Performance benchmarking in irrigation and drainage systems

Due to the rapid growth in world population, increasing numbers of people especially those who are living in arid and semi-arid regions are suffering from shortage of water and food, and this is the driving force for improving irrigation and drainage systems’ efficiency. As irrigated agriculture is a consumer for over 75% of world fresh water supplies, using the water allocated to the agricultural sector more efficient and then releasing the surplus of water for other sectors’ use seems to be the only solution for coping with water scarcity. Irrigation and drainage infrastructure is the indispensable element of irrigated agriculture. The level of irrigation and drainage services maintained in the irrigation area is directly affecting the quantity of crop production. Improving irrigation system efficiency / performance in aspects of Management - Operation - Maintenance (MOM) tasks has become a major concern for stakeholders and system managers, but monitoring and evaluating the performance of irrigation systems by using performance indicators have been a major concern for the researchers in this area. The term “Irrigation system performance evaluation” refers to what extent the targets and objectives have been achieved. Benchmarking implies comparison either internally with previous performance and desired future targets, or externally against similar organizations, or organizations performing similar functions. The overall aim of benchmarking is to improve the performance of an organization as measured against its mission and objectives. This paper emphasizes on the concept of benchmarking and its applications in irrigation and drainage systems