Appropriate selection or upgrading of equipment for improved water control was
important for achieving a better water delivery service throughout an irrigation project, and
technological improvements must always be accompanied by managerial and/or institutional changes.
Such software changes might be as simple as training in the proper maintenance and operation of the
new structures but more significant institutional changes would usually be required. The importance
of a sense of ownership by all stakeholders was emphasized and although water user associations
(WUAs) are indeed weak or non-existent in many projects at the moment, widespread success of
many further modernization efforts will depend upon their existence and viability and vice versa.
Essential institutional and policy changes identified at the meeting included:
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creation of accountability by the providers of water services (i.e. irrigation authorities) and
also responsibilities of the water users, through the establishment of water rights for
individuals or WUAs, or through suitable amendment of existing irrigation acts;
establishment of enabling legislation and enforcement capabilities, which would allow WUAs
to operate as businesses in the sense that they could borrow money; have legally binding
contractual agreements for provision of services; and have a legal system which would impart
both protection and responsibilities;
development of a service attitude by government agencies;
decentralization to enhance the clarity of operation policies, ease the involvement of farmers
or WUAs in decision making, and facilitate the establishment of incentive structures for
farmers and employees.
The meeting had identified a need for strong leadership, training at all levels and the development of
upgraded design/procedure manuals as key actions to promote and support future modernization
efforts: movement towards modernization, and had called on international organizations and financing
institutions to support these interventions.
FAO’s response and recent initiatives
The FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and Land and Water Development Division have
responded by developing, over the recent years, in partnership with a number of international and
national institutions, a series of technical and advocacy publications on the modernization of irrigation
systems, tools for the appraisal and evaluation of performance of irrigation systems, a suite of training
materials and modules on the modernization of irrigation schemes, a Regional Training Program on
Irrigation Modernization, a website on the modernization of irrigation schemes, and has supported the
efforts of national governments and agencies in the modernization of their irrigation sectors.
The regional program aims at disseminating modern concepts of service-oriented management of
irrigation systems in member countries with a view to promote the adoption of effective irrigation
modernization strategies in support of agricultural modernization, improvement of water productivity
and integrated water resources management. The first training workshop under the program was
organized in Thailand in 2000 and, since that time, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Nepal, Thailand,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and India (Andhra Pradesh) have benefited from support
of the Regional Training Program to organize national training workshops on irrigation modernization
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and benchmarking. More than 500 engineers and managers have now been trained with support from
the Program.
Recent initiatives in Southeast Asia and by the international community
Although support from the international community to investment in the irrigation sector has
somewhat decreased in the recent years, countries in Southeast Asia continue to have significant and
ambitious programmes and objectives in the irrigation sector, particularly on the improvement of their
large irrigation systems. For instance, the Royal Irrigation Department of Thailand is still planning a
number of large scheme development projects, and has developed a national training programme with
the support of FAO in its regular training program. The Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID)
of Malaysia is pursuing a national modernization strategy centered on the rice granary systems and
established a structured and elaborated programme for improvement of system performance and
service quality. In Viet Nam, a World Bank-funded investment project (the Viet Nam Water
Resources Assistance Project) and current projects financed by the Asian Development Bank have
large irrigation modernization components based on similar concepts of service orientation. A strong
emphasis on improvements in the management of the systems has continued, illustrated by such
initiatives as the international programme on performance benchmarking in the irrigation and
drainage sector, supported by the International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation
and Drainage (IPTRID), the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), the
International Water Management Institute (IWMI), FAO and the World Bank. The Rapid Appraisal
Procedure introduced by FAO through its regional training program has been adopted by the World
Bank as one of the three elements of its holistic benchmarking methodology for irrigation systems.
