Integrated Water Resources Management Handbook for Small

Farmers of Nepal

Shared Experiences from Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperatives Ltd. in

Nepal

Nepal Agricultural Co-operative Central Federation Ltd.

(NACCFL)
Bakundole-3, Lalitpur, Nepal
Tel. No.: +977-01-5528073/5528074
Fax No.: +977-01-5528074
E-mail: skbks.nepal@gmail.com
Website: https://www.naccfl.org.np

Corresponding author: Laurent-Charles Tremblay Lévesque

Integrated Water Resources Management Advisor, NACCFL
E-mail: laurentcharles.tremblaylevesque@outlook.com
February, 2018
IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

Table of Contents

Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ i

Preface ....................................................................................................................................... 1
1. Community-based drinking water supplies and rainwater harvesting: a success story from
the Kabulpur SFACL ................................................................................................................. 3
2. Three-phase electric pumps for lift irrigation: experience from the Kalleri SFACL ............. 6
3. Solar-powered pumps for lift irrigation: prospective and challenges from the Salang
SFACL ....................................................................................................................................... 9
4. Spring water tapping and grey water reuse for micro irrigation: doing more with less in the
Manakamana SFACL .............................................................................................................. 12
5. Solar groundwater pumping for irrigation and fish farming: building climate resiliency and
livelihood diversification in the Khaireni SFACL ................................................................... 15
6. Small plastic pond storage for irrigation supplies and for livestock: learning from multi-use
climate resilient systems in the Bajrabarahi SFACL ............................................................... 18
7. Drip irrigation using drinking water supplies: maximising the efficient use of available
water resources in the Padampur SFACL ................................................................................ 21

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

Preface

This “Integrated Water Resources Management Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal” was
prepared by the Nepal Agricultural Cooperative Central Federation Ltd. (NACCFL), an
umbrella organisation of more than 8,600 Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperatives Ltd.
(SFACLs) representing over 825,000 small farmers across the country. This handbook contains
a series of cases studies on water resource management interventions based on the shared
experience of seven different SFACLs. This document is aimed at small farmers of Nepal,
water resource professionals, practitioners, and, of course, policy makers or anyone who wish
to implement an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) strategy or simply learn
more about its principles.

The case studies presented in this handbook bring in concrete examples of IWRM interventions
while highlighting the successes and failures for each attempt. This handbook reveals the
challenges that come with trying to manage and develop water resources in ways that maximize
socio-economic welfare and ensuring the sustainability of the environment and of water related
ecosystems at the same time. The examples shed light on different aspect of water management,
including: how harvest and collect water resources more responsibly; how to allocate water
efficiently and equitably between different use; and how to guarantee the long term financial
or technical sustainability of water infrastructure projects.

The information presented here was gathered over two months of fieldwork during November
and December 2017. The case studies are situated in Province No. 3 and 4 in the central region
of Nepal (Figure 1). The case studies of this handbook capture the main type of topographies
which are present in Nepal: flat lowlands (Chitwan District); undulated terrain (Dhading and
Makwanpur Districts) and; hilly to mountainous areas (Ghorkha District). Comparisons are
drawn to show the differences and similarities between the water challenges for each of these
respective topographies.

Figure 1. Geographic distribution of water management case studies

Manakamana SFACL

Salang SFACL

Kalleri SFACL

Kabelpur SFACL

Padampur SFACL

Khaireni SFACL

Bajrabarahi SFACL

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

The case studies are all presented in a simple standard format. The first section presents some
background information on the area, thus providing the reader with a basic sense of the socio-
economic reality and of the water situation prior to the intervention. The second section details
the actions that were taken and their associated outcomes. The third and last section shares
comments on the lessons to be learned and on the replicability of the intervention. While there
is value in reading handbook in its integrality, case studies can also be read separately
according to the reader’s needs and specific interests.

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

1. Community-based drinking water supplies and rainwater harvesting: a

success story from the Kabulpur SFACL

Background

The Kabelpur Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperative Limited is situated in the Thankree
Village Municipality, Dhading District, Province No. 3. The Kabelpur SFACL is a women’s
only cooperative with 995 members, about 40% of which are below 35 years old. The support
members receive from the SFACL includes, access to agricultural credit and loans provisions,
livestock and crop insurance, as well as a range of capacity building programs, e.g. livestock
and agro production marketing trainings. The cooperative has been particularly involved in the
post-earthquake response by giving, for example, subsidies to farmers to rebuild their houses
and repair the stalls for their buffalos and cows. The Kabelpur SFACL has also recently
invested in a ginger washing facility. This has helped members getting fairer prices for their
products.

