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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 countrys 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 selfsufficiency 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
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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 provinces 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.
140
120
Irrigated (Dry)
Upland (Rainy)
Lowland (Rainy)
100
80
Vientiane
9.1%
60
40
20
Pho
ng
Lu
ang saly
nam
th
Ou
dom a
xay
B
Lu
ang okea
pra
ban
g
Hu
aph
anh
Xa
yab
Vie
ury
ntia
ne
M
Xie
ngk un.
hua
Vie ng
ntia
Bo
ne
rik
ha
Kh mxay
am
mu
ane
S av
an
Xa
yso nakh
et
mb
oon
S
S ar R
av a
ne
Sek
o
Ch
am n g
pas
ack
Att
ape
u
Xiengkhuang
2.7%
Vientiane Mun.
12.4%
Xayabury
4.7%
Huaphanh
3.3%
Savannakhet
20.7%
Phongsaly
Luangnamtha 1.3%
2.5%
Luangprabang Bokea Oudomxay
2.1%
2.9%
3.8%
Upland Rice
(Rainy)
0.8%
Lowland
Rice (Rainy)
81.3%
Irrigated rice
(Dry)
17.9%
18
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
Hard Pan Depth (cm)
10
11
12
13
9.5
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
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
Total
950
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)
(2)
19
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:
ET o =
900
u (es ea )
T + 273 2
+ (1 + 0.34 u 2 )
0.408 ( R n G ) +
(3)
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 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
= Water Stress
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:
Ks =
TAW Dw
TAW RAW
(4)
D w, i = D e, i -1 Pi I i + ET a, i + DP i
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(5)
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
Yp
ETc
(6)
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
EstablishYield
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
Stage
Xi gYp
n
Xi = 1 Ky 1
ETa, i
ETc, i
(7)
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
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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
10
11
12
13
Total
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
131
90
30
50
172
69
96
86
144
48
927
43
42
30
37
35
30
28
29
26
32
34 (avg)
Irrigation Days
Area Irrigation (m3/day)
3
39
43
31
696
564
7,920 780
20,578
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
22
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
Partition Height
and Hard Pan Depth (cm)
30
Height
Depth
25
Height
20
15
10
5
0
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
5.5
6.5
Partition Height
and Hard Pan Depth (cm)
35
Depth
Height
Depth
Height
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
10
20
30
40
50
Times (days)
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:
23
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.
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