The focus has however been on institutional reform, reform of water sector policies and
institutions, and the promotion of integrated water resources management
Although progress on the 1996 modernization agenda has been significant, it has remained relatively
modest and efforts by the national governments and the international community has focused, on the
one hand, on the water sector as a whole, through the revision of national water policies and water
resources management strategies, the promotion of integrated water resources management, with the
development of national water apex bodies and river basin organizations, on environmental aspects
and, in the irrigation sub-sector, the reform of irrigation management institutions, chiefly through
participatory irrigation management (PIM) and irrigation management transfer (IMT), seen mostly as
a means to increase cost recovery of the users, but also to improve governance of the sub-sector. In
this context, a main instrument to achieve an improved performance of the sector has been demand
management, through water pricing. More recently, new paradigms have emerged and been tested in
pilot programmes, with the promotion of an increased role of the private sector and public-private
partnerships in the management and development of irrigation systems. The evolution of national
policies, from the expansion of government-managed irrigation systems and public and private
groundwater facilities, to achieve food security, poverty alleviation, and related social objectives, to
the control and management of water for agricultural and non-agricultural uses, initiated in the 1990’s,
has continued, although poverty alleviation and food security objectives are still predominant in the
least developed countries in Southeast Asia.
Farmers and operators have responded to a changed environment and new constraints
Farmers and system operators have adjusted to the challenges posed by the growing demand for water
and new agricultural opportunities and constraints by exploiting groundwater, recycling water from
drains and canals, changing cropping patterns, and adjusting the timing of water release. These
changes have taken advantage of new and cheap pumping technologies. Where system operations and
management have not been pro-actively managing these changes, they have occurred nevertheless,
with a growing dichotomy between official management and operating rules, and actual water
management practices. Farmers indeed still have in general little to say in the design and management
of public irrigation schemes and in the definition of the service.
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Mitigated results and outcomes
A recent synoptic review of the evolution of irrigation in South and Southeast Asia draws a rather
sobering picture on the success of reform and continued efforts by the national governments and the
international community. Irrigation bureaucracies and donors are described as continuing to “focus
on improving the performance of canal irrigation systems by lining canals, encouraging greater
farmer participation, calling for water pricing, cost recovery, and irrigation management transfer”. It
is argued that “these efforts have not been very successful in the past and are likely to be even less so
in the future given not only the growing demand and competition for water, but also the social and
economic changes occurring in the rural communities of Asia. Reforms have failed because they have
remained partial, with optimistic assumptions about the willing ness or capacity of bureaucracies to
carry out the necessary changes.”
The appraisal of a large number of large irrigation systems in Southeast Asia confirms that, in general,
the performance of these systems continues to be low in terms of control, water productivity, yields,
and quality of service delivery to farmers. The level of chaos (difference between stated policies and
actual policies) and of anarchy (subversion of policies) is generally high, particularly at the lower
levels of management, and weak farmers’ organizations, significant under-investment in operation
and maintenance and poor management continue to be the norm rather than the exception.
There has been in the recent past excessive reliance in policy reform, institutional reform, improved
control technology, improved management, economic incentives and instruments or on-farm water
management as single measures which would single-handedly deliver improved performance or
service. A complex and articulated mix of changes in all these fields would be in fact required. The
actual performance of the systems, particularly in terms of service delivery, is frequently overestimated and therefore their capacity to support and enable proposed reforms without significant
changes or investment is a serious obstacle to the success of these reforms. On the other hand, the
actual performance of the systems in terms of overall water use efficiency may have been
considerably under-estimated and therefore, the potential gains in water savings for re-allocation of
water resources for re-allocation to other sectors from implementing sectoral, institutional reform or
introducing demand management instruments may have been considerably exaggerated.
However, the necessity of a coherent development of institutions and infrastructure and the
importance of technical factors are increasingly recognized an, in Asia, it is estimated that in East
Asia, there may have been a better balance in the improvement of infrastructure and institutions, with
local autonomy and accountability, resulting in generally better operation and maintenance than found
in Southeast Asian systems. There are major questions however as to whether this experience is
transferable. Calls for the establishment of appropriate institutions to deal with the new environment
of water scarcity and responding to previous shortcomings, that could allocate water equitably among
competing uses and users, including environmental services, integrate management of irrigation at
farm, system, and basin level, integrate the management of groundwater and surface water irrigation,
and address the problems of irrigation development, including environmental and health impacts, are
accompanied with the cautionary note that the task is monumental and is likely to take years, even
decades.