The average size of farm land per member in this cooperative is three to five ropanis (1500 to
2500m2 or about one seventh to one fifth of an acre). The Thankree Village stretches over both
uphill and lowland areas. Farmers in the uphill areas are generally only able to cultivate for
one cropping season per year, whereas those of the lowland produce for up to three cropping
seasons. The major crop produced in the upland areas is maize which is cultivated during the
monsoon season between late-May to mid-October. Land is left fallow for the remaining eight
months of the year. In the lowlands areas rice is being produced during the rainy season. After
rice is harvested most farmers then plant wheat and mustard which grows from mid-November
to mid-March. Some farmers also manage to cultivate winter cash crops such as cauliflower
and potato. The three major crop patterns practiced by farmers of the Kabelpur SFACL are
summarised in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Major crop patterns in the Kabelpur SFACL

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Crop Maize
pattern 1
Crop Wheat or Rice Wheat or
pattern 2 mustard mustard
Crop Wheat or Rice Wheat or
pattern 3 mustard and mustard and
horticultural horticultural
crops crops

There are no major differences (e.g. in soil composition or mineral content) between the uphill
and downhill farmlands. What distinguishes farmland in the Kabelpur SFACL is water
availability. The farmers of upper parts solely depend on rain water, whereas those in the lower
parts have better access to water as small springs occasionally form towards the bottom of those
hills.

A spring that flows all year round serves as the drinking water supplies for the entire village.
Historically, women have had to walk all the way down to fetch water from the spring, a

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

journey which took more than an hour both ways (excluding the waiting time). The collected
water would mainly be used for drinking purposes with very little left for other domestic usage.

Actions taken and outcomes

In 2010, a collective of 40 households came disbursed extra money to buy electric pumps
together to build a drinking water supply. so that water can be easily fetched when the
The drinking water network consists of four
independent 60W electric pumps that lift Figure 1.1 Rainwater collection from
water from one tank to another over a rooftops
distance of two kilometers and 450 meters
high. Since then, several other farmers’
collectives have replicated this system. The
area now counts ten of such community-
based drinking water supply schemes.

In parallel to these lift drinking water

projects, individual farmers affected low
water resource availability have also started
investing in rainwater harvesting. Rainwater
is simply collected by installing gutters to
the tin roofs that are then connected to a
plastic pond dug out from the soil (Figure
1.1). The pond varies from in size normally
ranges from 25m3 to 60m3, holding for a
storage capacity of 25,000 to 60,000 liters.
Ponds are generally covered with tin or
other materials supported by branches to
limit evaporation (Figure 1.2).
Figure 1.2 Rainwater collection in
Water collected during the monsoon period is
plastic ponds
then stored in those ponds before being used
to irrigate crops during the winter months.
The size of the land benefitting from
irrigation is approximately one katha (338.63
m²), equivalent to about one tenth of a
farmer’s total land. Farmers produce high
value vegetables crops on these small plots of
land such as cauliflower, spinach, bell
peppers, tomatoes, spring onions, potatoes.
One or two harvest is normally enough to
repay the cost associated to to such kind of
rainwater harvesting projects.

The total cost per project are range from

35,000 to 50,000 RPS. Labour cost for
digging out the pond are normally the biggest
expenses, though the plastics, the connecting
hoses and the tin sheets can come up to
sizable amounts as well. Most farmers have

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

levels in the ponds are low. Only few have however invested in irrigation distribution systems,
still watering by hand instead.

The Kabelpur SFACL has been lobbying with the district level office of the Agricultural
Development Ministry to obtain subsidies for the construction of these rainwater harvesting
systems. Farmers who have received allocation got between 18,000 to 20,000 RPS, making up
for about 50% of the total costs. The SFACL additionally supports its member by providing
them with soft loans (9% per year instead of 12% to 16% for commercial loans) for the
remaining amount. The repayment period is two years. Farmers only need to put a cash down
of 2,000 RPS and no collateral is needed as neighbours co-sign the loan acting as their
guarantor. So far, 210 farmers that have built rainwater harvesting systems. There is demand
for another 400 to be built but funding is limited and so only few dozens of ponds can be
financed every year.

Lessons learned and replicability

Experience for the Kabelpur Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperative teaches few key lessons:

 Communities can mobilize funds and build drinking water systems by themselves
without any external assistance.
 Since fetching water for the entire household is a burden traditionally imposed on
women, building a water supply project tends to have a positive impact for gender
equality.
 Water storage for irrigation can be achieved through low-cost/low-technology
initiatives like rainwater harvesting.
 Micro-irrigation for the production of cash crops can significantly increase the annual
income of small farmers.
 Farmers have more problems putting up with upfront costs than the repayment.
Subsidies from the government and soft loans are essential to ensuring that farmers with
low disposable income are not prevented from ever benefitting from irrigation
infrastructure. Such funding mechanism is unfortunately not enough to meet the demand
from farmers.

