ESTIMATION OF IRRIGATION WATER USING CROPWAT MODEL AT KM35 PROJECT SITE,

IN SAVANNAKHET, LAO PDR: Toda, O. et al.

ESTIMATION OF IRRIGATION WATER USING CROPWAT MODEL AT

KM35PROJECT SITE, IN SAVANNAKHET, LAO PDR

Osamu Toda1), Koshi Yoshida2) , Somura Hiroaki3) , Higuchi Katsuhiro3) and Hajime Tanji 3)
1)
Department of Global Agricultural Sciences
Tokyo University, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
2)
Japan Science and Technology Agency,
National Institute for Rural Engineering, 2-1-6 Kannondai, Tsukuba,
Ibaraki, 305-8609, Japan
3)
Department of Hydraulics
National Institute for Rural Engineering, 2-1-6 Kannondai, Tsukuba,
Ibaraki, 305-8609, Japan

E-mail of Corresponding author: aa46279@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp

ABSTRACT

In Lao PDR, the population is growing rapidly and is expected to continue growing, which will inevitably
lead to an increase in food demand. To maintain self-sufficiency in food supply, one option is to raise the
unit yield. According to the Ministry of Agriculture-Forestry, Lao PDR, the total rice harvested area in
2002 was about 3% of the total land and the irrigated rice area was about 11% of the total rice harvested
area. The rainfed yield was 3.5 ton/ha for lowland rice and 1.8 ton/ha for upland rice, and the irrigated
yield was 4.5 ton/ha. Thus, the low proportion of irrigated rice area resulted in unsustainable food supply.
For stable food supply, the key is determining the area of rainfed paddy that could be irrigated. Therefore,
estimation of the water requirements and evaluation of the effects of installing irrigation are extremely
important.
The study area was the KM35 Irrigation Project Site at Savannakhet Province. The area was divided
into 13 segments. Using the CROPWAT model, irrigated water into the paddy at each area of KM35 was
estimated for the 2004 rainy season. In the estimation process, yield response coefficient ky was modified,
and also, the partition height was taken into consideration.
The estimated volume of irrigation water for the entire KM35 site was 7% of the active capacity of the
reservoir. Irrigation days were from 26 to 43 (34 on average). From the relation between partition height,
hardpan depth and actual yield, it was revealed that actual yield had a positive correlation to partition
height, most likely due to the reserved water up to the partition height, and a negative correlation to
hardpan depth. The relation to irrigation days indicated the opposite results to those of actual yield.
In the case of KM35, total irrigation volume in the rainy season was minimal. When the supplementary
irrigated rice yield is higher than the rainfed yield, this indicates that supplementary irrigation is available
for raising the unit yield. In addition, even if part of the area is irrigated in the dry season, further
increases can be expected within the year.
Because this model did not take into consideration groundwater level or the effects of fertilizers, it is
necessary to include these factors for improved accuracy when estimating dry season irrigation.

INTRODUCTION

In Lao PDR, evaluation of the food supply is very important from the perspective of the country’s rapid
population growth (UN, 2004), and inevitable increase in food demand. On the other hand, water and land
resources are not expected to change dramatically. In determining the methods for maintaining self-
sufficiency in food supply, expansion of harvested areas is not possible because the land is almost fully
used, but raising the unit yield is a viable option.
A favorable method for raising the rice yield per unit is through irrigation. According to the Ministry of
Agriculture-Forestry, Lao PDR, the total rice harvested area in 2002 was 738,104 ha, which is about 3% of

Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Thailand, 2005 17

ESTIMATION OF IRRIGATION WATER USING CROPWAT MODEL AT KM35 PROJECT SITE,
IN SAVANNAKHET, LAO PDR: Toda, O. et al.

the total land. Irrigated rice area was about 11% of the total rice harvested area, and the remaining 89% was
rainfed paddy area. The rainfed yield was 3.5 ton/ha for lowland rice and 1.8 ton/ha for upland rice, and the
irrigated yield was 4.5 ton/ha. Thus, the low proportion of irrigated rice area resulted in unsustainable food
supply. For stable food supply, the key is determining the area of rainfed paddy that could be irrigated.
Therefore, estimation of water requirements and evaluation of the effects of installing irrigation are
extremely important.

STUDY AREA

The KM35 Irrigation Project Site (KM35) of Savannakhet Province in Lao PDR was selected as the study
area (Fig. 1). In 2002, the province’s rice harvested area was the largest in Lao PDR and its production
accounted for about 20% of the total (Fig. 2), demonstrating the importance of Savannakhet Province for
rice production.

