COMMAND AREA

PRELIMINARY SURVEY:
When once the storage reservoir is fixed ,along with a certain FRL cill of the offtake etc., the next step is to determines to how much area it can command on either side ,if it is proposed to have canal system on both sides of reservoir.

This is done by tracing a contour alignment of the canal,on Govt. of India contour map.The total area between canal alignment and the other boundries of proposed ayacut is

planimetered,and area is arrived at.This area is termed as Gross Command Area. Next step is to trace the boundaries of various Districts covered by entire area.

All these area are to be eliminated from thG.C.A. If in the command area,only apportion of acertain district is covered,then,prorate areas may be taken. After elimination of the areas not suitable for irrigation,the balance area is known as the Net Command Area. This area will be still less if as thye policy by the, Project authortities, the existing tanks and the area irrigated by them,are to be excluded.

INTENSITY OF IRRIGATION:
Depending upon the storage proposed to be created in reservoir,the actual area that can be roughly arrived.If net cultivable area available is more than area that can be irrigated, then a % of Net cultivable area only will be proposed for irrigation.100% irrigation cannot be ensured in such case4es.To cite an example Tungabhadra Project Low Level canal Scheme,the command area was prone to drought with frequent famines and the Govt. was spending a lot of money each year in thess areas declared as famine stricken areas.To mitigate famine conditions,it was proposed to spread the irrigation over the entire command area,in patches with an intensity of irrigation of 50% upto first 100 K.M. of main canal and there

after, the balance area was covered at 25% intensity.

BLOCK SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION AND PREPARATION ON BLOCK MAPS:

Block system of the irrigation has come into practice of all major irrigation projects after it was advocated by Sir M. Visweswaraya who first introduced it under Krishna Raja Sagar Project across Cauveri River.

BLOCK LEVELLING:
This process consist of taking extensive levels over the command area and transferring the same to village maps showing individual survey number.These village maps are joined together along the boundaries of the villages,thus

forming a map of the each Block in the entire command area. These levels are taken at 55 ft. interval both way.Based upon these levels,contours are interpolated at about mmeter interval.These contour maps will enable us to indentify the ridges and the valleys in each block and they help in alignment of distibutory system including the field channels.

SOIL SURVEY:
Representative soil sample from the field upto a depth of about a meter are taken and tested for their suitability for raising crops.Except fori8solated pockets, acontigous areas of typical soils are marked clearly on the

command area.For raising wet and dry crops.The following are the various classification which areas are mainly divided into: 1) 2) 3) 4) Alluvial soil Loamy soil Heavy soil like Black Cotton soil Othercategories like desert soil,etc., are interest and have not much of a practical value.

Soils whose average particle size4 is more than 4mm are classified as Gravel.Such soils are not fit for irrigation.

Soils whose particle size varies from 4mm to 0.05mm are classified as sand,such as coarse sabd ,fine sand etc.,Those whose particle size

varies from0.05mm to 0.005mm are called silty and those below 0.005mm are called clay.

ALLUVIAL SOIL:
These consist of layer of silt with fine sand depostited by rivers.These are mostly obtained in deltaic regions of river.In India the regions of Indo-Gangetic plains and Bramaputra plains consist mostly of alluvium. These soils are good for raising any type of crop and afford good drainage facilities.

RED SOILS:

These soils are formed due to weathering of metamorphic rocks over the years.These soils are found all over the India. These soils have better drainage properities. These resemble Loamy soils.

HEAVY SOILS:
Soils containing heavy % of clay are called heavy soils.Typical soil of this type is Black Cotton soil.These soils are common in the state of Maharastra,A.P.,some parts of M.P. and Gujrat and Tamil Nadu. These are well suited for cultivation of rice and sugarcane.

LOCALISATION OF AYACUT:
This is most important aspect in arriving at the net cultivable area crop wise and Survey Number wise in the command area. After the block leveling is completed,contours are drawn at about1/2 meter interval over entire command area. Next step is ti align the main distributor and its subsidiaries to cover the entire area. Finally the pipe outlets from each small distibutory that feed the field channels are marked and the areas under which each field channel are clearly marked in the Block Map.

COMMAND AREA DEVELOPMENT:

Command area development consist of: 1) If additional area that can be irrigated over and above the localized ayacut,is available, ways and mean to include this area also by adopting better ways of water management and changing cropping pattern. 2) Bringing optimum yields by supplying them quality seeds and fertilizers. 3) Bringing water to fields instead of at the outlet and ensuring equitable supply to the tail end lands of the distibutory. 4) Avoiding misuse and wastage of water. 5) Conjuctive use of gravity flow with undergroung water.

6) Constructing of water courses and field channels. 7) Constructing field drains and linking them to the connecting drains. 8) Provision of ayacut roads. 9) Introduction of rotation system. 10) Shaping of land holdings is most important factor in development of ayacut.

CROPS AND CROPPING SEASONS:

For a country of this magnitude area, in India is fortunate enough to have a fairly good rainfall during a normal year. The country draws its water requirement from the two monsoons ,namely South West

monsoon and North East monsoon. Of the two South West monsoon is dominant monsoon, from which most of Indian rivers and reservoirs built on them derive their supply.

Based upon seasonal rainfall ,over the entire country the cropping seasons are broadly classified as: 1) Kharif season, depending entirely on South West monsoon, from june to oct.150 days. 2) Rabi season (oct. to march).

Some crops are also grown between marchj and june and these are known as Zaid and depend solely on occasional rains in Summer and ground water by resorting to pumping.