Attempting to improve seasonal performance of Land and water productivity through systematic analysis: Case study of Dahanaka Minor Irrigation Tank in Anuradhapura District of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Water conservation in small and medium tanks for agriculture in dry, semi dry and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka are considered as the reason for successful rice cultivation during the period of our ancestors. However, it is often mentioned that the available statistics during last few decades also point to the lower productivity of agriculture under minor irrigation tank systems. The aim is to apply the present guideline recommendations to evaluate a typical dry zone irrigation reservoir system and to make recommendations for farmer livelihood enhancement considering seasonal performance, crop water requirements for paddy and other Food Crops (OFC) and possibilities of suitable crop diversification. System water balance is used to obtain the results in each case and financial analysis used to calculate the income of the farmers. Also it is important to maintain a database for each minor tank because more than 192,000 ha of lands are cultivated under these tanks by contributing considerably to the Sri Lanka economy. Therefore, it is important to find, what are the suitable methods that can be applied to improve the land and water productivity.