Irrigation Engineering

2. Soil Moisture & Crop Relation

 Introduction
• Soil–plant–water relationships are related to the properties
of soil and plants that affect the movement and use of
water.
• Soil provides the space for water, which is used by plants
through their roots.
• Water contains a large amount of dissolved nutrients,
which are essential for plant growth.
• If the rainfall is not adequate for plant growth, additional
water should be supplied through irrigation.
• The entry of water into the soil and its retention,
movement and availability to plant roots should be known
for the efficient management of irrigated agriculture.
 2.1 Climate-soil-water-crop 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
• is a three-dimensional body occupying the upper
part of the earth’s crust
• and having properties differing from the
underlying rock material as a result of
interactions between climate, living organism,
parent material and relief and
• which is distinguished from other soils in terms of
differences in internal characteristics and/or in
terms of the gradient slope- complexity, micro
topography, stoniness, and rockiness of the
surface.
 Soil
• superficial covering that overlies the bedrock
of most of the land area of the Earth;
• an aggregation of unconsolidated mineral and
organic particles produced by physical,
chemical, and biological processes;
• and the medium that supports the growth of
most plants
 Soil Suitability for agricultural
practices
• The primary components of soil are inorganic materials that
are mostly produced by the weathering of bedrock; soluble
nutrients, or chemical elements and compounds used by
plants for growth; various forms of organic matter; and gases
and water required by plants and soil organisms.
• Knowledge of the mineral and organic components of soils, of
the amount of air they contain (aeration), and of their water-
holding capacity, as well as of many other aspects of soil
structure, is necessary for the successful production of crops.
• Soil is a very important agricultural complement with out
which no agricultural is possible. It is important to study the
soil characteristics to say a particular soil type is suitable for
agriculture or not.
 land evaluation
• The process of the suitability of land for
different uses such as agriculture is assessed
and it is known as land evaluation.
• Land evaluation for agricultural purpose
provides information for deciding ‘which crops
to grow where’ and other related crops.
Hence, before a land is put certain land uses,
its suitability for that particular land use
should be evaluated.
 Physical Characteristics of Soil
• Effective soil depth
• Water holding capacity
• Non-capillary porosity
• Topography
• Texture
• Soil Structure
• Soil Consistence
– 1) Wet soil - non sticky, sticky, non plastic, plastic
– 2) Moist soil - loose, friable, firm
– 3) Dry soil - loose, soft, and hard.
• Soil Permeability and Hydraulic Conductivity
 Soil Permeability and Hydraulic Conductivity

