Mechanized Irrigation Innovation Project

Active

The project will provide long-term sustainable solutions to increase year-round access to irrigation water in about 22,400 hectares (ha) of command area in Rautahat and Sarlahi districts of Madhesh Province in the Terai. This will provide increased climate resilience and water security to poor rural farmers by constructing a large-scale network of about 500 deep tube wells (DTWs) with dedicated and reliable electricity distribution networks. The management, operation, and maintenance (MOM) of the tube well irrigation schemes will be contracted to a third-party operator, using a design-build-operate (DBO) contracting modality. On-demand irrigation services will be provided to at least 121,000 farmers using innovative technology with a prepaid water metering system. The project will be the first of its kind in Nepal and will transition from traditional irrigation systems toward a more resilient and sustainable irrigation system.