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

2. Three-phase electric pumps for lift irrigation: experience from the

Kalleri SFACL

Background

The Kalleri Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperative Ltd. is located in the Galchi Village
Municipality, Dhading, Province No. 3. The SFACL has 1100 members, 800 are female and
more than 300 members are below 35 years old. Farmers of this SFACL own on average three
to four ropanis of land (1500 to 2000m2). Every farmer has livestock, goats and chickens being
most common while some of them also have buffalos and cows. The Kalleri cooperative offers
to its members saving and credit services, livestock insurance, capacity development and policy
advocacy. Seeding grants and technical support by the government was obtained after lobby
efforts by the SFACL.

The Kalleri community stretches over uphill and lowland areas along the Trisuli River. In the
uphill parts, farmers are only able to cultivate for one cropping season per year. Millet and
barley are traditional crops grown in the upper regions (Table 2.1). Cooperative members in the
lower belt generally manage two cropping seasons per year. Rice is produced during the
monsoon season while maize grows during the four months of winter. Maize is intercropped
with beans like cowpeas or pumpkin group vegetables. Farmers with access to small streams
are also able to grow horticultural products while they are cultivating rice.

Table 2.1 Major crop patterns in the Kalleri SFACL

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Crop Millet or Barley
pattern 1
Crop Maize and Rice Maize and
pattern 2 beans/cucurbits beans/cucurbits
Crop Maize and Rice with other horticultural Maize and
pattern 3 beans/cucurbits crops beans/cucurbits

Drinking water comes from a nearby spring which is channeled as it exits the forested hillside.
An open-ended pipe is available for the community to come and fill up their jerry cans and
spare bottles. The flow is significantly reduced during the dryer months of winter but it is always
enough to at least meet the community’s drinking water demands.

Actions taken and outcomes

About 20 households living in the lowlands areas adjoining the Trisuli River have invested in
lift irrigation systems. Prior to this, the community had not been able to tap this water source
because of the 61 meters drop separating the farmland from the river. The cost of the pumps,
three phase electric power lines (to provide the pumps with adequate voltage) and the
polyethylene flexible pipes is estimated at 120,000 RPS. About 50,000 RPS per project is
accorded as subsidy from the district office of the Agricultural Development Ministry, the rest
is financed through the SFACL’s loan programme and through the farmers’ personal savings.

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

Cooperative members who have gained access from irrigation have benefitted in two ways.
First, they have been able to expand from two to three cropping seasons per year (Figure 2.1).
Second, they have switched from grain based agriculture to horticultural production for the
winter cropping season. Cabbage and potatoes are two cash crops which farmers with irrigation
now plant during this time of the year. Previously farmers were only able to grow them in
summer when rainfall would provide enough to satisfy their water requirements. Aubergine,
cucumber and lychee are amongst the other common vegetable and fruits that farmers started
to cultivating once they gained access to irrigation.

Figure 2.1. Kalleri SFACL members using flexible pipes to irrigate during the dry season

Yet, there are several challenges associated with the lift irrigation infrastructure installed in
Kalleri. First, the pumps require a lot of energy and the operational costs are likewise fairly
expensive (about 500 to 600 RPS per hour). Moreover, the maintenance costs are high as well
since the pump filters often get clogged because the Trisuli River is rich in sediments. Zero
energy pumps were considered as an alternative to the electric models as they cost much less in
operation and maintenance. The issue is that the elevation is too high for such pump and that
the sedimentation problem stays.

Lessons learned and replicability

The story of Kalleri shows that irrigation water can significantly expand the production of small
farmers. On the flip side, it also shows that irrigation systems can be expensive and technically
challenging. Some other lessons learned here include:

 Water sources that seem close and available are not always easy to tap.
 Lift irrigation involves substantial up front costs, a careful cost and benefit analysis
should be done prior to investing in such technology.

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

 The lift irrigation systems installed in the Kalleri SFACL are private ones. Coming
together as a community could help reduce the individual costs and share the benefits
of irrigation to more farmers.
 Subsidies from the government and soft loans help farmers getting access to irrigation
infrastructure.
 High value crops should be prioritised to cover the high operation and maintenance
costs.