• Permeability - is the ease with which liquids, gases and roots pass
through the soil.
• Hydraulic conductivity is the permeability of the soil for water. i.e.
the ease with which the soil pores permit water movement. It
controls the soil water movement.
• The major factors affecting hydraulic conductivity are texture and
structure of soils. E.g.,
– Sandy soils have higher saturated conductivity than finer textured soils.
– Soils with stable granular structure conduct water rapidly than those
with unstable structural units, since they will not break down when get
wetted.
– Fine textured soils during dry weather because of their cracks allow
water rapidly then the cracks swell shut, and drastically reduce water
movement.
 Quality of Irrigation Water
1. Salinity (soluble salt content):-
When the quantity of salts in irrigated land is too high, the salts accumulate in
the crop root zone. These salts create difficulty to crops in extracting
enough water from the salty solution. Thus, for the land to be of high
value for irrigation, the soluble salt content should be low as much as
possible.
2. Amount of Exchangeable sodium:-
When the amount of exchangeable sodium is high in the soil, the soil will
have large amount of Na+ in the form of colloid. This results in
tremendous reduction of the permeability of the soil. This in turn makes it
difficult to the cop to get sufficient water and causes crusting of seedbeds.
Such a soil is called Black alkali soil. Hence, the amount of exchangeable
sodium should be low in agricultural lands.
3. Soil Reaction (PH):
is a measure of its acidity or alkalinity. It is a measure of the concentration of
hydrogen ion in a soil. Excessively low or high pH values are not good for
proper growth and adequate yield production as they bring about acidity
or alkalinity in the soil
 Role of soil
1. Medium for plant growth:
2.Regulator of water supplies:
3. Recycler of raw materials:
4. Habitat for soil organisms:
5. Engineering medium:
 Soil- water relations
• means that physical properties of soil in
relation to water
• The rate of entry of water in to the soil and its
retention, movement and availability to plant
roots are all physical phenomena.
• Hence, it is important to know the physical
properties of soil in relation to water.
 Classes of Soil Water Availability
• Gravitational water:
• Capillary water:
• Hygroscopic water
• Water may also be classified as unavailable, available and
gravitational or superfluous.
• Such a grouping refers to the availability of soil water to plants.
• Gravitational water drains quickly from the root zone under normal
drainage conditions.
• Unavailable water is held too tightly by capillary forces and is
generally not accessible to plant roots.
• Available water is the difference between gravitational and
unavailable water. Water drains from the soil under the constant
pull of gravity. Sandy soils drain rapidly, while clay soils drain very
slowly.
• Hence, one day after irrigating a sandy soil has drained most of the
gravitational water, where as clay may require four or more days for
gravitational water to drain.
 Soil Moisture Constants
• Saturation Capacity: -
• Field capacity: - At field capacity, Soil Moisture Tension (SMT) is
between 1/10 – 1/3 atm.
• Field capacity can be determined by ponding water on a soil surface
in an area of about 2 to 5 m2 and allowing it to drain for one to
three days preventing surface evaporation. Then soil samples are
taken from different depths and the moisture content is
determined as usual, which gives the field capacity.
• Permanent Wilting Point: - The soil moisture tension at PWP ranges
from 7 to 32 atm, depending on the soil texture, kinds of crops and
salt content in the soil solution.
• - Since the change in moisture content (Dq) is insignificant for
changes in SMT from 7-32 atm. Hence, 15 atm. is taken as SMT at
PWP.
• - At PWP the plant starts wilting, and if no water is given to the
plant, then it will die.
Soil Moisture Characteristics curve
Oven dry Unavailable to plants
Hygroscopic
Clay soil water
Ultimate wilting point
Wilting
range Available for survival
Permanent wilting Wilting coefficient
Capillary
Silt loam water
Available for growth
Sandy loam
Field capacity
saturation Limited part available
Gravity
Gravitational or free water water
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Soil Moisture content % (percent by Dry weight)
 Soil
Soil zone or Root zone
moisture

Intermediate zone

Capillary zone

Ground water zone

Impervious strata
 2.2 Soil moisture regimes
1. Total available water, TAW
• The soil moisture between field capacity and permanent wilting point is called
available water.
• This is the water available for plant use. Fine-grained soils generally have a wider
range of available moisture than course textured soil.

2. Management allowed deficit, MAD.

• The degree to which the volume of water in the soil is allowed to deplete before
the next irrigation is applied. That is portion of the available moisture, which is
easily extracted by the plant roots. It is commonly 60 – 80 % of the available water.
• MAD = f. TAW, f depends on type of crop and Crop growing stage.

3. Soil moisture deficit, SMD.

• The depletion of soil moisture below field capacity at the time that particular soil
moisture content, qv , is measured. That is the amount of water required to bring
the soil moisture back to the field capacity. Deficit = Fc – soil moisture at that
instant.
• SMD = (qv(fc) - qv ) D
 Soil moisture regimes

1. Total available water, TAW

2. Management allowed deficit, MAD.
3. Soil moisture deficit, SMD.
 2.2 Crop Water Requirements

• The quantity of water required by a crop in a given period of

time for normal growth under field conditions.
• It includes evaporation and other unavoidable wastes.
• Usually water requirement for crop is expressed in water
depth per unit area.
• Mathematically,
 2.3 Factors affecting crop water requirements
1. Water table: If the water table is nearer to the ground surface, the water
requirement will be less & vice versa.
2. Climate: In hot climate the evaporation loss is more and hence the water
requirement will be more and vice versa.
3. Ground Slope: If the slope of the ground is steep the water requirement
will be more due to less absorption time for the soil.
4. Intensity of Irrigation: It is directly related to water requirement, the more
the intensity, greater will be the water required for a particular crop.
5. Type of Soil: In sandy soil water percolates easily so water required is
more. While in clayey soils water requirement is less.
6. Method of Application of water: In sprinkler method less water is
required as it just moist the soil like rainwater whereas in flood more
water is required.
7. Method of Ploughing: In deep ploughing less water is required and vice
versa.
 CONSUMPTIVE USE OF WATER

• It is the quantity of water used by the

vegetation growth of a given area.
• Mathematically,

• It is expressed in terms of depth of water.