Fig. 1: Location of the study area

Xaysomboon Saravane Sekong Champasack

140
SR 0.5% 9.1% 0.9% 11.2%
Irrigated (Dry)
Attapeu
120 Upland (Rainy) Khammuane 2.0% Upland Rice
Lowland (Rainy) 7.2% (Rainy)
100 Borikhamxay
Harvested area (1000･ha)

0.8%
3.5%
80 Lowland
Vientiane Savannakhet Rice (Rainy)
60 9.1% 20.7% 81.3%

40 Xiengkhuang Irrigated rice

2.7% (Dry)
20 Vientiane Mun. 17.9%
12.4% Phongsaly
0 Luangnamtha 1.3%
Xayabury
2.5%
ane

S ar R
dom a
xay

ury

Kh mxay

ack
ngk un.
ang saly

ang okea
g
anh

ne

ne

am n g

u
et
Vie ng
th

ape
ban

4.7%
yso nakh
ntia

av a
hua

o
nam

M
yab

mu

pas
aph

oon

Sek
ng

Luangprabang Bokea Oudomxay

B

Att
pra

Huaphanh
ha
ne
Pho

am
an
Xa
Hu

mb
rik
Ou

ntia

2.1% 2.9%
S av

3.3%
Ch

3.8%
Xie

Bo
Lu

Lu

Vie

Xa

Fig. 2: Harvest area and yield of Lao PDR

KM35, located 35 km from Savannakhet City, was constructed under the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) in 1996. The field belongs to a branch of the Se Bang Hiang River, which is a tributary of
the Mekong. Total cultivating area is 950 ha with a reservoir having 8.9x106 m3 of active capacity and 31.0
km2 of catchment area. During the planning stage, 950 ha was allocated for cultivating paddy rice with
supplementary irrigated water in the rainy season, and 550 ha was allocated for paddy rice and 400 ha for
upland crops with irrigation water in the dry season (JICA, 1992). However, the area was not completely
irrigated every dry season due to water shortage, the high cost of fertilizers and the breakdown of some

18 Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Thailand, 2005

 ESTIMATION OF IRRIGATION WATER USING CROPWAT MODEL AT KM35 PROJECT SITE,
IN SAVANNAKHET, LAO PDR: Toda, O. et al.

canals. Average annual rainfall from 1993 to 2002 was about 1,500 mm at Kengkok Station near KM35:
approximately 85% was in the rainy season from May to September and the rest was in the dry season
(MRC, 1993-2002). Thus, rice cultivation was impossible without irrigation water.
Fig. 3 shows the details of KM35. There are two main canals, three secondary canals on the left side,
four secondary canals on the right side, and several tertiary canals on each side. In this study, the field was
divided into 13 areas: 5 areas on the left canal side and 8 areas on the right canal side. Table 1 shows each
area, the partition height, hardpan depth and rainy-season rice yield in 2004.

Table 1: Hardpan depth, partition height, yield and area

Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total
Hard Pan Depth (cm) 13.9 14.8 10.2 10.9 10.6 11.7 11.0 11.9 10.0 9.5 10.5 10.6 11.8
Partition Height (cm) 16.1 17.7 21.9 18.9 18.3 16.1 20.4 20.0 22.3 30.3 22.6 24.1 20.9
Actual Yield (t/ha) 3.65 2.40 3.86 2.46 2.74 2.79 5.95 3.36 3.96 3.91 2.57 4.89 3.17
Area (ha) 39 62 71 109 87 47 18 83 89 50 99 144 52 950

Fig. 3: KM35 divided into 13 areas

METHODOLOGY

A model based on CROPWAT by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was
used in this study. Partition height was taken into consideration and the yield response coefficient was
modified. Using this model, rainfed yields were estimated first. Then, calculations were performed to
determine how much supplemental water was irrigated to produce the actual yields in each area,
respectively. All data was collected in the rainy season of 2004. For the calculation, meteorological data,
except for rainfall, was collected from the Savannakhet Weather Station. Rainfall data was collected from
the Kengkok Station closer to the field.

Crop Evapotranspiration
Crop evapotranspiration can be calculated from the following equation (Richard, 1998):

ETc = (Kc + Ke) ETo (1)

ETa = (KsgKc + Ke) ETo (2)

Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Thailand, 2005 19

ESTIMATION OF IRRIGATION WATER USING CROPWAT MODEL AT KM35 PROJECT SITE,
IN SAVANNAKHET, LAO PDR: Toda, O. et al.

where ETc and ETa are crop evapotranspiration, standard and adjusted for water stress, respectively, ETo is
reference crop evapotranspiration, Ks is water stress coefficient, Kc is crop coefficient, and Ke is
evaporation coefficient. Then, ETo is evapotranspiration from the hypothetical reference surface, and is
calculated from the FAO Penman-Monteith equation as follows:

900
0.408∆ ( R n − G ) + γ u (es − ea )
T + 273 2
ET o = (3)
∆ + γ(1 + 0.34 u 2 )

where Rn is net radiation at the crop surface, G is soil heat flux density, T is mean daily air temperature at
2-m height, u2 is wind speed at 2-m height, es and ea are saturation and actual vapor pressures, respectively,
∆ is slope vapor pressure curve and γ is psychometric constant. Each parameter is determined from
meteorological data sets. In Eq. 1, Kc is given from FAO, Ks is calculated from water stress as explained
below, and Ke is determined by the soil condition.