Large systems in Southeast Asia are predominantly rice-systems, with specific challenges and
characteristics
Large irrigation systems in Southeast Asia are dominated by rice production and indeed were mainly
constructed to support rice production during the monsoon season and also provide irrigation to grow
a second dry-season rice crop. The specific characteristics of these systems and the evolution of rice
consumption and the economics of rice production present additional challenges which these systems
will need to face in the future.
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Although rice consumption per capita is decreasing and is expected to further decrease in the region,
rice is still the main staple food for the people of Southeast Asia and total demand will continue to
increase. For centuries, rice has been the single most important source of food, employment and
income for the rural people in Asia. Increases in rice production the last 50 years have played a major
role in achieving food security and alleviating malnutrition and poverty, especially through lowering
the rice price. However, the Green Revolution has largely bypassed the unfavorable drought-, flood-,
and salinity-prone areas where nearly 700 million people depend on rice production. Sustained rapid
economic growth and urbanization in Asia will continue to increase the feminization of agriculture
and reduce the availability of labor for rice cultivation, driving the need for high yielding production
technologies with lower labor requirement.
Rice is unique in its ability to grow and yield in a wide range of agro-ecological conditions, from
flooded lowlands to drought prone uplands, and from humid tropical to cool temperate climates. Rice
is a semi-aquatic plant and yield declines as the soil dries below saturation. Therefore rice is grown
under ponded water culture (lowland rice) where possible, accounting for about 90% of world rice
production. Contrary to popular misconceptions, when grown under flooded conditions, rice has
similar transpiration efficiency to other cereals. Nonetheless, lowland rice fields lose large amounts of
water by seepage, percolation, runoff and evaporation from the water surface, and therefore require up
to 2-3 times more water than other cereals. Much of these outflows is captured and reused
downstream, and is not a true loss from rice-based systems. Nevertheless, conversion of lowland rice
fields to other more profitable crops or uses, including aquaculture,
The productivity of irrigated rice systems is threatened by increasing water scarcity induced by
sectoral competition and climate change (although there is no systematic inventory or quantification
of the nature, extent or severity of water scarcity in rice-growing areas, and its likely impact on
productivity). Meanwhile, the rainfed and unfavorable rice ecosystems experience multiple abiotic
stresses such as drought, salinity/sodicity and uncontrolled flooding.
Lowland rice ecosystems have both beneficial and negative environmental externalities and unique
ecosystem services (multi-functionality) which will be affected by increasing water scarcity.
Compared with other cereals, lowland rice is a heavy emitter of methane and ammonia and a low
emitter of nitrous oxide. However, lowland rice fields are responsible for less than 10% of total global
methane emissions. Lowland rice fields behave as artificial wetlands in their capacity to remove
nitrogen and phosphorus from contaminated surface waters. Nitrate leaching from flooded rice fields
is usually negligible. Biocide use in Asian rice systems is generally low and the biocides used degrade
rapidly. However, the biocides are often extremely toxic and their negative human health impact is
large. Flooded rice can increase the risk of salinization and water logging in poorly drained areas by
raising groundwater levels. Non-rice food ecosystem services provided by the lowland rice landscape
can be significant, particularly for the poorest segments of the rural population. are non-food
ecosystem services provided by the lowland rice landscape, such as cultural aspects, groundwater
recharge, control of soil erosion, flood mitigation and sustenance of a rich biodiversity, including
unique and endangered species are equally often overlooked. The multiple uses and functions of rice
landscapes are often ignored in integrated water resources management discussions, policy reform and
institutional setups and need to be better valued. For this purpose, more systematic evaluations are
needed to understand the water balance dynamics and productivity of water at various scales of the
irrigation system, and management practices need to be developed to sustain and enhance the
ecosystem services of rice landscapes.
