B.Sc (Ag) Hons. 2nd Semester dt. 26.02.

2018
Prof. S.B.Goswami

Water Management of Field Crops

Course No. AGR 151 Credit: 1+1

Lecture 1: Water resources: world scenario, water budget of India, rainfall scenario, surface water and
underground water of India

Global water

97.3% Ocean water 2.7% Fresh water

75% Polar 23% Ground 2% Surface (Lakes & Rivers)

World Water Resources

Our planet is apparently rich in water but about 97.3 per cent of its water resource is saline as such unsuitable
for drinking or irrigation. The volume of fresh water is only 2.7 percent of the total. About 75 per cent of fresh
water is piled up in high latitude and altitude as snow and glaciers and 23 per cent is remaining as ground
water and soil moisture. The global hydrological cycle operates through successive stages involving the
evaporation-condensation-precipitation of 568000 km3 of water annually. The continents of the Earth receive
42750 km3 of water as precipitation, of which 32 percent falls on Asia (Gleick, 1993). Av annual rainfall of
the World is 1004 mm. Rainfall is maximum near the equator and between 40-50 0 North & South
latitude with more cyclonic storm. Minimum rainfall occurs in near the poles of North and Southern
Hemisphere.

Hydrological cycle

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 Table 2. Rainfall classification & rainfall zone of the world

Rainfall (mm) Rainfall zone % of total area

>250 Arid 25
250-500 Semi arid 30
500-1000 Sub Humid 20
1000-1500 Humid 11
1500-2000 Wet 9
>2000 Very Wet 5

World Irrigated area : 324 m ha (FAO, 2012)

Country/ Continent Irrigated area (million ha)

India 66
China 69
Pakistan 20
Asia 190

Table . Per capita water availability of the world (CM/Head/Year)

Year CM Year CM
1951 5177 2011 1545
1991 2200 2025 1340
2001 1820 2050 1140

Water Resources in India

India gets 4000 km3 of water (400 million ha m or 4000 BCM). India possesses 4% of renewable
water resources in 2.5% land area of the World but housing 16% of the World’s population. The
distribution of this natural resource in India is spatially and temporally so uneven that hydrological extremes
of flood and drought are annual events in some parts or the other. When Cherapunji receives more than
11000 mm of rain annually, large parts of Rajasthan receive less than 200 mm of rainfall. The south-west
monsoon virtually generates more than 80 percent of annual precipitation in this country and that pours
during the months of June-September. But a single cloud burst over a place can generate more than 60
percent of annual rain within a span of just 48 hours. The most of monsoon rain in this country if clubbed
together virtually occurs over a matter of 100 hours or so (Agarwal , Narain and Khurana, 2001). The
management of spatially uneven and temporally skewed rain-water in India is the most serious challenge for
the water-managers of this country.

Table 1. Sector wise present and future water demand in India (CWC, 2013-14)

Sector 2012 2015 2050

Irrigation 611 807
Domestic 62 111
Industry 67 81
Energy 33 70
Others 70 111
Total 843 1180

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Available Water in India

Total Precipitation 4000 BCM

Available Water [1823]

Utilizable
1123

Surface [690] Ground [433]

Utilization [450] Utilization [245]

65% 57%

Water Budget of India

Total Precipitation
400 m ha m

Infiltration Evapo-transpiration Surface Flow

215 m ha m 70 m ha m 115 m ha m

Soil Moisture Ground water

165 m ha m 50 m ha m

Precipitation = Rainfall – Interception by atmosphere & foliage

< 5 mm rainfall is not counted as rainfall event of a day.

Spatial distribution of rainfall of India

Monsoon (Jun-Sept) – 900 mm 75%
Post monsoon (Oct – Dec) – 110 mm
Winter rainfall (Jan-Feb) – 40 mm 25%
Pre-monsoon (Mar-May) - 144 mm
Av. rainy days – 120; Rainy days / month in monsoon: 20-25; total rain hours: 100-150
Major river-basins of India

Rivers Potential surface water Utilizable surface water

(BCM) (BCM)
Ganga 525 250
Bramhaputra 537 24
Meghna 48 -
Godabari 110 76
Krishna 78 58
Cauvery 21 19
Mahanandi 68 50
Narmada 45 34
Total of India 1869.37 690.1

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Water resources of West Bengal

West Bengal covers 2.7 per cent of the national territory (8.39 million ha) and renders home to 8 per
cent of the Indian population. The State is endowed with 7.5 per cent of the water resource of the country.
West Bengal gets Av. rainfall 1750 mm. It has 26 river basins. The surface water availability is 13.29 M ham &
ground water 1.46 Mham. For Nadia district, av annual rainfall is 1550 mm; North Bengal >3000 mm, Coastal
West Bengal 1850 mm, Darjeeling 3500 mm; Purulia 1250 mm.

