Water requirements of Crops: Crops and crop season, Duty and Delta, Consumptive use, Irrigation requirements, Estimation

of consumptive use of water by climatic approaches, Irrigation efficiencies, Soil moisture-irrigation relationship.

WATER REQUIREMENTS FOR CROPS It is defined as, 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,
Total water requirement = A + B + C A = Consumptive use of water (Evapotranspiration) B= Application and conveyance losses of water C = Special needs of water (Water required for preparation of land etc)

Water losses produced after passing from Nakka is called application losses. FACTORS AFFECTING THE WATER REQUIREMENT The following are the factors which affect on the water requirements of the crops, 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,
Consumptive Use = Evapotranspiration = Evaporation + transpiration

It is expressed in terms of depth of water. FACTORS AFFECTIING THE CONSUMPTIVE USE OF WATER Consumptive use varies with, 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 Following are the types of consumptive use, 1. Optimum Consumptive Use 2. Potential Consumptive Use 3. Seasonal Consumptive Use 1. Optimum Consumptive Use: It is the consumptive use which produces a maximum crop yield. 2. Potential Consumptive Use: If sufficient moisture is always available to completely meet the needs of vegetation fully covering the entire area then resulting evapotranspiration is known as Potential Consumptive Use. 3. Seasonal Consumptive Use: The total amount of water used in the evapotranspiration by a cropped area during the entire growing season. METHODS OF ESTIMATION OF CONSUMPTIVE USE: For the estimation of consumptive use there are two main methods, 1. Direct Methods/Field Methods 2. Empirical Methods

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,
Gross command Area (G.C.A) = Culturable Command Area+ Unculturable Command Area

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,
C.C.A=G.C.A-UnC.C.A

In formation of projects and schemes, C.C.A is roughly taken as 80%-90% 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 a %age of C.C.A. For example, if the total C.C.A is 1000 hectares where wheat is cultivated in 250 hectares Then,
Intensity of irrigation for wheat=2501000100=25%

Area to Be Irrigated: It is the product of C.C.A and the intensity of irrigation. Mathematically,
Area to be irrigated=C.C.AIntensity of Irrigation

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. C.R. =25005000=1:2) 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. i. 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. ii. 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 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 salts required for the growth of a particular crop get exhausted. Few crop rotations possible are, i. Rice----Gram ii. Wheat----Millet----Gram iii. 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,
Time Factor=No.of days the canal practically kept openNo.of days the canal was designed to keep open

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 1015 Capacity Factor: It is the ratio of the average discharge to the maximum discharge (design discharge). Mathematically,
Capcity factor=Average Discharge Design Discharge

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 4050=0.8 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: 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.
1 cumec day=1m3sec246060 sec 1 cumec day=246060 m3

1 cumec day=246060100001m 1 hectare=10000 m2 1 cumec day=8.64 hectare-metre

Crop Period: It is defined as the total time period from the time of sowing of a crop to the time of harvesting it. It is the period in which crop remain in the field. It is expressed in number of days. Base Period: It is the period from the first to the last watering of the crop just before its maturity. It is denoted by B and expressed in number of days. Delta: It is the total depth of water required by a crop during entire base period. It is also called consumptive use. It lies in base period. It is expressed in terms of depth and denoted by . Field Capacity: It is defined as the amount of water held in the soil after the excess gravitational water has been drained. Permanent Wilting Point: (Wilting Coefficient) It is the water content at which plants can no longer extract sufficient water from soil for its growth.
Permanent Wilting point=Field capacity2 to 2.5

Water Allowance: It is the total cusecs required at the outlet to irrigate 1000 acres of C.C.A. Duty: The duty of water is defined as number of hectares that can be irrigated by constant supply of water at the rate of one cumec throughout the base period. It is expressed in hectares/cumec and is denoted by D. For example if 3 cumecs of water is required for the crop sown in, an area 5100 hectares, the duty of the irrigation will be 51003=1700 hectares/cumecs and the discharge of 3 cumecs is required throughout the base period.

RELATION BETWEEN DUTY, DELTA AND BASE PERIOD: Let

Duty=D (hectares/cumecs) Delta= meters Base period=B days

By definition,
One cumec of water flowing continuously for B days gives a depth of water over an area of D hectares. 3 Volume of water @ 1m /sec in one day=1246060=86400 m3 3 3 Volume of water @ 1m /sec in "B" days=1246060=86400B m3=86400 m ---(i) As, 1 Hectare=10000 m2 1 m2=1104H Then, equation ibecomes,

Volume of water @ 1m3sec in "B" days=86400B m3=86400B1104 H-m Volume of water @ 1m3sec in "B" days=8.64B H-m---(ii) Depth of water required by crop,=Volume / Area =8.64B H-mD H =8.64B D m

FACTORS AFFECTING DUTY: The factors that affect the duty are described below, 1. Soil Characteristics: If the soil of the canal bed is porous and coarse grained, it leads to more seepage loss and consequently low duty. If it consists of alluvial soil, the percolation loss will be less and the soil retains the moisture for longer period and consequently the duty will be high. 2. Climatic Condition: When the temperature of the command area is high the evaporation loss is more and the duty becomes low and vice versa. 3. Rainfall: If rainfall is sufficient during the crop period, the duty will be more and vice versa. 4. Base Period: When the base period is longer, the water requirement will be more and the duty will be low and vice versa. 5. Type of Crop: The water requirement for various crops is different. So the duty varies from crop to crop. 6. Topography of Agricultural Land: If the land is uneven the duty will be low. As the ground slope increases the duty decreases because there is wastage of water. 7. Method of Ploughing: Proper deep ploughing which is done by tractors requires overall less quantity of water and hence the duty is high. 8. Methods of Irrigation: The duty of water is high in case of perennial irrigation system as compared to that in inundation irrigation system. 9. Water Tax: If some tax is imposed the farmer will use the water economically thus increasing the duty. METHODS OF IMPROVING DUTY: Various methods of improving duty are: (1) Proper Ploughing: Ploughing should be done properly and deeply so that the moisture retaining capacity of soil is increased. (2) Methods of supplying water:

The method of supplying water to the agriculture land should be decided according to the field and soil conditions. For example, Furrow methodFor crops sown ion rows Contour method..For hilly areas BasinFor orchards Flooding..For plain lands (3) Canal Lining: It is provided to reduce percolation loss and evaporation loss due to high velocity. (4) Minimum idle length of irrigation Canals: The canal should be nearest to the command area so that idle length of the canal is minimum and hence reduced transmission losses. (5) Quality of water: Good quality of water should be used for irrigation. Pollution en route the canal should be avoided. (6) Crop rotation: The principle of crop rotation should be adopted to increase the moisture retaining capacity and fertility of the soil. (7) Method of Assessment of water: Particularly, the volumetric assessment would encourage the farmer to use the water carefully. (8) Implementation of Tax: The water tax should be imposed on the basis of volume of water consumption.