Previous development and policies have been successful in globally assuring the food security of the
populations of Southeast Asia but, with a continued slump in the price of cereal commodities, the
benefit has increasingly been to urban populations and landless farmers while rice producers have
been squeezed. Meeting future rice demand and reducing poverty will require: increasing resource
productivity in irrigated, rainfed and unfavorable ecosystems; reducing production costs and labor
requirements; improving the management of water resources in the face of declining availability; and
development of technologies and strategies to cope with the likely impacts of climate change,
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including increased incidence of extreme events. Increasing water scarcity in many areas will change
the dominantly flooded systems to more aerobic systems, bringing new challenges for increasing
productivity while minimizing associated negative externalities and maintaining beneficial ecosystem
services (multi-functionality) of rice-based systems.
There is however still scope to greatly increase rice productivity in unfavorable regions by developing
rice varieties that are drought-, salt- or submergence-resistant, but there is less scope to further
increase yield potential of current high-yielding (inbred or hybrid) varieties grown under nonstressed
conditions. However, a yield gap, which has been closed in East Asia, still persists in Southeast Asia.
Yield potential of modern high-yielding varieties has stagnated during the last two decades, with the
exception of the development of hybrid rice. Research provides a range of options to increase the
water productivity of rice with respect to evapotranspiration by manipulating early crop vigor, leaf
waxiness and transpiration efficiency, and improve nutritious quality need to be combined with other
successful traits, including those that impart drought tolerance. With proper investments, varieties can
be developed with 50-100% increase in yield potential in rainfed lowlands and drought- and floodprone areas within 10 years.
There is also great scope to develop and deploy integrated technologies to increase rice productivity
and lower production costs in the face of water scarcity, but more research is needed on real water
savings, long-term sustainability and environmental impacts. Technologies that integrate components
of management with varietal improvement can bridge the yield gap in well-defined target
environments. The water balance of rice fields under such technologies should be quantified to
identify water savings at field and system scales. Several water-saving technologies are being
developed for water-short irrigated environments. The sustainability and environmental impacts of
many newly developed technologies are however not well understood. In rainfed and drought- and
flood-prone environments, technologies should aim at reducing abiotic stress intensities, enhancing
survival and robustness of the crop to withstand stress, and stabilizing yields.
The need and opportunity to re-appraise perspectives, evolution scenarii and interventions in
large rice-based irrigation systems in Southeast Asia
Almost ten years after the FAO Regional Expert Consultation on the modernization of irrigation
systems of 1996, a re-appraisal of the perspectives, evolution scenarii and proposed interventions in
large rice-based irrigation systems in Southeast Asia is timely. Since 1996, the main trends and
challenges faced by these systems have been confirmed and exacerbated by continued socioeconomic growth and transformation of the agrarian societies of the countries in Southeast Asia,
while substantial poverty reduction challenges persist. Transfers of water allocation away from
agriculture and to urban areas and other sectors have happened in many basins, agricultural
production and policies have moved ever faster towards market-oriented farming systems under the
growing influence of globalization and liberalization of trade ,which has become a major international
agenda, and the importance of preserving and restoring the environment and aquatic ecosystems is
increasingly recognized as an explicit goal of national governments. New challenges have emerged or
are better understood, such as climate change associated to global warming.
The water management landscape and the institutional setup of the irrigation sub-sector has been
deeply transformed by the recent wave of sectoral and institutional reforms, which presents both
further challenges but also opportunities for the improvement of the performance of the irrigation
systems. A number of the recommendations or prescriptions to improve the performance of irrigation
systems, which were developed at the 1996 expert consultation and following conferences, have been
implemented through reform programmes or projects, and their impact and outcomes have been
evaluated. It is therefore possible to review these recommendations and build on lessons learned, and
particularly to appraise whether outcomes, if they are estimated to have been disappointing, are due to
a too narrow focus on the irrigation systems themselves, to an insufficient implementation of the
actions proposed to the national governments and international community, to erroneous or ill-
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adapted prescriptions, or to other factors, but also to build on successful developments and case
studies, and more generally to review these recommendations in view of new or evolving challenges.
