CHAPTER 2 IRRIGATION WATER

1. Relation REQUIREMENT
between Duty, Delta and crop periods
2. Crop water requirement (Penman method)
3. Operational water requirements
4. Water losses due to seepage and evaporation
5. Effective rainfall
6. Irrigation water requirement
7. Soil-moisture-irrigation relationship
8. Depth and frequency of irrigation
9. Irrigation efficiencies
10. Design discharge of canals
CROP WATER REQUIREMENT

• The metabolic activity of cells of the plants is closely related to the

water content of the soil.
• The growth of plant is controlled by the rate of cell enlargement.
• If the water content of the soil is reduced below the certain limit, the
loss of cell and the plant starts wilting.
• The crop water requirement is the total quantity of water needed by
crop from the time it is sown to the time it is harvested.
 1. RELATION BETWEEN DUTY, DELTA
AND CROP PERIODS
•Crop Period: The time period that start from the instant of its sowing to the instant of its harvesting
is called the crop period.
•Base 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.

The crop period is the total period during which the crop remains on the field, whereas the base
period is the total period during which irrigation is done.
•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).
OR, The total quantity of water required for any crop during its base period(B) for its full fledged
nourishment when expressed in depth of water(i.e. in ‘cm’) is called its Delta.

•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. Duty is the capacity of water to irrigate
land. 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.
# If for particular crop, Area of land=100ha, Quantity of water=10
cumecs. Duty=?

# IF Duty is 864ha/cumecs, base period = 180 days, Delta=?

• Delta=864 B/D cm
• =864*180/864=180 cm
1. INTENSITY OF IRRIGATION, DUTIES AND BASE PERIODS OF VARIOUS CROP
UNDER A CANAL SYSTEM ARE GIVEN IN TABLE BELOW. IF RESERVOIR LOSSES ARE
20% AND CONVEY ONE LOSS IN CANAL SYSTEM 25% FIND OUT THE RESERVOIR
CAPACITY.

Duty at field in Area under each crop

Crop base period
hectares/cumecs in hectares
Wheat 120 1800 5400

Sugarcane 330 800 600

• .
Cotton 200 1200 3000

Rice 130 800 4000

vegetable 100 700 2000

 Crop Area under Duty Discharge Base Volume of water
each crop ha/cumecs (m3/sec) period (Dischare × base
(ha) (Area/Duty (days) period) (cumec
days)

•
Wheat Solution: 5400 1800 120

Sugarcane 6000 800 330

Cotton 3000 1200 200

Rice 4000 800 130
Vegetable 2000 700 100

WE WILL BE DISCU
SSING THIS IN CLA
SS.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
2. The gross area of irrigation project is 50000 ha. Out of these about 5000 ha have been
utilized tor construction of dwellings roads, bridges etc. The area to be cultivate during Rabi
(winter season) is 25000 ha and during Kharif (summer) is 24000 ha. If the duty of canal
water for winter crop is 5000 ha/cumecs and for summer crops is 3000 ha/cumecs, find the
design discharge for the canal after giving 10% allowance for peak discharge and loss of
water in transit. What would be canal intensity of irrigation?(For Conceptual Purpose)
FACTOR AFFECTING DUTY
•Type of crop
•Climate and season
•Useful rainfall
•Type of soil
•Efficiency of cultivation method
•Method and system of irrigation
•Types of Canal material

Importance of Duty
It helps us in designing an efficient canal irrigation system.
Knowing the total available water at the head of a main canal, and the overall duty for
all crops required to be irrigated in different seasons of the year, the area which can be
irrigated can be determined.
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.
Kor depth and Kor Period:
•The distribution of water during the period of crop is
not uniform.
•Crops require maximum water during first watering after
the crops have grown few centimeters.
•During the subsequent watering the quantity of water
needed by crops gradually decreases and is least when crop
gain maturity.
•The first watering is known as kor watering, the depth
applied is known as kor depth. The portion of the base period
in which
watering is needed is known as kor period.
3. CCA for a minor channel is 10000 ha. Irrigation intensity is 30% for wheat
and 15% for rice. The KOR period for wheat is 4 weeks and rice is 3 weeks.
KOR watering depth for wheat and rice are 135mm and 190mm, respectively.
Estimate outlet discharge.
CROP WATER REQUIREMENT