Table 1. Water requirement of West Bengal (million ham)

Sector 2000 2011 2025

Agriculture 5.38 7.71 11.0
Domestic 0.26 0.28 0.38
Industry 0.26 0.38 0.59
Power (Thermal) 0.31 -- --
Inland Navigation 3.63 3.63 3.63
Forestry 0.01 0.01 0.01
Ecology, Environment and Others 1.00 1.00 1.00
Total (Mham) 10.85 13.02 16.60
Source: State Irrigation Department

Lecture 2. Irrigation Development – world, India, Irrigation projects, crop irrigation status

World Irrigated area: 324 m ha ( FAO, 2012)

Irrigation Development in India:

Irrigation Potential – 140 m ha
Potential created - 110 m ha
Net irrigated – 67 m ha
Gross irrigated – 99 m ha
Irrigated area coverage: 47%

Irrigation Development in West Bengal:

Total geographical area – 8.3 mha
Net cultivated area – 5.6 m ha
Net irrigated – 4.3 m ha
Gross irrigated – 6.2 m ha
Irrigated area coverage - 64%

Irrigation Projects in India before Independence (1947)

Godabari Delta Project (AP)- 1890, Krishna Delta Project (Madras Presidency)- 1898 , Sone Canal
(Bihar)- 1869, West Yamuna Canal (Punjab)- 1856, Srihind Canal on Sutlej (Punjab)- 1887, Ganga Canal
(Rajasthan)-1928, Upper Ganga Canal (UP)-1854, Lower Ganga Canal (UP)- 1878, Agra Canal (UP)- 1873.

Important irrigation projects constructed during plan periods in India

State Project River Irrigated area (m ha)

Andhra Pradesh Nagarjuna Sagar Krishna 0.81
Bihar Gandak Gandak 1.31
Bihar Koshi Koshi 1.06
MP Gandhisagar Chambal 0.45
MP Tawa Tawa 0.32

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 Gujrat Mahi Mahi 0.19
‘’ Narmada Narmada 0.40
Maharastra Bhima Bhima 0.12
Karnataka Ghataprabha Ghataprabha 0.12
‘’ Tungabhadra Tungabhadra 0.41
Rajasthan Rajasthan Canal Sutlej 1.02
Orissa Hirakund Mahanandi 0.24
West Bengal DVC Damodar 0.42
‘’ Mayurakshi Mayurakshi 0.25
‘’ Kansabati Kansabati 0.35
‘’ Teesta Teesta 0.01

Irrigation development in India

Year Gross Irrigated (m ha) Net Irrigated (m ha)

1951 22.5 20.6
1961 27.9 24.7
1971 38.2 31.1
1981 49.8 37.7
1991 63.2 48.0
2001 78.2 55.0
2011 90.09 61.0
2015 98.0 67.0

Irrigation Systems
a) Surface Water system: Canal Irrigation, tank irrigation, river lift irrigation (RLI), tidal irrigation
b) Ground water system: Deep tube well irrigation (DTW), shallow tube well (ST), dug well
c) Micro-irrigation system (MIS): Drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation & bubbler irrigation.

Differences between different irrigation systems

Item Canal irrigation Tube well irrigation MIS*

Water supply Large volume Medium volume Very small volume
Flow rate Very high DTW 50-60lps, Drip:-10-12 l/hour
5-10 CM /sec STW 10-15lps Sprinkler: 500-600 l/hour
Water loss Very high Medium Very low
Irrigation efficiency 30-40% 70-80% >90%
Water use efficiency Low Medium High
Yield advantage Low Medium High
Project Cost Very high Low Medium
*MIS-Micro-irrigation system (Drip, Sprinkler, Bubbler)
Irrigation Projects: 3 types on the basis of cultural command area (CCA) and cost involvement

Project type CCA (million ha) Cost (million Rs)

Major/Big irrigation Projects >10,000 >50
Medium Project 2000-10,000 2.5-50
Small / Minor Project <2000 <2.5

Minor irrigation projects: Deep tube well irrigation (DTW), shallow tube well (ST), dug well (DW), surface
flow (SF), surface lift (SL), Check dam

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Micro-irrigation system (MIS):

i) Drip irrigation: It is the pressurized system of water delivery by which small amount water
applied drop by drop with help of dripper fitted to the root zone of the crop. Suitable crops are
high value wide spaced crops as for vegetables like tomato, cucumber, capasicum ; flowers like
gerbera, rose, chrysanthemum; Fruits, like grape, banana, papaya
ii) Sprinkler: It is the pressurized system of water delivery by which small amount of water is
sprayed over the canopy of the crop as rain drops. With help of sprinkler nozzles. It is suitable ofor
close growing vegetables like leafy crops, pasture, forage crops, lawns and play grounds
iii) Bubbler: It is the pressurized system of water delivery by which small amount of water floe is
made to the base of the crop with the help of samall diameter pipe/tube. It is suitable for
orchard crops. Of high water requirements.

Lecture 3: Water requirements and irrigation requirements of different crops, factors affecting water use
efficiency, Water use, WUE & WP of different crops

Water requirement (WR): It is the amount of water required to raise a successful crop from sowing to
harvest. WR includes ET + losses due to seepage, deep percolation+ application losses +water need for special
cultural practices.

