SRI JAYARAM

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

AI8501 IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE

YEAR / SEMESTER : III//V

DEPARTMENT : AGRICULTURE

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 UNIT – 1
WATER RESOURCES AND IRRIGATION REQUIREMENT
Irrigation- Definition
• Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil.
• It is usually used to assist the growing of crops in dry areas and during periods
of inadequate rainfall.
Need of the Irrigation
• India is basically an agricultural country, and all its resources depend on the
agricultural.
• Water is evidently the most vital element in the plant life.
• Water is normally supplied to the plants by nature through rains.
• However, the total rainfall in a particular area may be either insufficient, or ill-
timed.
• Systematic irrigation system – Collecting water during the period of excess
rainfall & releasing it to the crop when it is needed.
Less rainfall:
• Artificial supply is necessary
• Irrigation work may be constructed at a place where more water is available &
than convey the water where there is less rainfall.
Non uniform rainfall:
• Rainfall may not be uniform over the crop period in the particular area.
• Rains may be available during the starting period of crop but no water may be
available atend, with the result yield may be less or crop may be die.
• Collection of water during the excess rainfall & supplied to the crop during the
period when there may be no rainfall.

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Commercial crops with additional water:
• Rainfall may be sufficient to raise the usual crop but more water may be
necessary for raising commercial & cash crop. (Sugarcane, Tea, Tobacco,
cotton, cardamom, & indigo)
Controlled water supply:
• Yield of the crop may be increased by the construction of proper distribution
system
Benefits of Irrigation:
• Increase in food production
• Protection from famine
• Cultivation of cash crop ( Sugarcane, Tobacco, & cotton)
• Addition to the wealth of the country
• Increase the prosperity of people
• Generation of hydro-electric power
• Domestic & industrial water supply
• Inland navigation
• Improvement of communication
• Canal plantations
• Improvement in the ground water storage
• General development of the country.
Types of Irrigation OR Classification of Irrigation:
Natural Irrigation
• No engineering structure is constructed.
1)Rainfall Irrigation
• Rainfall is only used for raising crops.

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2) Inundation canal system
• Flood water is utilized for Irrigation purpose by properly direction flow of water.
Artificial Irrigation
• Properly designed engineering structure are constructed.
1) Flow irrigation
• Water flows to the irrigated land by gravity.
• Water sources is to be higher level than the irrigated land.
a) Perennial irrigation :
Water is supplied according to the requirements throughout the crop period
through storage canal head works & Canal distribution system.
b) Inundation irrigation:
◦ Lands are submerged & throughly flooded when floods occur in the river.
◦ Lands are allowed to drain off & the crop are sown.
◦ Now the soil retains sufficient moisture for the crops to grow.
c) Direct irrigation :
◦ Water is directly diverted to the canal from the river is called Direct irrigation.
◦ Discharge in the river shall be higher than the water requirement during the
crop period.
◦ A low diversion weir or a barrage is constructed across the river to rise the
water level and divert the same to the canal.
◦ Direct irrigation can be adopted only where there is enough flow in the river to
provide sufficient quantity of water required for irrigation throughout the crop
period.
d) Storage Irrigation:
◦ River flow is not perennial or insufficient during crop period, Storage Irrigation
is adopted.
◦ A dam is construction across the river to store water in the reservoir.