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

3. Solar-powered pumps for lift irrigation: prospective and challenges from

the Salang SFACL

Background

The Salang Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperative Ltd. is located in the Village Municipality
of Siddha Lake – 4, Dhading District, Province No. 3. The Salang Cooperative consists of 1533
members, of which 932 are women and 45% are below 35 years old. The support provided to
SFACL members include savings and credit services, capacity development training and
livestock insurance. The SFACL has done remarkably well in making livestock insurance
affordable to farmers by linking them up with the available subsidies from the Ministry of
Livestock Development. The current agreement is that the government pays half of the annual
premium and that the farmer only has to pay the other half, which is equivalent to only 2.5%
of the total insurable amount.

The average land size of the Salang SFACL members are three to four ropanis (1500 to
2000m2). As in most other places of Nepal, rice is cultivated during the monsoon season. That
said, the area has been also very successful at producing tomatoes during these rainy months
because of its highly fertile soils. So much so that many farmers decided leave rice production
behind and switch to growing tomatoes instead (Table 3.1). When the harvesting time comes,
three truck filled with tomatoes leave Salang every single day to be sold on the vegetable
markets around the Kathmandu valley. Tomatoes are intercropped with beans and okra
amongst many other horticultural products. Some farmers have also started to try to grow maize
during the off season. Unfortunately, the crops water requirements are not adequately met
leaving the plants stunted and those experiments largely unsuccessful. A part from kitchen
gardening not much is produced outside the monsoon season.

Table 3.1 Major crop patterns in the Salang SFACL

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Crop Rice
pattern 1
Crop Tomato and horticultural crops
pattern 2

Actions taken and outcomes

A solar pump lift irrigation project was launched in 2016. The project was a joint initiative
between the Salang SFACL, SunFarmer and Practial Action. Three irrigation schemes were
planned, each of them would be independently supported by two 600Wp solar panel arrays
(Figure 3.1) and one 60,000 litres reservoir tank (Figure 3.2). The objective was to provide
sufficient irrigation water for 60 households to practice vegetable commercial farming year
round. The total amount of irrigated land that was planned was 180 ropanis (approx. 90,000m2
or 220 acres).

The total estimated cost of the project was 3.5M RPS. Practical Action and Sunfarmer pledged
to fund most of the irrigation infrastructure, respectively contributing 2.2M and 800,000 RPS
for the realisation of this project. The farmers were expected to pay about 500,000 RPS to cover
the costs associated to labour and the buying of pipes for the supply network to their farms.

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

Figure 3.1 The two 600Wp solar panel arrays serving the first scheme

Figure 3.2 The 60,000 litres tank for the first scheme

A number of logistical problems have however slowed down the implementation of the project.
One of the major issues is that there are too many sediments in the Trisuli River and that pumps
get saturated and ultimately clogged very quickly. The partners are currently building a water
inlet with a three filter chambers to resolve this issue. Another problem is the underestimation
of the costs for the distribution lines from the reservoir tank to different collection points. The
farmers, who are financially responsible for this aspect of the project, do not have the sufficient
means to cover these additional costs. The SFACL and the farmers’ community benefitting
from this project are currently looking for ways of mobilizing more resources.

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

Lessons learned and replicability

In comparison to other traditional alternatives for lift irrigation, solar powered pumps prove to
be less costly and more environmentally friendly to operate. Given these advantages it makes
more and more sense to start pumping water using this technology. The experience of the
Salang SFACL shares on some of the broader opportunities and challenges which must be
considered prior to adopting such type of systems:

 Solar lift irrigation projects involve significant infrastructure investments but many
international donor organisations and private companies are currently involved in
making this technology more affordable and more accessible. Farmers should reach out
and seek to engage in such partnership.
 Medium to large scale irrigation projects have many technical difficulties that are hard
to predict and are logistically more complex. Budgets need be able to take into account
such uncertainty by identifying, for instance, a list of possible alternative sources of
capital to cover such unforeseen troubles.

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

4. Spring water tapping and grey water reuse for micro irrigation: doing
more with less in the Manakamana SFACL

Background

The Manakamana Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperative Ltd. is in Sahid Lakhan Village
Municipality, Gorkha District, Province No. 4. The Manakamana SFACL has 1300 members,
about 40% of which are youth and 843 are women. The SFACL has been supporting farmers
by offering them training programmes and micro-finance services. The community has also
benefitted form the cooperative’s lobbying exercise with donor agencies and the government.
For example, the SFACL developed conjointly with Care-Nepal a sanitation project aiming to
build pit latrines for every household in the village.