• Consumptive Use or Evapotranspiration(Cu)

The consumptive use of irrigation water is the quantity of water actually
required by the plant. The combined process of Evaporation and
transpiration (Evapotranspiration) is a consumptive use. May be different
for different crops or the same crop at different times and places.
• Reference crop Evapotranspiration (ETo):
The rate at which water evaporates and transpires from a hypothetical
reference crop, typically grass, under specific climatic conditions.ETo
provides a standard measure to estimate water requirements for different
crops.
• Crop Evapotranspiration (ETc):
It represents the water requirement of a crop during its growth cycle and is
essential for designing irrigation systems and ensuring efficient water use in
agriculture.
ESTIMATION OF EVAPOTRANSPIRATION

• Blaney-Criddle formula: Cu = (k.p)/40 [1.8t + 32]

• Cu = Monthly consumptive use in cm.
• k = Crop factor, determined by experiments
• t = Mean monthly temperature in oC
• p = Monthly percent of annual day light hours that occur during the period
• Hangreaves class A pan evaporation method: Cu = k × Ep
• Consumptive use co-efficient, k varies with crop type; crop growth etc
• Penman method
Water Requirements of Crops
Water requirements of a crop mean the total quantity and the way in which a crop requires
water from the time it is sown to the time it is harvested.
It is the quantity of water utilized by the plant during its life time.
This water may be supplied either entirely by rainfall, entirely by irrigation or by a
combination of both
Crop water requirement of crop = Crop evapotranspiration + Land Preparation +
Evaporation + Deep Percolation – Effective Rainfall
Water requirements depend on:
• water table,
• crop,
• ground slope,
• intensity of irrigation,
• method of application of water,
• climate,
• type of soil,
• method of cultivation and
• useful rainfall.
 Effective Rainfall (Re):
Precipitation falling during the growing period of a crop that is available to
meet the evapotranspiration needs of the crop is called effective rainfall.
It is that part of rainfall which is available to meet ET needs of the crop.
Re = R – Rr – Dr
Where, R = Precipitation
Rr = Surface runoff
Dr = Deep
percolation

Generally 80 % of total rainfall is taken

as effective rainfall
Factors affecting Re: climate,
soil type, depth of root zone
Consumptive Irrigation Requirement (CIR):
Irrigation water required in order to meet the evapo-transpiration needs of the crop during its full
growth. CIR = (Cu) - (Re)
Net Irrigation Requirement (NIR):
NIR = Cu – Re + LR+PSR
Where, Cu = Consumptive use by crop
Re = Effective rainfall
LR = Leaching requirement
PSR= Pre-sowing
requirement
NWR= Nursery water
requirement (if any)
Field Irrigation
Requirement (FIR):
It is the amount of water
required to be applied to the
field .
FIR = NIR + water
application losses
= NIR/Ea
Ea=water application
efficiency (accounting losses
WATER LOSS DUE TO SEEPAGE AND
EVAPORATION
• When water flows in a earthen surface, water percolates deep into
the ground: seepage
• Conveyance loss range 20-50%
• Seepage loss depends on soil type. Greater in coarse sand, gravel, less
in loam, lesser in clay
• Evaporation loss depend on climate
• Evaporation loss = 10% of seepage loss
SOIL- MOISTURE-IRRIGATION RELATIONSHIP

Soil-Plant-Water relationships relate the properties of soil that affect the

movement, retention and use of water. It can be divided & treated as:
•Soil-water relation
•Soil-plant relation
•Plant-water relations
Soil suitability for agricultural practice
• The process of assessing the suitability of land for different uses such
as agriculture is known as land evaluation.
• Land evaluation for agricultural purpose provides information for
deciding ‘which crops to grow where’ and other related crops.
Soil water ( Gravitational, Capillary and Hygroscopic water)
• When a soil sample is saturated with water due to rain or irrigation, under the
action of gravity, water flows downwards, known as gravitational water.
• Water attached to soil molecules by surface tension against gravitation force and
can be extracted by plants by capillarity, known as Capillary water.
• Water held tightly by soil molecules, which cant be extracted by plant by
capillarity and thus not available to plants is called Hygroscopic water.
Saturation Capacity: - When all the micro and macro pore spaces
are filled with water, the soil is said to have reached its saturation
capacity.