FACTORS AFFECTIING THE CONSUMPTIVE USE OF WATER

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 USE

1. Optimum Consumptive Use

2. Potential Consumptive Use
3. Seasonal Consumptive Use
 METHODS OF ESTIMATION OF CONSUMPTIVE USE:

1. Direct Methods/Field Methods

(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

2. Empirical Methods
(i) Lowry Johnson Method
(ii) Penman Equation
(iii)Hargreave’s Method
 (i) Vapour Transfer Method:
• In this method, soil moisture measurements are taken before
and after each irrigation.
• The quantity of water extracted per day from soil is 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.

• 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:
• 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,

Where,

• Lysimeter studies are time consuming and expensive. Methods 1 and 2 are the
more reliable methods as compare to this method.
 (iv) Integration 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,

• Where,
 (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 Engineering 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
in the valley, consumptive use is given by,

Where,
•

• All the above volumes are measured in acre-feet or hectare-meter.

 (i) Lowry Johnson Method:
• The equation for this method is,
 (ii) Penman Equation:
• According to this method,
•
•
• ET = Evapotranspiration or consumptive use in mm
• Ea = Evaporation (mm/day)
• H = Daily heat budget at surface (mm/day)
• H is a function of radiation, sunshine hours, wind
speed, vapour pressure and other climatic factors.
• Δ = Slope of saturated vapour pressure curve of air at
absolute temperature in °F
 (iii) Hargreave’s Method:
• It is a very simple method. According to this
method,

• Where,
 2.4 Base period, duty and delta
• Duty of water: is the relation between the area of the land irrigated and
the quantity of water required.
Duty (D) is defined as the area of the land, which can be irrigated if one
cumec (m3/sec) of water was applied to the land continuously for the
entire base period of the crop and it is expressed in hectares/cumecs.

• Base period (B): is the period between the first watering and the last
watering. The base period is slightly different from the crop period, which
is the period between the time of sowing and the time of harvesting the
crop.

• Delta (∆): is the total depth of water required by a crop during the entire
base period. If the entire quantity of applied water were spread uniformly
on the land surface, the depth of water would have been equal to delta.
Thus the delta (in m) of any crop can be determined by dividing the total
quantity of water (in ha-m) required by the crop by the area of the land (in
ha).
 Relation Between Duty, Base Period And Delta
• Considering the area of land of D-hectares and If Duty is expressed in
ha/cumecs the total quantity of water used in the base period of B days is
equal to that obtained by a continuous flow of 1 cumec for B days.
• Quantity of water= 1*B*24*60*60*, m3 ------------------------------------- (a)
• If Delta (∆) is the total depth of water in meters supplied to the land of D-
hectares, the quantity of water is also given by:
• Quantity of water = (D *10˄4)* ∆ m3 ----------------------------------------------
(b)
• Equating the volumes of water given in eqns (a) and (b)
• 1*B*24*60*60* = (D*10 ˄ 4)* ∆
• D = 8.64 B
∆

• Where D = in ha/cumec
• ∆ = in m
• B = in days
 Factors affecting Duty
Duty of water depends up on different factors. In general, the
smaller the losses, the greater are duty because one cumec
of water will be able to irrigate larger area.
• Type of soil
• Type of crop and base period
• Structure of soil
• Slop of ground
• Climatic condition
• Method of application of water
• Salt content of soil
Counteracting all the factors that decrease the duty by
decreasing various losses may improve duty of water.
 2.5 Command area of irrigation system
– GCA, CCA and NCA
Gross Command Area (G.C.A):
The whole area enclosed between an imaginary boundary lines which can be included
in an irrigation project for supplying water to agricultural land by the network of
canals is known as Gross command Area (G.C.A). It includes both the culturable
and unculturable areas.
Mathematically,

Unculturable Command Area (Un-C.C.A):

The area where the agriculture cannot be done and crops cannot be grown is known
as unculturable area. The marshy lands, lakes, ponds, forests, villages etc are
considered as unculturable.
Culturable Command Area (C.C.A):
The total area within an irrigation project where the cultivation can be done and crops
can be grown.
Mathematically,
Information of projects and schemes, C.C.A is roughly taken as of G.C.A depending
upon the configuration of land.
 Intensity of Irrigation:

• It is defined as the ratio of cultivated land for a particular crop

to the total C.C.A. It is expressed as % of C.C.A.
• For example, if the total C.C.A is 1000 hectares where wheat is
cultivated in 250 hectares
• Then,