At the international level, but also at the regional and national levels, the focus on integrated water
resources management has fostered increasing and fruitful dialogues among the water, environmental
and agricultural sectors, which provide a more comprehensive framework for discussions on the
future of irrigation and for collaboration among agencies and professionals from various sectors and
disciplines, and a better understanding of the multiple roles of rice-based irrigation systems and their
place in and impact on river basins, rural livelihoods and ecosystems.
At the First South East Asia Water Forum, convened by the Global Water Partnership Southeast Asia
(Chiang Mai, 2003), the water and food session of the Forum addressed the three challenges cited in
the Kyoto Ministerial Recommendation of the 3rd World Water Forum on Water and Food, i.e., food
security and poverty alleviation, sustainable water use, and knowledge and partnerships. One of the
conclusions of the Forum, endorsed in the Forum’s declaration, was that ‘Southeast Asian countries
should collaborate to find ways to improve and transform large rice irrigation systems for
participatory decentralized management, improvement of efficiency and service, multiple use,
financial sustainability through payment of service and IWRM’.
As a response to this call and in support to regional collaboration in Southeast Asia, the FAO
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and Land and Water Management Division, the FAO
Evaluation Study of Paddy Irrigation under Monsoon Regime (ESPIM) Project, financed by the
Government of Japan and the Viet Nam Institute for Water Resources Research have therefore taken
the initiative of organizing and sponsoring this Regional Workshop on the Future of Large RiceBased Irrigation Systems in Southeast Asia. This initiative is timed to build on and take advantage of
considerable developments and discussions at the international level on agriculture water management,
irrigation and rice, including:
 The knowledge synthesis efforts in the framework of the CGIAR-led and FAO-sponsored
Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management for Agriculture. Hundreds of institutions and
specialists have been mobilized to analyze knowledge, status and conditions, challenges, main
drivers and response options related to irrigation systems, water and rice, and water productivity,
as well as the evolution of irrigation in the region. Synthesis documents at various stages of
development are available and will provide a useful basis and starting point for discussions
specific to both the Southeast Asia sub-region and large rice-based irrigation systems;
 The recently concluded International Year of Rice, which has focused the attention of the
international community on this crop and its perspectives;
 The creation of the International Network on Water and Environment in Paddy Fields (INWEPF) ,
which focuses on the multiple roles of irrigation schemes;
 Recent research by international institutions such as the International Water Management Institute
and the International Rice Research Institute;
 Dialogue between development agencies, the irrigation professional community (the International
Commission on Irrigation and Drainage …) and the environmental and conservation community
(International Union for the Conservation of Nature, World Wildlife Fund …)
 A decision by some international financing institutions such as the World Bank to re-engage in
investment in water for agriculture and considerable synthesis work done by other institutions
such as the Asian Development Bank the water sector though comprehensive programmes such as
Water for Life.
OBJECTIVE OF THE REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE FUTURE OF LARGE RICEBASED IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
The objective of the Regional Workshop on the Future Of Large Rice-Based Irrigation Systems in
Southeast Asia is to identify strategies, opportunities and interventions for the sustainable
management of large rice-based irrigation systems in Southeast Asia over the coming decades in the
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context of improved management of water resources, and to promote collaboration in the region
among countries, stakeholders from different sectors, and national, regional and international
organizations.
The workshop will address three critical questions that will determine the character that large ricebased irrigation systems evolve over the next 20-25 years, namely:
How will agriculture and rice production evolve in SE Asia? Although the region includes some
of the most rapidly expanding economies of the world, agriculture continues to provide significant
employment in the region. Generally between 40-90% of the population is engaged in agriculture or
related industries, even though the contribution to GDP is between 10 to 60%. Rice cultivation
dominates cropping patterns in much of the irrigated agricultural lands, but is recognized as a
relatively low-value commodity; yet attempts to promote crop diversification have failed to provide
viable alternatives for substantial numbers of farmers. In traditionally non-irrigated areas diverse
crop mixes and innovative land and water management strategies are opening new possibilities for
higher value agricultural products. Main issues to address will be:
 How will agriculture evolve to provide viable employment for the expected reductions in the
agricultural labor force, in light of current population projections and predicted demographic
changes; changing nutritional and dietary expectations; changing irrigated and rain-fed
agricultural areas and yields; and increasing competition from the Urban, Industrial and
Environmental water sectors?
