The Contribution of Farmers to Irrigation Management for Agricultural Production in The Red River Delta Vietnam

In the Red River delta Vietnam, farm performance is dependent on the availability of water
provided by public irrigation. With a well constructed irrigation system, farmers can increase their
income by cultivating three crops per year. Hence participating in irrigation system management is
necessary to improve their living. The aims of this paper are to examine the contribution of farmers to irrigation control for sustainable agricultural production. By analyzing primary data which is collected from the survey of 60 farm households, we discovered that irrigation management in this delta consists of several activities such as canals dredging, damaged canals repairing, checking the flow of water in canals and water pumping. In general, farmers contribute to these activities in two ways either in cash or working days. Around 70 percent of farmers contribute money to canal dredging and repairing annually, the rest are poorer so they support by their working days. Our regression model indicates that household income, the contribution of their neighbors, and frequency of attending social events in the community are main factors which statistically significant affect on farmers’ contribution. Therefore, promoting the contribution of farmers to irrigation management is an appropriate policy that needs to be implemented.