Small farmers of Manakamana are completely dependant on subsistence agriculture and the
few of them with livestock have only a couple of chickens or a goat. Cooperative members
have on average 10 to 15 ropanis (5000 to 7500m2) of land, predominately rocky terraces
carved out from the mountain side. Due to a lack of water resources they are only able to
harvest once a year. Maize is intercropped with beans and pumpkins during the monsoon
season and most of the land is left uncultivated for the other remaining 7 or 8 months of the
year (Table 4.1).

Table 4.1 Major crop pattern in the Manakama SFACL

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Crop Maize and beans/cucurbits
pattern

The Manakamana community is severely water stressed due to a range of factors. First, there
is only limited supply of water; groundwater is inaccessible and surface water bodies mostly
consist of small natural springs that form at the edge of the surrounding mountains. A part from
that, locals have reported that the available flow have been gradually decreasing over the last
30 years. Some argue is it because of the pine trees that the government planted to prevent soil
erosion, while others identify climate change as the main cause. Moreover, there has been
evidence of springs disappearing after the 2015 earthquake (the Sahid Lakhan Village
Municipality is located only tens of kilometers away from the epicenter). High demand from
the nearby hotels and restaurants in the area has induced additional pressure on the available
water resources. Manakamana is home to Durga Bhawani Temple, a sacred site for Hindus.
The Nepali government commissioned a cable car in 1998 to encourage more pilgrims and
tourists to come. In the high season, the village hosts approximately 30,000 daily visitors.

Actions taken and outcomes

Cooperative members came together in 2014 to construct a community-based drinking water

supply scheme. Surface diversion ditches were built to channel the water from two different
streams into collection boxes. The water flows with gravity through 3 inch pipes connected to
two separate reservoirs with storage capacity of 9,000 and 5,000 litres each. The water is then
pumped to a filter tank of 35,000 liters before being finally distributed to individual households.
Meters were installed on taps to monitor consumption and to minimizing wastage (Figure 4.1).
The minimum unit cost is 150 RPS per month and every extra unit (100 liters) costs 30 RPS –

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a price that community members are more than willing to pay since the alternative is a 40
minutes’ roundtrip walk to collect water directly from the spring.

Figure 4.1 On plot household metered taps

The community-based drinking water supply system also had indirect positive impact on the
agricultural production of farmers. By gaining better access drinking water supplies, the
villagers started using more of it for other non-drinking domestic purposes as well (e.g.
cleaning dishes, washing clothes, etc.). Very aware of how water scarce the area still remained,
the farmers began collecting their grey water as much as they could. Basically every drainage
system in the village empties itself in the household’s kitchen gardens. The collected grey water
is enough to irrigate approximately half a katha, which is equivalent to about 150m2. The
common products that are grown in people’s kitchen gardens are spinach, cauliflowers,
radishes and beans.

Figure 4.2 A drainage system channelling grey water for irrigating a kitchen garden

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

Lessons learned and replicability

The small farmers of the Manakamana showcase how more can be done with less. Some of the
most important lessons learned from the Manakamana SFACL include:

 Tapping multiple sources of water (in this case more than one spring) allows for greater
resiliency and increases the water supplies. In tapping spring water, a careful attention
should be although given to guaranteeing the environmental flows.
 Metered consumption is a mechanism through which community-based drinking water
systems can become economically and environmentally sustainable.
 Grey water can be turned into a precious resource if properly reused. Actions should
be taken to collect and reuse as much grey water as possible.
 Kitchen gardens can be easily cultivated even in water scarce areas. They are great way
for small farmers to get access to quality and affordable horticultural products and to
boost their livelihoods.

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5. Solar groundwater pumping for irrigation and fish farming: building

climate resiliency and livelihood diversification in the Khaireni SFACL

Background

The Khaireni Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperative is situated in the Khaireni Village
Municipality, Chitwan District, Province No 3. The Khaireni SFACL is composed of 3816
members, all of which are women and 65% are under 35 years of age. The cooperative has
been active in supporting its members in a number of agricultural activities, including seedling
and fertilizers purchases and training. Cooperative building activities are carried out on a
regular basis to foster further collaboration between farmers and farmers’ clusters.

Compared to the hilly areas, the agricultural lands of Chitwan require less maintenance and are
more fertile. Because of their high value, the farmers land size in this region are relatively
smaller than elsewhere in the country. Farmers from Khaireni hold on average 5 to 6 katha
(approx. 1700 to 2000 m²) of land. Chitwan is also an area which is much hotter than the rest
of the country. This drives the evapotranspiration up, causing many problems for small farmers,
especially during the summer months where the days’ alternate between sunny and hot and
heavy short showers.

