Phad system
Also called: Phad irrigation · Topic: Water Resources of India: Availability, Use and Conservation · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 1 "The Story of Indian Farming"
Meaning
The phad system is a community-run irrigation system in the Tapi basin of north Maharashtra. Small weirs called bandharas (low walls across a river) raise the water and turn it into canals. The canals feed blocks of fields called phads. Each phad grows only one crop, so water is shared fairly and used well. The farmers plan and manage it together.
Example
On tributaries of the Tapi in north Maharashtra, bandharas send river water through canals to phads. One block might grow sugarcane while another grows a seasonal food crop.
Don't confuse with
- Ahar-pyne: this is south Bihar's system of channels that fill embanked storage basins for paddy. The phad system works through weirs, canals and one-crop blocks.
Related concepts
- Ancient hydraulic structures of India
- Kallanai
- Traditional water harvesting systems
- Guls and kuls
- Inundation channels
- Khadin
- Johad
- Taanka
- Kund
- Ahar-pyne