Area to Be Irrigated:
It is the product of C.C.A and the intensity of irrigation.
Mathematically,
 Crop Season
• The period during which some particular types of crops can
be grown every year on the same land is known as crop
season.
• Kharif Season: This season ranges from June to October.
The crops are sown in the very beginning of monsoon and
harvested at the end of autumn.
The major Kharif crops are---- Rice, Millet, Maize, Jute, and
Groundnut.
• Rabi Season: This season ranges from October to March.
The crops are sown in the very beginning of winter and
harvested at the end of spring.
The major Rabi crops are-----Wheat, Gram, Mustard,
Rapeseed, Linseed, Pulses, Onion etc.
Consumptive Use of “Rabi Crops”

CROP CONSUMPTIVE USE “Δ”

Wheat 37 cm

Gram 30 cm
Barley 30 cm

Potatoes 60-90 cm

Sugarcane 90 cm
Consumptive Use of “Kharif Crops”

CROP CONSUMPTIVE USE

Cotton 25-40 cm

Rice 125-150 cm

Maize 45 cm
 Crop Ratio:
• It is defined as the ratio of the areas of the
two main crop seasons, e.g. Kharif and Rabi.

• For example, if the area under Kharif crop is

2500 hectares and the area under Rabi crop is
5000 hectares then, crop ratio of kharif to
Rabi is 1:2 (i.e.
 Crop Rotation:
• The process of changing the type of crop for the cultivation on
the same land is known as crop rotation.
• It is found that if same crop is cultivated on the same land
every year, the fertility of the land gets reduced and the yield
of crop also gradually reduces. This is due to the reason that
necessary nutrients required for the growth of a particular
crop get exhausted.
• Few crop rotations possible are,
• Rice----Wheat
• Wheat----Millet----Gram
• Rice---Gram---Wheat
 Time Factor:
• The ratio of the number of days the canal has
actually been kept open to the number of days the
canal was designed to remain open during the base
period is known as time factor.
• Mathematically,

• For example, a canal was designed to kept open for

15 days, but it was practically kept open for 10 days
for supplying water to the culturable area, then the
time factor is 10/15 = 0.667
 Capacity Factor:
• It is the ratio of the average discharge to the
maximum discharge (design discharge).
• Mathematically,

• For example, a canal was designed or the

maximum discharge of 50 cumecs, but the
average discharge is 40 cumecs, then the
capacity factor is 40/50 =
 Number of Watering:
• The total depth of water required by a crop is
not applied at one time but it is supplied over
the base period by stages depending upon
requirement,
• these numbers of stages are known as
“Number of Watering”
 Paleo:
• The initial watering which is done on the land
to provide moisture to the soil just before
sowing any crop is known as paleo or paleva.
 Kor Watering: & Kor Period:
Kor Watering:
• The first watering which is done when the
crop has grown to about three centimeters is
called Kor Watering.

Kor Period:
• The portion of the base period in which Kor
watering is needed is called “Kor Period”
 Cumec Day:
• The quantity of water flowing continuously for
one day at the rate of one cumec is known as
cumec day.
 IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY:
The ratio of the amount of water available (output) to the
amount of water supplied (input) is known as Irrigation
Efficiency. It is expressed in percentage.
The following are the various types of irrigation efficiencies,
(a) Water Conveyance Efficiency
(b) Water Application Efficiency
(c) Water Use Efficiency
(d) Water Distribution Efficiency
 Water Conveyance Efficiency
• It is the ratio of the amount of water applied,
to the land to the amount of water supplied
from the reservoir. It is obtained by the
expression,

• Where,
 Water Application Efficiency
• It is the ratio of the water stored in root zone
of plants to the water applied to the land. It is
obtained by the expression,

• Where,
 Water Use Efficiency

• It is the ratio of the amount of water used to

the amount of water applied. It is obtained by
the expression,

• Where,
Water Distribution Efficiency
 2.6 Principal crops, their seasons and water requirement

Principal crops:
• Rice, Wheat, Maize, Potato, Grains (Moggi, peas, grams beans etc),
vegetables, sugarcane and other cash crops like jute, tea and coffee etc.
Crop Season:
• The period during which some particular types of crops can be grown
every year on the same land is known as crop season
• Kharif Season: This season ranges from June to October. The crops are
sown in the very beginning of monsoon and harvested at the end of
autumn.
The major Kharif crops are---- Rice, Millet, Maize, Jute, and Groundnut.
• Rabi Season: This season ranges from October to March. The crops are
sown in the very beginning of winter and harvested at the end of spring.
The major Rabi crops are-----Wheat, Gram, Mustard, Rapeseed, Linseed,
Pulses, Onion etc
Crop Water Requirement of common crops in India/Nepal
End of Unit 2

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