WORKING GROUP ON SUSTAINABLE ON-FARM IRRIGATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT (WG-SON-FARM) | International Commission on Irrigation & Drainage (ICID)

Irrigation water from its source is conveyed up to a farm and subsequently applied to crops through various irrigation methods- surface (basins, furrows, and border strips), sprinkler, and micro irrigation. Vast amount of water goes waste if it is not applied efficiently and uniformly all over the field. Improperly planned, designed and laid/ installed irrigation system leads to losses such as deep percolation, runoff, evaporation, and wind drift affecting the performance of the system. Today a vast range of sprinkler and micro irrigation technology is available to fit all types of soil, crops, climates and farm sizes. Modern micro irrigation systems can achieve as high as 95% application efficiency leading to significant water saving.

The Working Group on On-Farm Irrigation Systems (WG-ON-FARM) promotes on-farm irrigation as part of integrated water resources management, and sustainable efficient approach for on-farm irrigation. The group has brought out many publications (manuals and guidelines) for planning, design and evaluation of micro and sprinkler irrigation systems. One of the important activities of the WG is compilation of the worldwide ‘Sprinkler and Micro irrigated Areas’. As per the latest compilation, worldwide more than 46 million ha (comprising 36 million ha sprinkler irrigation and 10 million ha of micro irrigation) are irrigated by these irrigation technologies. ICID is a ‘Liaison Member’ of ISO/TC23/SC18 since over a decade.

Another important activity of the WG is to organize’ International Micro Irrigation Congress/ Symposium’ on periodic basis.

Scoping Document

1. Questionnaire : Worldwide usage of micro & sprinkler irrigation (Revised, January 2006)
2. Report to ISO SC18, participation to the 19th ICID Congress, Beijing, September 2005
3. List of Irrigation Standards (ISO and CEN)
4. Questionnaire on "Energy Requirements for Irrigation"

In addition to the below membership, representative from FAO is Permanent Observer.

Mandate:

(a) On-farm irrigation structures and water distribution system networks are properly designed, installed, managed and maintained; (b) Soil moisture is monitored, technical and management measures for enhancing the water infiltration and retention capacities of soils are investigated and implemented; (c) Trade-offs among on-farm irrigation technologies, socio-economic and environmental benefits are optimized; (d) Innovative local institutional arrangements are developed and promoted for operation and maintenance; and (e) Top-notch scientific and development relevant research is conducted and its results are translated into actionable recommendations.

*Re-constituted in 2015 and renamed as Working Group on Sustainable On-Farm Irrigation System Development (WG-SON-FARM)

Established : 2015

Membership

Sl. No.	Name	Email	Country	Position
1	Dr. A.K. Randev	ra*************	India	Chair
2	Mr. Carl Walters	ca*************	Australia	Vice Chair
3	Mr. Suman Sijapati	su*************	Nepal	Secretary
4	Mr. Bashu Dev Lohanee	ba*************	Nepal	Member
5	Prof. Chang Eon Park	ce*************	South Korea	Member
6	Dr. Chen, Ching-Tien	ct*************	Chinese Taipei Committee	Member
7	Mr. Dilip Yewalekar	ye*************	India	Member
8	Dr. Graziano Ghinassi	gr*************	Italy	Member
9	Dr. Guanghua Guan	GG*************	China	Member
10	Mr. Hassan Shantia	ha*************	Iran	Member
11	Dr. Hossein Dehghanisanij	de*************	Iran	Member
12	Prof. L.B. Roy - Direct Member	lb*************	India	Member
13	Prof. Luo Yufeng	yf*************	China	Member
14	Mr. Ömer Faruk Akbulut	of*************	Turkey	Member
15	Mr. Siboniso Phillip Mkhaliphi	ms*************	South Africa	Member
16	Mr. Taku MORI	t.*************	Japan	Member
17	Dr. Teoh Chin Chuang	cc*************	Malaysia	Member
18	Dr. Yu Min Wang	wa*************	Chinese Taipei Committee	Member
19	Dr. Zhang Guohua - Young Professional	zg*************	China	Member
20	Dr. Gamal Mohamed Elkassar	ge*************	Egypt	Provisional Member
21	Engr. Malik Muhammad Akram	ma*************	Pakistan	Provisional Member
22	Prof. Yao Bin	ci*************	China	Provisional Member
23	Mr. Abijit Joshi	jo*************	India	Permanent Observer
24	Mr. M.S. Sudhakar	su*************	India	Permanent Observer
25	Mr. Sher Singh	sh*************	India	Permanent Observer