Yield Decrease
CROPWAT is suitable for upland crops, but paddy rice differs in cultivating style. Paddy rice cultivated on
lowland is generally framed in by partitions. These partitions can store rain or irrigated water in an amount
up to its height, which protects the rice plants against drought for a while. For this reason, the effect of the
partition height was taken into consideration. Fig. 4 shows the concept of the model. Water content is
determined by the sum total of rainfall, irrigation water, evapotranspiration, runoff above the partition and
deep percolation from the hardpan. If the water content decreases across the surface, some water deficit will
occur.
Evapotranspiration Rain
Irrigation Run Off

Partition
Surface
Deficit Readily Available Water
= Water Stress
Total Available Water
Water Content
Hard Pan
Deep Percolation
Fig. 4: Concept of model

The rice can use water until the water deficit reaches the Total Available Water. However, when the water
deficit exceeds the capacity of Readily Available Water, water stress is generated. The water stress is
determined by Ks estimated from the following equation:

TAW − Dw
Ks = (4)
TAW − RAW

D w, i = D e, i -1 − Pi − I i + ET a, i + DP i (5)

20 Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Thailand, 2005

 ESTIMATION OF IRRIGATION WATER USING CROPWAT MODEL AT KM35 PROJECT SITE,
IN SAVANNAKHET, LAO PDR: Toda, O. et al.

where Dw is the water deficit, TAW and RAW are total and readily available water, respectively, P is
rainfall, I is irrigated water, DP is deep percolation, and i is the day number. When water stress reaches the
rice plant, the evapotranspiration must be decreased from non-stressed ones. This decrease means that the
rice plant could not produce its potential yield, which is only possible without water stress. The yield
decrease is estimated from the following equation:

⎛ ETa ⎞
Yield Decrease = Yp – Ya = Kyg ⎜1 − ⎟ Yp (6)
⎝ ETc ⎠
Yp = 4.50 ton/ha

where Ya is actual yield, Yp is potential yield under non-water-stress conditions, and Ky is yield response
coefficient. The value of Yp was the maximum rice yield of Savannakhet Province, and was obtained from
statistical data.

Determination of Ky
The yield response coefficient Ky was adjusted to the measured actual yields (Table 2). According to FAO
(Doorenbos, 1986), Ky value of rice plants is 1.4, 3.0 and 0.4 for each stage, vegetative, flowering and
yield formation, respectively. Using these values, the estimated yield of KM35 under rainfed conditions
ranged from 3.15 to 3.24 ton/ha. On the other hand, the measured minimum yield was 2.40 ton/ha at Area 2.
The FAO values were not suitable in the case of KM35; therefore, Ky was adjusted to approximately
equalize the yield between the actual and rainfed estimation at Area 2.

Table 2: Ky value and growing stage

Establish- Yield
Stage Vegetative Flowering Ripening
ment Formation
Period (days) 15 65 15 35 20
Ky 2.3 4 1.4
Ky from FAO 1.3 3 0.4

Estimation of Irrigated Water

From actual yield data, irrigated water volume is adversely estimated from Eqs. (1) through (6) and the
following equation:

Ya =
∑ Xi gYp
n

⎛ ETa, i ⎞
Xi = 1 – Ky ⎜1 − ⎟ (7)
⎝ ETc, i ⎠

where n is 150 days for the total rice planting period. The daily irrigation volume is determined to fulfill the
above equations. The schedule depends on the water deficit. The daily irrigation volume is constant during
the entire period, but is changed for each area.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results of the estimation are shown in Fig. 5 and Table 3. The rainfed yield from each area is estimated
under conditions of no rain and ranges between 2.23 and 2.52 ton/ha. Irrigation water was supplied to
harvest the actual yield of each area individually. Irrigation water supplied to Areas 2, 4 and 10 was almost
zero. When the actual yield exceeded the potential yield such as in Areas 7 and 11, its irrigation water was
supplied to harvest the entire potential yield.
The total irrigation water volume of each area is the sum of the estimated daily irrigation in this rainy
season. In the estimation, irrigation days were 26 to 43 (34 on average), total daily irrigation water volume

Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Thailand, 2005 21

ESTIMATION OF IRRIGATION WATER USING CROPWAT MODEL AT KM35 PROJECT SITE,
IN SAVANNAKHET, LAO PDR: Toda, O. et al.

was about 20,000 m3 per day, and the total volume of the whole rainy season was about 623,000 m3. The
seasonal total was about 7% of the active capacity of the reservoir.