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◦ In some area rain water that run off from a catchment area is stored in tanks
and is used for irrigation during the crop period.
2) Lift or well Irrigation:
• Water is lifted up by mechanical such as pump etc or manual to supply for
irrigation .
• Lift irrigation is adopted when the water source is lower than the level of lands
to be irrigated.
Historical development of Irrigation
• Historically, civilizations have been dependent on development of irrigated
agriculture.
• Archaeological investigation has identified evidence of irrigation in
Mesopotamia, Ancient
Egypt & Ancient Persia (at present Iran) as far back as the 6th millennium BCE.
• In the “Zana” valley of the Andes Mountain in Peru, archaeologists found
remains of three irrigation canals radiocarbon dated from the 4th millennium
BCE, the 3rd Millennium BCE & the 9th century CE, These canals are the
earliest record of irrigation in the new world.
• The Indus valley civilization in Pakistan & North India (from 2600 BCE) also
had an early canal irrigation system. Large scale agriculture was used for the
purpose of irrigation.
• There is evidence of ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Amenemhet-III in the 12th
dynasty (about 1800 BCE) using the natural lake of the Faiyum Oasis as a
reservoir to store surpluses of water for use during the dry seasons, the lake
swelled annually from flooding of the Nile.
• The irrigation works of ancient Sri Lanka, the earliest dating from about 300
BCe, in the reign of King Pandukabhaya & under conditions development for the
next thousand years, were one of the most complex irrigation systems of the
ancient world.

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• In the Szechwan region ancient China the Dujiangyan Irrigation System was
built in 250CBCE to irrigate a large area & it still supplies water today.
• In the Americas, extensive irrigation systems were created by numerous
groups inCprehistoric times. One example is seen in the recent archaeological
excavations near the VSanta Cruz River in Tucson, Arizona. They have located a
village site dating from 4000 years ago.
Present status of Irrigation:
• In the middle of 20th century, the advent of diesel & electric motors led for the
first time to system that could pump groundwater out of major aquifers faster than
it was recharged.
• This can lead to permanent loss of aquifer capacity, decreased water quality,
ground subsidence & other problems.
• The largest contiguous areas of high irrigation density are found in North India
& Pakistan along the rivers Ganges & Indus, in the Hai He, Huang He & Yangtze
basins in China, along the Nile River in Egypt & Sudan, in the Mississippi-
Missouri river basin & in parts of California.
Developmental Aspects of Irrigation:
Irrigation is practiced to maintain the different developmental parameters. Those
are:
1. To make up for the soil moisture deficit.
2. To ensure a proper & sustained growth of crops.
3. To make harvest safe.
4. To colonize the cultivable wasteland for horizontal expansion of cultivation.
5. To shift from seasonal cultivation.
6. To promote more intensive cultivation by multiple cropping.
7. To improve the level of agricultural productivity by acting as an agent for
adoption of modern technology.

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8. To lessen the regional & size-class inequalities in agricultural productivity that
will reduce in turn socio-economic imbalances.
Advantages of irrigation
Advantages of irrigation can be direct as well as indirect.
I.Direct Benefits
• The grower has many choices of crops and varieties and can go for multiple
cropping for cultivation
• Crop plants respond to fertilizer and other inputs and there by productivity is
high.
• Quality of the crop is improved.
• Higher economic return and employment opportunities. It makes economy
drought proof.
• Development of pisciculture and afforestation. Plantation is raised along the
banks of canals and field boundaries.
• Domestic water supply, hydel power generation at dam site and means of
transport where navigation is possible.
• Prevention of damage through flood.
II.Indirect Benefits
• Increase in gross domestic product of the country, revenue, employment, land
value, higher wages to farm labour, agro-based industries and groundwater
storage.
• General development of other sectors and development of the country
• Increase of food production.
• Modify soil or climate environment – leaching.
• Lessen risk of catastrophic damage caused by drought.
• Increase income & national cash flow.
• Increase labor employment.
• Increase standard of living.

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• Increase value of land.
• National security thus self sufficiency.
• Improve communication and navigation facilities.
• Domestic and industrial water supply.
• Improve ground water storage.
• Generation of hydro-electric power.
Disadvantages of Irrigation
The following are the disadvantages of irrigation.
• Water logging.
• Salinity and alkalinity of land.
• Ill aeration of soil.
• Pollution of underground water.
• Results in colder and damper climate causing outbreak of diseases like
malaria.
Types of Crops:
1) Wet crops- which lands are irrigated and than crop are cultivation
2) Dry crops-which do not need irrigation.
3) Garden crops- which need irrigation throughout the year
4) Summer crop (Kharif)-which are sown during the south west monsoon &
harvested in autumn.
5) Winter crops( rabi)-which are sown in autumn & harvested in spring.
6) Cash crop – which has to be encased in the market. As it cannot be consumed
directly by the cultivators.