 What changes will be required in agricultural water services to support the projected evolution of
the sector?
What changes are required in irrigation service provision by the large rice-based irrigation
systems? Irrigation service providers in the region often argue that the infrastructure available is able
to provide only low quality irrigation services as it was designed to support extensive paddy
cultivation. However, there are growing demands for more reliable and flexible irrigation services,
often linked with decentralization of management, crop diversification and the introduction of service
contracts. Over the next 25 years, changes in the agricultural sector and the economics of rice
production and related new demands in service quality associated with decentralization will be
imposed on the irrigation service sector and particularly the managers of large irrigation systems. In
addition, water constraints resulting from transfer to other sectors and, possibly, climate change,
increased urbanization of populations and concomitantly water, and changing irrigation infrastructure
and management institutions will require the irrigation service providers to evolve new working
practices. The recognition of the multiple roles provided by agricultural water management systems
as well as the requests for service from other sectors are likely to transform irrigation systems into
multiple use systems. The coming years may see the emergence of new organizational models with
increased participation of the private sector in commercial agricultural water service provision. The
trend towards part-time farming is likely also to influence the service demand from farmers. The main
issue to address is:
 What institutional, managerial as well as technological changes will be required for the largescale irrigation systems to be able to provide the new range of services required by users and
perform their new functions?
How will on-going and expected reforms and investment programmes measure up against the
projected needs of the region? Institutional reform in the region is based largely on the concept that
participation is conducive to greater efficiency and equity in management of resources. In the water
sector there have been repeated initiatives to replicate the traditional organization of water
management observed in small communal irrigation systems adapting these approaches to the large
scale systems constructed over the past 50 years. However, to date, experience with participatory
irrigation management (PIM) and management turn-over (IMT) has been mixed, but such efforts
continue across the region. New models based on an increased role of the private sector have been
introduced. Policy reform has mostly consisted in a standard set of measures related to cost recovery,
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demand management and transfer. As agriculture and IWRM advance, the current and proposed
reforms in agricultural water management should be assessed with respect to the emerging demands
from agriculture. The issues are the following:
 How should public sector irrigation agencies develop to support new agricultural demands; what
might be the role of the private sector in future development?
 How can participatory management become effective?
 Can institutions recently or in the process of being created evolve towards becoming managers of
multiple use systems if needed?
 Are there alternate approaches to irrigation and agricultural water management reforms that may
be more effective and responsive to the sector’s requirements?
 Are present models for management of large rice-based irrigation systems able to evolve towards
future requirements?
 Are investments programmes on large rice-based irrigation systems of the current generation
responding adequately to the future challenges?
 Do current models for river basin management represent an optimal context for an evolution of
the large rice-based irrigation systems towards sustainable management?
In order to discuss these issues and identify strategies, opportunities and interventions for the
sustainable management of large rice-based irrigation systems in Southeast Asia, the workshop will
gather approximately fifty experts and representatives from:
 national irrigation agencies and institutions, river basin and water resources management agencies
and national water apex bodies, agriculture ministries and environmental agencies as well as
academic and nongovernmental organizations from countries in the region: Viet Nam, Malaysia,
Thailand, Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and China;
 regional bodies and institutions such as the Mekong River Commission, the Asian Institute of
Technology (AIT), Global Water Partnership Southeast Asia and ASEAN;
 international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI), the International Programme on Technology and Research in Irrigation and
Drainage (IPTRID) and the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage;
 the donor community, such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, JBIC and JICA;
 internationally recognized centers of excellence such as the California Polytechnic State
University, CSIRO (Australia);
 International initiatives and networks such as IWEPF and the Comprehensive Assessment of
Water Management for Agriculture
 Environmental INGOs such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Wetlands
International and the World Wildlife Fund; and
 reputed individual resource persons.