Alike in other parts of Nepal, agricultural production and the annual crop patterns are closely
related to the seasonality of precipitations (Table 5.1). Rice is produced during the monsoon
and grains, including mustard, are grown during the drier periods of the year. Those with
irrigation water supplies manage to plant high value horticultural crops when rice is not being
produced.

Table 5.1 Major crop patterns in the Khaireni SFACL

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Crop Wheat or Rice Wheat or
pattern 1 mustard mustard
Crop Wheat or Rice Wheat or
pattern 2 mustard and mustard and
horticultural horticultural
crops crops

A number of farmers in Chitwan have in fact started drilling boreholes for irrigation supplies
as early as in the 1970s (Figure 5.1). The problem, however, is that most of the pumping is
done through diesel motors which are very expensive to operate (300-400 NRS per hour) and
to maintain. An equally important downfall is the ecological aspect as diesel water pumps
release insane amounts of nitrogen and carbon oxides into the atmosphere.

Actions taken and outcomes

One of the major recent changes with respect to water resource management in the Northern
Torai Arc Belt has been the mounting switch from diesel to electric or solar water pumping
systems. Electric water pumps are better than their diesel equivalent but grid fluctuations and
outbreaks made them unreliable. Solar water pumping has the upper hand on both of its

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counterparts as it is literally free to operate, provider). The farmers would then have to
requires minimal maintenance and has no repay this initial capital investment back to
environmental impact. SunFarmer over a period of 2-3 years via
the SFACL. SunFarmer also offered system
The first switch to a solar water pumping performance guarantees to farmers during
instead of a diesel pump in the Khaireni this time, insofar as no payments need to be
SFACL was initiated in 2015. The project made if the solar system does not fulfill two
involved the installation of a solar power thirds of its expected capacity in any given
system (75Wp solar panel array, two 100Ah month.
batteries and an 1500VA inverter) and the
construction of two pounds (one of 10,000 Figure 5.1 A defunct diesel water pump
litres and the other of 40,000 litres) (Figure
5.2).

The total system and service cost was

350,000 RPS. The Renewable Energy for
Rural Livelihoods, the Alternative Energy
Promotion Center and Winrock
International supported the project with a
25% grant (87,000 RPS) to encourage
adoption of the technology by alleviating
the burden of its high initial costs. The
farmers paid 25% (87,000 RPS) of the cost
upfront and the 50% remaining was
covered by SunFarmer (the service

The system serves 35 households, irrigating 30 kathas (2.5 acres) of land through polyethylene
distribution pipe network. The new system enables farmers to now produce three crops a year;
two of rice (instead of one) and one of mustard combined with horticultural production (instead
of mustard alone).

Figure 5.2. The first solar water pumping project initiated in the Khaireni SFACL

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The farmers’ community also started using the water ponds to fish farm. The ponds muddy
water found to be an ideal habitat for the common carp. Also, as the ponds are filled with
underground water so the temperature remains warm enough for the carps to remain active in
its feeding behaviour and thus continuously grow in size throughout the year. The fish feed
themselves from insects (including their larvae and pupae) and from the tender parts and seeds
of water plants. Since the beginning of their experiment with fish farming, the farmers’
community has been able to produce on average 350 kg of fish per year for an approximate
market price of 60,000 RPS.

Lessons learned and replicability

There are several lessons to be learned from this solar water pumping project in the Khaireni
SFACL:

 Solar water pumps have an advantage over the other water pumps in the long run
because of their low operation and maintenance costs and of their minimal
environmental impact, especially in comparison to the conventional diesel models.
 The high capital costs associated to solar power pumps is a deterrence for farmers to
adopt such new water technology.
 Co-funding mechanisms based on private-public-partnership models can help alleviate
the financial challenge which farmers face.
 Micro- and small-scale irrigation can be a successful a business opportunity for private
water technology service providers.
 Multi-use water resource development is a means of boosting and diversifying
livelihood for small farmers.

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6. Small plastic pond storage for irrigation supplies and for livestock:
learning from multi-use climate resilient systems in the Bajrabarahi
SFACL

Background

The Bajrabarahi Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperative Ltd. is located in Bajrabarahi Village
Municipality, Makwanpur District, Province No. 3. The Bajrabarahi SFACL has 1302 farmer
members, 742 are female and about 30% are 35 years old or under. The farmers’ cooperative
offers loans for livestock and vegetable production and has recently started offering livestock
insurance as well. The Bajrabarahi SFACL has been very active from a capacity development
perspective with a number of agricultural trainings in seedling and integrated pest management.

