In a blogpost published by CLIMAS, Bhuwan Thapa has highlighted some of the issues around irrigation, agriculture and adapting to change in Nepal, which he is researching as part of his PhD.
When provided with right incentives and resources, farmers have demonstrated effective adaptive responses through structural and non-structural interventions. Some of the structural interventions included adoption of technology and hybrid seed varieties whereas non-structural interventions were the modifications of water management rules and changes in agricultural practices based on local knowledge. I have learned that the local level institutions with decentralized decision making can be the platform for adaptive responses. These institutions can be crucial for resiliency of irrigated agriculture because they empower the farmers and strengthen their capacity for timely response during a crisis.
You can read the full article here.