Field capacity: - is the moisture content after the gravitational water

has drained down. At field capacity, the macro pores are filled with
air & capillary pores filled with water. Field capacity is the upper
limit of available soil moisture.

Permanent Wilting Point: - is the moisture content beyond which

plants can no longer extract enough moisture and remain witted
unless water is added to the soil.
 DEPTH AND FREQUENCY OF IRRIGATION

Estimating depth and frequency of irrigation on the basis of soil moisture regime
concept
Water or soil moisture is consumed by plants through their roots. It, therefore, becomes
necessary that sufficient moisture remains available in the soil from the surface to the
root zone depth.
Permanent wilting point
It is that water content at which plant can no longer extract sufficient water for
its growth, and wilts up

Field Capacity:
This water cannot be easily drained under the action of gravity, and is called the
field capacity. One part is that which is attached to the soil molecules by
surface tension against gravitation forces, and can be extracted by plants. The
other part is that which is attached to the soil molecules by loose chemicals
bonds.

Available moisture
It may be defined as the difference in water content of the soil between field
capacity and permanent wilting point.
Readily available moisture
It is that portion of the available moisture which is most easily extracted by
the plants, and is approximately 75 to 80 % of the available moisture.
 Depth and Frequency of Irrigation
The irrigation water should be supplied as soon as the moisture falls up to this
optimum level and its quantity should be just sufficient to bring the moisture
content up to its field capacity,
• Equivalent Depth of Water stored at Field Capacity
= 𝛾𝑑 x d x F / 𝛾𝑤
• Equivalent Depth of Water stored at Permanent Wilting Point
= 𝛾𝑑 x d x PWP/ 𝛾𝑤
• Equivalent Depth of Available Water
= 𝛾𝑑 x d x (FC - PWP ) / 𝛾𝑤
• Equivalent Depth at Readily Available Water
= 𝛾𝑑 x d x ( FC -OMC) / 𝛾𝑤
FREQUENCY OF IRRIGATION IS CALCULATED BY
DIVIDING THE AMOUNT OF SOIL MOISTURE WHICH MAY
BE DEPLETED (I.E., ALLOWABLE DEPLETION BELOW FIELD
CAPACITY AND WELL ABOVE PERMANENT WILTING POINT)
WITHIN THE ROOT-ZONE SOIL BY THE RATE OF

𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒊𝒍 𝒎𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆

CONSUMPTIVE USE.
Frequency of irrigation = 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇
𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆
 DEPTH AND FREQUENCY OF IRRIGATION

Optimum Utilization of Irrigation

Water
•Yield is going to vary with the
application of different quantities of
water.
•The yield increases with water,
reaches maximum value and then
falls down.
•The quantity of water at which the
yield is maximum, is called the
optimum water depth. Optimum
utilization of irrigation generally
means, getting maximum yield
with any amount of water.
 i e ld c a p a c it y = 3 0% ,
a t ed f ie ld h a v in g : f
For an irrig l e d e p le t io n o f a v a i la b le
, p er m is sib o f
PWP=10% o f so i l= 1 4 .7 k n /m 3 , u ni t w t
y w t
moisture=40%, dr iv e ra i n f a ll = 4 0 m m , w h a t is th e net
ter 9 .8 kn /m 3 , e f fe c t
w a e t re d e p th o f s o il ?
atio n r eq u i r e d p er m
irrig
Irrigation efficiencies
Irrigation Efficiency
It is the ratio of water output to the water input (ratio of water consumed
by crops to water supplied to canals)
ηi = Wc / Wr

Efficiency of water-conveyance (ηc):

It is the ratio of the water delivered into the fields from the outlet point of
the channel, to the water entering into the channel at the starting point.
ηc = Wf / Wr

Efficiency of water application (ηa):

It is the ratio of the quantity of water stored into the root zone of the
crops
to the quantity of water actually delivered into the field.
•Efficiency of water-storage (ηs): It is the ratio of the water stored in
the root zone during irrigation to the water needed in the root zone
prior to irrigation.

•Efficiency of water use (ηu): It is the ratio of the water beneficially

used including leaching water, to the quantity of water delivered.

• Water distribution efficiency or uniformity coefficient

ηd = (1-d/ D)x100%
d=average numerical deviation in depth of water stored from average depth stored;
D= average depth of water stored during irrigation