SUMMARY PROGRAMME OF THE REGIONAL WORKSHOP
The participants, through plenary presentations and discussions, as well as through working in smaller
thematic groups, will:
 review trends and challenges related to water resources management, socio-economic
development, trade, agriculture and rice production and the environment as they affect Southeast
Asia;
 review the present performance of large-scale rice-based irrigation systems in Southeast Asia;
 review and analyze current and planned strategies, programmes and goals for large rice-based
irrigation systems in the countries of the region, illustrated by country papers and case studies;
 identify the main drivers of change for the large rice-based irrigation systems in the region;
 outline main scenarii for the future evolution of large rice-based irrigation systems, based on a
classification of their types and circumstances;
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identify the implications of these scenario in terms of service and performance objectives, design,
management, operation, institutions, financing, environment and biodiversity, and multiple use;
visit and analyze the Dautieng irrigation system (the largest irrigation system in Viet Nam) as a
practical case study;
in view of these analyses, re-appraise past recommendations and prescriptions and present
policies, strategies, programmes and intervention models;
make recommendations for new strategies and directions, and identify priority actions; and
identify areas and initiatives for regional collaboration.
The tentative summary programme of the regional workshop, which will be finalized in consultation
with the participants, is outlined below.
Time
Session
26 October 2005
Morning
A. Trends and challenges affecting large rice-based
irrigation systems in Southeast Asia: water
resources, agriculture and trade, socio-economic
development, environment
Afternoon
B. Present performance of large rice-based irrigation
systems
C. Country strategies, programmes and goals
27 October 2005
Morning
D. Programmes, policies and orientations of major
financial institutions
E. Identification of main drivers of change,
typology of large rice-based irrigation systems
and likely scenarii for evolution
Afternoon
F. Field trip to the Dautieng irrigation system, by
thematic study groups to investigate water
resources management and multiple use,
agricultural, system design and operation, and
environmental issues
Evening
G. Debriefing on the Dautieng irrigation system:
outlining development scenario
28 October 2005
Morning
H. Synthesis of session E. Drivers of change and
likely scenario for evolution of large rice-based
irrigation systems
I. Implications of scenario on service and
performance objectives, management, institutions,
deign and operation, financing and multifunctionality
Afternoon
I. Continued: synthesis
J. Re-assessment of the previous recommendations
and prescriptions and likely evolution scenarii and
identification of strategies, opportunities, priority
actions and possible initiatives for regional
collaboration
K. Main conclusions and recommendations
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Modality
Plenary presentations and
discussions
Plenary presentations and
group discussions
Plenary presentations and
discussions
Plenary presentations and
discussions
Thematic working groups
Field trip by thematic working
groups
Dinner-debate
Plenary presentations and
discussions
Thematic groups
Plenary presentations of the
thematic groups’ outputs and
debate
Plenary presentation of a
survey of previous
recommendations, followed by
thematic groups
Plenary discussions
ORGANIZATION AND CONTACT PERSONS
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Mr Thierry Facon, Senior Water Management Officer
[email protected]
Tel: +66-2-6974-156/257, Fax : +66-2-6974-445
Ms. Sirijit Sangunurai, Consultant
[email protected]
Tel: +66-2-6974-281, Fax : +66-2-6974-445
FAO Land and Water Management Division
Mr Daniel Renault, Senior Irrigation System Management Officer
[email protected]
Tel: +39-06-570554713, Fax: +39-06-57056275
Mr Jippe Hoogeveen. Manager, ESPIM Project
[email protected]
Tel: +39-06-57053714, Fax: +39-06-57056275
Viet Nam Institute for Water Resources Research
Mr. Le Quang Anh
[email protected]
Tel: +84-4- 8522235, Fax: +84-4- 8536290
Mr Duong Quoc Huy
[email protected]
Tel: +84-4-8536290/5636130, Fax: 84-4- 8536290
Website
www.watercontrol.org
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