The small farmers of Bajrabarahi hold on average five ropanis (2500 m2) of land each. The
community is divided between lowlands and highlands. An open canal system diverts stream
water to terrace rice paddies, irrigating about 80% of the lowlands (Figure 6.1). Farmers further
up and on the hill sides are entirely dependant on rainwater.

Figure 6.1 Stream diversion through open canal systems for terrace paddy irrigation

The major crops patterns in the Bajrabarahi SFACL differ based on the availability of irrigation
supply. Those in the upland grow rice during the monsoon season and then leave the land
barren from late-October to mid-February. Agricultural production recommences in the spring
with a mixture of mustard, cauliflower, capsicum, maize or potatoes that grow until the rainy
season. The lowland farmers with irrigation follow the same pattern except that they cultivate
during the winter time as well. Potatoes and the 60-day cauliflower variety are the most
commonly grown winter crops. The winter harvest has although been under increasing pressure
as the spring flows have not always been sufficient enough throughout the season. Some argue
it is because of climate change while others point to the overconsumption by upstream farmers.

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Table 6.1. Major crop patterns in the Bajrabarahi SFAC

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Crop Mustard, Rice Cauliflower
pattern 1 cauliflower, and potatoes
capsicum, maize
or potatoes
Crop Mustard, Rice
pattern 2 cauliflower,
capsicum, maize
or potatoes

Actions taken and outcomes

Farmers that were most impacted by the punctual shortages of water for irrigation in the winter
time have started building small plastic pond storage systems. The farmers fill in these ponds
with the open channel mechanisms when water levels are high enough for everyone and keep
it to full storage capacity (10,000 litres) until the water is needed. This storage allows farmer
to become more climate resilient and to better respond to these times of occasional water stress.

The cost for building a small plastic pond storage system (SPPSS) is around 10,000 to 11,000
RPS. About 40% of the costs relate to purchasing the plastics and 60% are labour costs. So far,
90 farmers from the Bajrabarahi community have build SPPSS. All of them have benefitted
from a 3,000 RPS subsidy from Love Green Nepal (a Nepali NGO for rural development) for
purchasing the plastics. The farmers financed the remaining amounts either through their
personal savings or through small loans provided by the SFACL.

A number of farmers have taken the better off farmers have build solar water
opportunity to build solar water heaters heaters for livestock as part of their SPSS.
next to the SPPS (Figure 6.2). The purpose
of the heaters is to warm up few hundreds Figure 6.2 A SPPSS with a solar water
of liters of water which farmers give daily heater for livestock
to their livestock. Buffalos and cows are in
fact more productive and stay in healthier
condition if they drink warm water during
the winter time. Other farmers who do not
have such system need to heat the water for
livestock using a conventional fire stove, an
activity which needs to be carried out twice
a day and which ends being very time
consuming—especially if you factor in the
hours spent fetching firewood. While solar
water heaters have proven their benefits,
their price is relatively expensive ranging
from about 45,000 to 60,000 depending on
the capacity. As such, only a handful of

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

Lessons learned and replicability

The experience from small farmers from the Bajrabarahi SFACL shares the following
important considerations regarding water resource management and IWRM methods:

 Water resources management is an art of adaptation. Having sufficient water resources

one year or for how long as one can remember does not mean that the same amount
will be available during the next year or for any of the other years to come. Storage
capacity is a way of building climate resilient livelihoods for small farmers.
 Storage systems do not have to be very large nor very expensive.
 Irrigation and water storage systems are often built to serve a single purpose, i.e. expand
irrigation on uncultivated land. Farmers in Bajrabarahi have maximized the socio-
economic potential of water resource management by constructing systems that provide
water for irrigation and for livestock.
 The benefits of storage and multi-use water systems is not always visible in monetary
terms. The extra disposable time gained from switching to solar water heaters instead
of conventional fire stoves is a good example of that.

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IWRM Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal

7. Drip irrigation using drinking water supplies: maximising the efficient

use of available water resources in the Padampur SFACL

Background

The Padampur Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperative is located in Padampur Village

Development Committee, Chitwan District, Province No. 3. The Padampur SFACL is a
women’s only cooperative of 1663 members, about 60% of which are less than 35 years old.
The cooperative has been providing a range of services to its members, including agricultural
training, livestock insurance, and loan and credit lending facilities.

The Padampur SFACL is a large cooperative with a lot of internal diversity amongst its
farmers. The average land size varies, for example, from 5 to 9 kathas (approx. 1700 to 3000
m²). Also, while some well-off farmers have many large livestock such as cows and buffalos,
less wealthy ones may only have a few goats or chicken.

