Irrigation is an essential part of the package of technologies, institutions and policies that underpins increased agricultural output in Asia. Past experience shows that this package, although broadly beneficial to societies, has not yet fully succeeded in banishing poverty. So in the context of the UN millennium development goal of halving world poverty by the year 2015, are there ways of making the package more pro-poor in the future? In 2001–2002, the author, at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and in collaboration with national partners in Asia, launched a major multi-country study that set out to answer this question. This paper provides a succinct summary of the synthesized results, conclusions and lessons learnt from this major multi-country study. The summary of the lessons, pro-poor options and the guidelines presented in this paper could be useful for government policymakers and planners, donors, NGOs, researchers and other stakeholders involved in irrigation and rural poverty alleviation efforts in developing Asia and elsewhere.