Irrigated agriculture is one of the major contributors to the supply of food and fibers in the world. Forecasts of water supply and demand (IWMI, FAO, and IFPRI) provide a picture of food supply and demand and irrigation-water supply and demand by 2025 and 2030. The forecasted results have direct implications for decisions related to investment in water and in rural development. It is important to assess as to how the irrigated area could be expanded within the available limited financial resources and irrigation-water use reduced in order to meet future needs. Results of past investments in agricultural water management have been mixed. On one hand, irrigated agriculture expansion has increased productivity and has made a major contribution to meeting fast rising world food demand supporting rural economy and reducing poverty. On the other it is often complained that the performance of large-scale irrigation has been sub-optimal.

The rapid growth and uptake of the sector has been, to a certain extent based on the availability of water at low price. At the same time the supply driven approaches and large-scale irrigation infrastructure is alleged to have resulted in bureaucratic institutions that lack the structure and incentives for efficient management and not capable of responding to farmer needs. The investment in maintenance of the irrigation infrastructure has fallen way short of accepted norms. Few projects have tackled the demand-responsive water delivery service. These issues have been at the center stage of ICID discussions for many years. These issues are deliberated and experiences exchanged under the Task Force on Financing Water for Agriculture (TF-FIN). The TF has collected case studies from Australia, France, Iran, Japan, South Africa, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and India. The TF plans to bring out a report titled “Water Use Charging Systems and Available Financing of Irrigation: Case Studies and Cross-Country Comparison”.

• Permanent Committee on Strategy and Organization (PCSO)
• Permanent Committee on Technical Activities (PCTA)
• Task Forces (TF)
• Completed/ Past Workbodies