The agricultural production in Padampur is likewise immensely varied. The area produces
grains and oil seeds (rice, mustard, maize), fruits (banana and lemon), legumes (soybean and
cowpea), and vegetables (spinach, okra, potatoes, cauliflower, onions, etc.). Table 7.1
summarises the major crop patterns in the Padampur SFACL.

Table 7.1 Major crop patterns in the Padampur SFACL

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Crop Must Maize and Mustard
pattern 1 ard beans/cucurbits
Crop Wheat Rice Wheat
pattern 2
Crop Veget Maize Rice Vegetables
pattern 3 ables
Crop Bananas and lemons
pattern 4

The hot climate of Chitwan makes it possible to cultivate up to three agricultural seasons per
year but only farmers with advanced irrigation systems are able to do so. The majority of
irrigation systems found in the Padampur SFACL depend on groundwater, predominantly
private wells and boreholes. The problem is that the accessibility of groundwater is unequally
distributed across the area; the depth of the water table is 20 meters in some places and can
plunge to 120 and even to 200 meters only few kilometers away. Deep borehole drilling has
proven to be successful in some cases but remains extremely for small farmers. Many farmers
in the northern belt of the Torai Arc Region of Chitwan where the aquifer depth is the deepest
are thus unable to access water for irrigation. This in turn limits their agricultural potential and
ultimately their livelihood conditions.

Actions taken and outcomes

Two farmers from the northern belt area of the Padampur SFACL had the chance to participate
in 2013 to the Nepali Agriculture Training Program in Israel, which is co-organised by the

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Small Farmer Development Bank and the Embassy of Israel in Kathmandu. During this training
programme, these two farmers learned about integrated pest management, fertiliser use, and
irrigation techniques. Upon their return to Nepal, one of them decided to built a drip irrigation
system using drinking water supplies as groundwater is because of its depth very hard to access
in this particular area.

Still, each household is guaranteed at least two hours of drinking water supplies which is
provided through the government’s nearby deep boreholes and cittern storage facilities. What
this farmer did was to install a plastic tank of 500 liters, which she fills one a day using the
government’s drinking water supplies (Figure 7.1). A hose pipe connection system is connected
to the tank. The hoses are strategically perforated so that water is distributed to the plants as it
is transported through the system using gravity flows.

Figure 7.1 A member of the SFACL showing her drip irrigation project

The total cost of the system was 50,000 RPS for the three kathas (1000 m2) of land. With the
help of the SFACL, she obtained a 50% subsidy by the district office of the Ministry of
Agricultural Development on the plastic tank and on the hoses and connection pipes. She
funded the remaining 25,000 RPS by taking out a soft loan with her cooperative’s credit lending
services. Her operation costs are about 1,350 RPS per month (she uses on average 300 liters
per day for irrigation purposes at 15 RPS per 100 liters).

She was able to easily repay her loan and cover the operation cost through her increased
horticultural production. For the first harvest, she decided to plant Marigold flowers (perennial
flowers commonly used in religious ceremonies and celebrations in Nepal). After three months
only she repaid her entire loan having harvested the equivalent of 30,000 RPS worth of
Marigolds. Aside from flower production, this farmer is also currently producing okra, spinach,
beans and tomatoes, which she sell at the local market.

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Lessons learned and replicability

Because irrigation development in the Torai region has typically been around groundwater
pumping, the majority of farmers in Padampur SFACL and elsewhere in Chitwan are stuck in
this idea that drilling a deep borehole is the only way that they will ever get water for irrigation.
The problem is that the aquifer is sometimes more than 100 meters deep and that deep borehole
drilling is simply unaffordable for these small farmers. What this particular farmer teaches us
is that there are sometimes unsought water management solutions that are much more
financially and technically viable. Here are some broader lessons which can be derived from
this experience:

 Water management sometimes requires thinking outside the box. While conventional
methods may seem to work fine, unconventional techniques and systems may very well
be as effective but require much less in terms of financial or technical requirements.
 Water management systems can serve different use than what they were originally
intended for. Allocation should be based on maximizing the socio-economic outcomes
without compromising the environmental sustainability.
 Small farmers can immensely benefit from agricultural training. Training in other
countries or other regions can help farmers discover unthought-of tools and agricultural
techniques.
 Drip irrigation is one of the most efficient distribution systems. As water is directly
deposited at the stem level, evaporation losses are minimized, which makes it especially
well adapted to hot areas such as the Torai region. Plus, if the system is properly
designed such system can have virtually zero spillage rates. This allows a maximum
agricultural production with minimum pressure on the available water resources.

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