Author(s)

S. K. Tripathi

Abstract

The Upper Ganga Canal System is now about 167 years old. It was conceived, planned and executed by Sir Cautley as famine relief work in North India. The command area spreads into the Districts of Haridwar, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bulandshahar, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Aligarh, Mathura, Agra, Etah, Mainpuri and Kanpur. The system was modernized in 1995. About 323 persons/km2 area is the population pressure. Farmers follow intensive cultivation practice. Important canal water management constraints that affected the yield of sugarcane (Y1), rice (Y2) and wheat (Y3) were analyzed as Distance from Hardwar (km) as X1, CCA (ha)/cumec as X2, Field Size (m2) as X3, Water Table (m) as X4, Size of Holding (ha) as X5, Occupancy (days/year) as X6, Clay content (%) as X7 and Annual Rain (mm) X8. Regression analysis indicated that the size of holding of farmers affected the yield of these crops remarkably. Correlation study revealed the yields of sugarcane was affected by CCA (ha)/cumec negatively insignificantly whereas, rice and wheat yield was affected by land occupancy (days/year) and rainfall (mm) significantly and negatively. The rest of the variables affected positively and significantly. These findings revealed that planners and administrators may take initiative to encourage farmers to increase the size of their holdings by discouraging further fragmentation, making equitable water supply and improving soil fertility throughout the command. Keywords: distributaries, minor, command, crop, soil type, cultivable.

Keywords

distributaries, minor, command, crop, soil type, cultivable