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Crop Seasons:
• In north India the crop season is divided as Rabi & Kharif.
• Rabi crops are called as winter crops and kharif crops are called as summer
crops.
• Kharif crops required more water than rabi crops.
• Rabi starts from 1 st oct and ends on 31 march
• In TamilNadu crops are classified as wet and dry crops.

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Crops rotation:
Rotation of crops implies the nature of the crop sown in a particular field is
changed year after year.
Necessity for rotation
• The necessity for irrigation when the same crop is grown again and again in
the same field, the fertility of land gets reduced as the soil becomes deficient in
plant foods favorable to that particular crop.
• If different crops were to be raised there would certainly be more balanced
fooding and soil deficient in one particular type of nutrient is allowed to recouped.
• Crop diseases and insect pests will multiply at an alarming rate, if the same
crop is to be grown continuously. Rotation will check the diseases.
• A leguminous crop (such as gram) if introduced in rotation will increase
nitrogen content of soil thus increasing its fertility.
• The deep rooted and shallow rooted crops in rotation draw their food from
different depths of soil. The soil will be better utilized.
• Rotation of crops is beneficial to the farmers as there would be rotation of cash
crops, fooder and soil renovating crops.
General rotation of crops can be summarized as:
1. Wheat – great millet – gram.
2. Rice – gram
3. Cotton – wheat – gram.
4. Cotton – wheat – sugarcane
5. Cotton – great millet – gram.
Consumptive Use of Water
• Considerable part of water applied for irrigation is lost by evaporation &
transpiration.
• This two processes being difficult to separate are taken as one and called
Consumptive use of water.

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Duty :
Duty- Area of the crop irrigated/ Volume of water required.
Delta:
• The depth of water required every time, generally varies depending upon the
type of the crop.
• The total depth of water required a crop to nature is called delta.
• Crop period-the time from the instant of its sowing to the instant of harvesting.
• Base Period-time b/w the first supply of water to the land and the last watering
before harvesting.
Factor affecting the duty:
1) Soil Moisture
• In clayey soil less water is required since its retentive capacity is more.
• Pervious soil it will be more.
2) Topography
• Uniform distribution depends on topography.
• If the area is sloping the lower portion will get more water than the flat portion,
& hence Water requirement is increase.
3) Nature of rainfall
• If rainfall is high over the crop period water requirement becomes less,
otherwise it will be more.
4) Nature of crop irrigated
• Dry crop required less water where as wed crop required more water.
5) Method of cultivation:
• If the fields are properly ploughed it will have high retentive capacity & the
number of watering are reduced.
6) Season of crop
• Less irrigation water is required for rainy season crop and the duty increased.

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• If the crop grown in summer, more irrigation water is required & the duty gets
decreased
7) System of Irrigation
• In perennial irrigation, continuous supply of water is given & hence water table
is kept high & percolation losses is minimized
• In inundation type wastage is more by deep percolation.
8) Canal Condition
• Well maintained canal will have more duty as the losses is less.
Improving Duty
1. The water losses can be reduced by having the irrigated area nearer to the
head of the canal.
2. Evaporation losses can be minimized by using the water as quickly as
possible.
3. Water losses can be minimized by lining the canals.
4. The cultivators should be trained to use water economically without wasting.
5. The soil properties should be studied by establishing research stations in
villages.
Crop Period or Base Period:
• The time period that elapses from the instant of its sowing to the instant of its
harvesting is called the crop period.
• The time between the first watering of a crop at the time of its sowing to its last
watering before harvesting is called the base period.
Duty and Delta of a Crop Delta:
The total quantity of water required by the crop for its full growth may be
expressed in hectare-meter or simply as depth to which water would stand on the
irrigated area if the total quantity supplied were to stand above the surface
without percolation or evaporation. This total depth of water is called delta (Δ).

