Abstract
To refer to the burden of the maintenance of irrigation and drainage facilities, the questionnaire survey and the interviews about Ezarai (regular cleaning ditches by residents in each rural settlement in cooperation) were made on the area where Tedorikawa-shichikayousui Land Improvement District maintained and operated irrigation and drainage facilities. The main findings were as follows: 1) The number of rural settlements was large in which a non-farm household owning farmland (NF) shouldered the physical task and/or the costs of Ezarai. It was suggested that the position of NF in Ezarai was important. In the burden of the maintenance of irrigation and drainage facilities, at this time, it was pointed that the institutional assistance for a farmland owner including NF not to relinquish farmland was more important than the encouragement of the participation of a non-farm household not owning farmland. 2) The number of rural settlements was small in which a farmer cultivating farmland in one rural settlement living in another (FA) shouldered the physical task and/or the costs of Ezarai in the rural settlements. In preparation for the increase of farmland cultivated by FA, it was thought to be necessary to discuss about which was responsible for maintaining irrigation and drainage facilities, FA or the residents in the rural settlement.