Table 3: Results of estimation

Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total
Rainfed Yield (t/ha) 2.23 2.35 2.52 2.40 2.36 2.22 2.50 2.48 2.52 2.52 2.52 2.52 2.53 2.44(avg)
Irrigation (mm/day) 3.0 0.1 3.0 0.1 0.8 1.2 5.5 2.0 3.2 3.1 0.1 5.5 1.5 29.1
Total Irrigation (mm/season) 131 4 90 4 30 50 172 69 96 86 3 144 48 927
Irrigation Days 43 42 30 37 39 43 31 35 30 28 29 26 32 34 (avg)
Area Irrigation (m3/day) 1,170 62 2,130 109 696 564 990 1,660 2,848 1,550 99 7,920 780 20,578
3 3
Total Area Irrigation (10 m /season) 51.09 2.48 63.90 4.36 26.10 23.50 30.96 57.27 85.44 43.00 2.97 207.36 24.96 623.39

Fig. 5: Results of estimation

The relation between actual yield and partition height, hardpan depth, is shown in Fig. 6. It was revealed
that actual yield had a positive correlation to partition height, and a negative correlation to hardpan depth. It
is assumed that the positive correlation to partition height is due to the partition reserving water up to its
height. However, the hardpan had the opposite result, even though it was able to save water under the soil
as well as the partition. On the other hand, the relation of partition and hardpan to irrigation days is shown
in Fig. 7, which reveals that irrigation days were negative for partition height, and positive for hardpan
depth. In terms of the partition height alone, the reason is the same as explained above. For the hardpan
depth, it was shown that a greater volume of irrigation water was required for deeper hardpan, presumably
because it was more difficult for deeper hardpan to maintain RAW.

CONCLUSIONS

In the case of KM35, it was revealed that total irrigation volume in the rainy season was minimal, only 7%
of the active capacity. Furthermore, a correlation between actual yield and partition height was shown.
When the supplementary irrigated rice yield is higher than the rainfed yield, this result indicates that
supplementary irrigation is available for raising the unit yield. In addition, even if part of the area is
irrigated in the dry season, further increases can be expected within the year.

22 Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Thailand, 2005

 ESTIMATION OF IRRIGATION WATER USING CROPWAT MODEL AT KM35 PROJECT SITE,
IN SAVANNAKHET, LAO PDR: Toda, O. et al.

Because this model did not take into consideration groundwater level and the effects of fertilizers, it is
necessary to include these factors for improved accuracy when estimating the dry season irrigation.

35
Depth
30 Height

and Hard Pan Depth (cm)

Depth
25
Partition Height Height
20

15

10

0
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5
Actual Yield (t/ha)

Fig. 6: Relation between actual yield, partition and hardpan

35
Depth
30
Height
and Hard Pan Depth (cm)

Depth
25
Partition Height

Height
20

15

10

5
0 10 20 30 40 50
Times (days)

Fig. 7: Relation between irrigation days, partition and hardpan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was made possible by the fund from CREST, Core Research for Evolutional Science and
Technology, of Japan Science and Technology Agency. The authors would also like to acknowledge the
support from the Department of Meteo-Hydrology of Lao PDR for providing meteorological data.

REFERENCES

J. Doorenbos, A. H. Kassam, C. L. M. Bentvelsen, V. Branscheid, J. M. G. A. Plusje, M. Smith, G. O.

Uittenbogaard, and H. K. Van Der Wal. (1986). Yield Response to Water, FAO Irrigation and
Drainage Paper 56. FAO, Rome.
JICA. (1992) Master plan and feasibility study on the integrated agricultural rural development project in
Savannakhet province. Japan International Cooperation Agency, Tokyo
MRC. (1993-2002) Lower Mekong Hydrologic Yearbook. Mekong River Commission, Vientiane.
Richard G. ALEEN, Luis S PEREIRA, Dirk RAES and Marthin SMITH. (1998). Crop Evapotranspiration:

Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Thailand, 2005 23

ESTIMATION OF IRRIGATION WATER USING CROPWAT MODEL AT KM35 PROJECT SITE,
IN SAVANNAKHET, LAO PDR: Toda, O. et al.

guidelines for computing crop water requirements, FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56. FAO,
Rome.
UN. (2004). World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision Population Database. URL:
http://esa.un.org/unpp/, United Nation, New York.

24 Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Thailand, 2005