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Problem –1: If rice requires about 10 cm depth of water at an average interval of
about 10 days,
and the crop period for rice is 120 days, find out the delta for rice.
Solution:
No. of watering required = 120/10 = 12
Total depth of water required in 120 days = 10 × 12 = 120 cm
Δ for rice = 120 cm
Problem –2: If wheat requires about 7.5 cm of water after every 28 days, and the
base period for
wheat is 140 days, find out the value of delta for wheat.
Solution:
No. of watering required = 140/28 = 5
Total depth of water required in 140 days = 7.5 × 5 = 37.5 cm
Δ for wheat = 37.5 cm
Duty:
• It may be defined as the number of hectares of land irrigated for full growth of a
given crop by supply of 1 m3/s of water continuously during the entire base of that
crop.
• Simply we can say that, the area (in hectares) of land can be irrigated for a
crop period, B (in days) using one cubic meter of water.
Factors on which duty depends:
1. Type of crop
2. Climate and season
3. Useful rainfall
4. Type of soil
5. Efficiency of cultivation method
Importance of Duty
• It helps us in designing an efficient canal irrigation system.

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• Knowing the total available water at the head of a main canal, and the overall
duty for all the crops required to be irrigated in different seasons of the year, the
area which can be irrigated can be worked out.
• Inversely, if we know the crops area required to be irrigated and their duties,
we can work out the discharge required for designing the channel.
Measures for improving duty of water:
The duty of canal water can certainly be improved by effecting economy in the
use of water by resorting to the following precautions and practices:
(1) Proper Ploughing:
Ploughing should be done properly and deeply so that the moisture retaining
capacity of soil is increased.
(2) Methods of supplying water:
The method of supplying water to the agriculture land should be decided
according to the field and soil conditions. For example,
◦ Furrow method For crops sown ion rows
◦ Contour method For hilly areas
◦ Basin For orchards
◦ Flooding For plain lands
(3) Canal Lining:
It is provided to reduce percolation loss and evaporation loss due to high velocity.
(4) Minimum idle length of irrigation Canals:
The canal should be nearest to the command area so that idle length of the canal
is minimum and hence reduced transmission losses.
(5) Quality of water:
Good quality of water should be used for irrigation. Pollution en route the canal
should be avoided.
(6) Crop rotation:
The principle of crop rotation should be adopted to increase the moisture
retaining capacity and fertility of the soil.

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Consumptive use of crops
Definition:
• It is the quantity of water used by the vegetation growth of a given area.
• It is the amount of water required by a crop for its vegetated growth to
evapotranspiration and building of plant tissues plus evaporation from soils and
intercepted precipitation.
• It is expressed in terms of depth of water. Consumptive use varies with
temperature, humidity, wind speed, topography, sunlight hours, method of
irrigation, moisture availability.
Mathematically,
Consumptive Use = Evapotranspiration = Evaporation + transpiration
• It is expressed in terms of depth of water.
Factors Affecting the Consumptive Use of Water
Consumptive use of water varies with:
1. Evaporation which depends on humidity
2. Mean Monthly temperature
3. Growing season of crops and cropping pattern
4. Monthly precipitation in area
5. Wind velocity in locality
6. Soil and topography
7. Irrigation practices and method of irrigation
8. Sunlight hours
Types of Consumptive Water Use
Following are the types of consumptive use,
1. Optimum Consumptive Use
2. Potential Consumptive Use
3. Seasonal Consumptive Use
1. Optimum Consumptive Use:

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It is the consumptive use which produces a maximum crop yield.
2. Potential Consumptive Use:
If sufficient moisture is always available to completely meet the needs of
vegetation fully covering the entire area then resulting evapotranspiration is
known as Potential Consumptive Use.
3. Seasonal Consumptive Use:
The total amount of water used in the evapo-transpiration by a cropped area during the
entire growing season.
Crop Water Requirements
Soil moisture
Classes and availability of soil water
Water present in the soil may be to classified under three heads
1. Hygroscopic water
2. Capillary water
3. Gravitational water