Literally, WR can be expressed on the basis of water supply (inflow) and expenditure (outflow) as
i) Inflow components of WR = I + ER + Sm + Cr
[I- irrigation, ER-effective rainfall, Sm- soil moisture supply, Cr- capillary rise]
ii)Out flow components of WR = CU ( ET + water for metabolic activities) + losses (SP + Ro)
[ ET-evapotranspiration, CU-consumptive use, SP-seepage & Percolation, Ro-Run off]

WR of any crop is generally expressed on seasonal basis (mm or cm). But we can assess the WR on daily or
weekly or monthly basis as liter per plant
Methods of estimation of WR: Different methods of estimating WR of crops are as water balance method,
field experiments, Climatological methods, Lysimeter technique or Drum culture technique.

Effective rainfall (ER): It is the part of the rainfall available for the consumptive use (CU) of the crop. The fate
of rainfall may be last as infiltration and stored in the root zone for plant utilization, runoff, deep percolation,
interception by climate or plant and even evaporation. The amount or proportion of ER depends on intensity,
and duration of rain, soil moisture holding capacity, infiltration rate of the soil, initial soil moisture content.
ER = Rainfall - Water losses (Runoff + Evaporation + Deep drainage)
Precipitation (P) = Rainfall – Interception by climate & plant foliage
ER can be measured by evapotranspiration /precipitation method ratio method, soil moisture changes, water
balance methods.
Run off (Ro): It is the phenomenon of surface flow of rain water. It generally happens when rainfall intensity
exceeds the infiltration rate of soil. The factors affecting the runoff are as rainfall intensity and its duration,
soil type and its infiltration rate, land cover and its topography, cropping, tillage etc. It can be expressed as -
Runoff = Rainfall - Infiltration

Factors affecting WR: The WR of any crop depends on the following factors-
a) Crop factors: variety , growth stage, duration, plant population and growing seasons
b) Soil factors: texture , structure, , depth and topography
c) Climatic factors: temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity
d) Crop management factors: tillage, fertilization, weeding etc.

Irrigation requirement (IR): It is the amount of water applied to a field to supplement rainfall and profile
contribution to meet the water needs of crops for optimum growth.
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 Or, it is the amount of water applied artificially to recharge the root zone of the crop when no other
sources of water supply i.e. rainfall or profile contribution is not available or limiting to the plant for its growth
and development. It can be expressed as- IR= WR-(ER + Sm + Cr)

Net IR: It is the actual amount of irrigation water required to bring the soil moisture in the root zone to the
field capacity (FC).
Net IR = Root zone water need

Gross IR: It is the total amount of irrigation water needed including losses during application.
Gross IR = Net IR + Conveyance loss + Application loss
Application loss accounts 30-35% of total water supply in earthen irrigation channel

Table : Water requirement of different crops and their critical stages of irrigation

Crop Duration WR IR Critical growth stages for irrigation*

(days) (mm) (No.) (bold -most critical stage)
Rice 90-150 1000-1500 20-25 Tillering, panicle Initiation, flowering, grain filling
Wheat 110-120 350-400 3-4 CRI, tillering, flowering, milk & dough stage
Maize 110-120 550-600 3-4 Knee high, silk, cob development
Green gram 70-75 150-250 2 Pre-flowering, pod development
Horse gram 90 150 2 Pre-flowering, pod development
Mustard 90-120 250-350 2 Vegetative, flowering, siliqua development
Groundnut 110-120 300-500 2-3 Vegetative, Flowering & kernel development
Sugarcane 300-330 2000-2500 12-16 Germination, Tillering, Ripening
Potato 90-110 350-500 4-6 Tuber Initiation, early bulking peak bulking, maturity
* Critical growth stages for irrigation: water stress in soil in a particular period of crop growth causes
maximum damage to the plant development process and ultimately yield is affected by this stress.

Table: Crop water use, yield and WUE or WP in West Bengal situation

Crop Water use Yield WUE1 WP2

(mm) (kg ha-1) (kg ha-mm-1) (kg m-3 water)
Rice 1200 6000 5.0 0.50
Wheat 320 3650 11.40 1.14
Maize 440 6300 14.3 1.43
Groundnut 470 3000 6.38 0.64
Mustard 150 960 6.4 0.64
Potato 410 30800 75.10 7.51
1
WUE-Water use efficiency: Crop produced per unit water use in terms of ET
Y
WUE = ( kg / ha-mm)
ET
2
WP-Water productivity: Crop produce (Y) or monetary income (Rs) per unit volume(m 3) of water supply to the crop.
Y Rs
WP = (kg /m3 water) or (Rs /m3 water)
WS WS

Table: Area covered & irrigation per cent of major crops in India (20115-16)

Crop Area (million ha) Irrigation (%)

Rice 44 56
Wheat 24 85
Coarse grain 29 15
Oil seed 26 30
Pulses 24 15
Sugar cane 5 90
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