About The Institute

Water And Land Management Institute (WALMI), Odisha was established in the year 1984 under erstwhile Irrigation and Power Department (now the Department of Water Resources). The Institute was subsequently registered as a Society in 1986 under the Societies Registration Act-1860. Since then, it has been functioning as an autonomous body receiving Grant-in-Aid from the Government of Odisha in Department of Water Resources.

The Institute caters to the needs of capacity building of the newly recruited and in-service Engineers of the Department of Water Resources (DoWR), officers of Agriculture Department, Office Bearers of Pani Panchayats and farmers of Odisha. Besides, it conducts action research in irrigation projects, applied and adoptive research on water management in agriculture and undertakes consultancy work in participatory irrigation management including formation of Pani Panchayats, Distributary Committees and Entry Point Activity in selected Pani Panchayats of Irrigation Commands. Both the major activities of training and research of WALMI aim at performance improvement of irrigation projects leading to enhancement of water use efficiency. The main thrust is given on improved operation and maintenance of irrigation systems and adoption of water saving technologies in agriculture.

The Institute functions under the administrative control of its Governing Council with the Secretary to Government, Department of Water Resources as its President and Director WALMI as its Member Secretary. The Governing Council comprises senior level officers from the Departments of Water Resources, Finance, Agriculture, Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT), Command Area Development Agency (CADA), Water Technology Center for Eastern Region (WTCER), Xaviers Institute of Management and Business Administraton (XIMB), Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) and a leading NGO.