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Hygroscopic water
Water attached to soil particles through loose chemical bonds is termed
hygroscopic water. This water can be removed by heat only. But the plant roots
can use a very small fraction of this soil moisture under drought conditions.
Capillary water
The capillary water is held within soil pores due to the surface tension forces
(against gravity) which act at the liquid-vapour (or water-air) interface.
Gravitational water
Gravity water is that water which drains away under the influence of gravity.
Soon after irrigation (or rainfall), this water remains in the soil and saturates the
soil, thus, preventing circulation of air in the void spaces.

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(2) Readily available moisture for the plant = FC - Mo
Here FC= field capacity
φ = wilting point or wilting coefficient below plant can’t survive.
Mo= Readily available moisture content

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Duty and delta
Duty:
• The duty of water is the relationship between the volume of water and the area
of the crop it matures.
• It is defined as the area irrigated per cumec of discharge running for base
period B.
• The duty is generally represent by D.
Delta:
• It is the total depth of water required by a crop during the entire base period
and is represented by the symbol Δ.

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Relation between duty and delta

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Irrigation Requirements of crops
(1) Consumptive Irrigation Requirement (CIR)
CIR = Cu- Peff
Where, Cu= total consumptive use requirement
Peff= Effective rainfall.
(2) Net Irrigation Requirement (NIR)
NIR = CIR + Leaching requirement
(3) Field irrigation requirement (FIR)
(4) Gross irrigation requirement, (GIR)
Methods of Determination of Evapotranspiration
To measure or estimation the consumptive use there are three main methods:
1. Direct Methods/Field Methods
2. Empirical Methods
3. Pan evaporation method
1. Direct Methods:
In this method field observations are made and physical model is used for this
purpose. This includes,
i. Vapour Transfer Method/Soil Moisture Studies
ii. Field Plot Method
iii.Tanks and Lysimeter
iv. Integration Method/Summation Method
v. Irrigation Method
vi.Inflow Outflow Method
i. Vapour Transfer Method:
In this method of estimation of water consumptive use, soil moisture
measurements are taken before and after each irrigation. The quantity of water
extracted per day from soil is

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computed for each period. A curve is drawn by plotting the rate of use against
time and from this curve, the seasonal use can be estimated. This method is
suitable in those areas where soil is fairly uniform and ground water is deep
enough so that it does not affect the fluctuations in the soil moisture within the
root zone of the soil.
It is expressed in terms of volume i.e. Acre-feet or Hectare-meter
ii. Field Plot Method:
We select a representative plot of area and the accuracy depends upon the
representativeness of plot (cropping intensity, exposure etc).It replicates the
conditions of an actual sample field (field plot). Less seepage should be there.
Inflow + Rain + Outflow = Evapotranspiration
The drawback in this method is that lateral movement of water takes place
although more representative to field condition. Also some correction has to be
applied for deep percolation as it cannot be ascertained in the field.
iii. Tanks and Lysimeter:
In this method of measurement of consumptive use of water, a watertight tank of
cylindrical shape having diameter 2m and depth about 3m is placed vertically on
the ground. The tank is filled with sample of soil. The bottom of the tank consists
of a sand layer and a pan for collecting the surplus water. The plants grown in
the Lysimeter should be the same as in the surrounding field. The consumptive
use of water is estimated by measuring the amount of water required for the
satisfactory growth of the plants within the tanks. Consumptive use of water is
given by,
Cu = Wa - Wd
Where,
Cu = Consuptive use of water
Wa = Water Applied
Wd = Water drained off

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Lysimeter studies are time consuming and expensive. Methods 1 and 2 are the
more reliable methods as compare to this method.
iv. Integration Method:
In this method, it is necessary to know the division of total area, i.e. under
irrigated crops, natural native vegetation area, water surface area and bare land
area. In this method, annual consumptive use for the whole area is found in
terms of volume. It is expressed in Acre feet or Hectare meter.
Mathematically,
Total Evapotranspiration = Total consumptive usex
Total Area Annual Consumptive Use = Total Evapotranspiration = A+B+C+D
Where,
A = Unit consumptive use for each cropxits area
B = Unit consumptive use of native vegetation xits area
C = Water surface evaporationxits area
D = Bare land evaporationxits area
v. Irrigation Method:
In this method, unit consumption is multiplied by some factor. The multiplication
values depend upon the type of crops in certain area. This method requires an
Engineer judgment as these factors are to be investigated by the Engineers of
certain area.
vi. Inflow Outflow Method:
In this method annual consumptive use is found for large areas. If U is the valley
consumptive use its value is given by,
U = (I+P) + (Gs - Ge) - R
Where,
U = Valley consumptive use (in acre feet or hectare meter)
I = Total inflow during a year
P = Yearly precipitation on valley floor

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Gs = Ground Storage at the beginning of the year
Ge = Ground Storage at the end of the year
R = Yearly Outflow
2. Empirical Methods:
Empirical equations are given for the estimation of water requirement. These are,
a) Blaney-Criddle method
b) Lowry Johnson Method
c) Penman Equation
d) Hargreave’s Method
a. Blaney-Criddle method:
• Blaney and Criddle (1950) observed that the amount of water consumptively
used by crops during their growing seasons was closely correlated with mean
monthly temperatures and daylight hours and the length of the growing seasons.
• The correlation coefficients are then applied to determine the ET for other
areas where only climate data are available.
• Blaney-Criddle formula is one of the best known procedures for estimating
Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) and is widely used.
• The popularity of the procedure is due to its simplicity and its use of readily
available data.
• It requires the use of only two factors, namely, temperature which is readily
available from the weather stations and information on daylight hours which is a
factor based purely on the latitude of the place.
• Blaney-Criddle equation expresses the consumptive use in terms of
temperature and day time hours.
If CU is monthly consumptive use, its value is given by Cu= K.f.(inches)
Where, k = crop factor to be determined for each crop; its value depends upon
Certain environmental conditions

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f= monthly consumptive use factor
= t×(p/100)
t = mean temperature in oF.
p = percentage of day time hours of the year, occurring during the period.
If Expressed in metric units, the above formula becomes:
Where,
t = temperature in oC
Cu= monthly consumptive use in cm
b. Lowry Johnson Method:
The equation for this method is,
U = 0.0015 H + 0.9 (Over specified)
U = Consumptive Use
H = Accumulated degree days during the growing season computed from
maximum temperature above 32 °F
c. Penman Equation:
Penman(1948) proposed an equation for evaporation from open water surface,
based on a combination of energy balance and sink strength which is given
below with changes in certain symbols in view of the recent trends.
According to this method,
U = ET = AH + 0.27 EaA - 0.27
ET = Evapotranspiration or consumptive use in mm Ea = Evaporation (mm/day)
H = Daily head budget at surface (mm/day)
H is a function of radiation, sunshine hours, wind speed, vapour pressure and
other climatic factors.
A = Slope of saturated vapour pressure curve of air at absolute temperature in °F

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d. Hargreave’s Method:
• It is a very simple method.
• The pan is circular with a diameter of 1.21 m and depth of 255 mm which gives
it a volume
of about 0.3 m3.
• The basin is put on a 150 mm high wooden frame due to air circulation around
the basin. The water level is kept about 50 mm below the rim, due to allowance
of percolation and the need of water.
• The water level is measured every day, either you measure the difference
between the present and the origin water level or if you have chosen to obtain
the water level in the pan, you measure the amount of water you have put into
the pan.
According to this method,
Cu = KEp
Where,
Cu = Consumptive Use coefficient (varies from crop to crop)
Ep = Evapotranspiration
K = Coefficient
****************

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