a= GOVERNMENT OF THE PUNJAB Y ap Agriculture Department BIS eta MAXIMIZING WATER PRODUCTIVITY. EXACT TIMING AND AVIOUNTINGOF IRRIGATION By Directorate General Agriculture <1 — (Water Management) Punjab, LahoreBA oll moisture is the most critical and highly variable component of the crop root zone environment. It cirecty affects the plant growth through its controling effect on availability ‘and uptake of almost all nutrients. Moreover, water being constituting virtually 90 percent of plantbody, plays folowing multifaceted olesin ts growth Dissolves plant food avalable in the soil and transports it throughout the plant Drives photosynthesis process by enabling CO, uptake from the atmosphere ‘Acts as reactant for various bio-chemical processes like hydrolysis Helps maintain temperature in soll and plant canopy ‘Serves as solvent for mineral absorption in plant cells Provides turgor pressure required for cell expansion and maintenance ofits shape ‘Adequate maintenance of soil moisture according to requirements of various stages of plant growths, therefore, the most important single factor in crop production. Application of too much water nat only causes its wastage but also that of other nutrients, energy, and labor. Furthermore, excess water inthe root zone reduces soi aeration retarding plant growth. Likewise, under tigation stresses the crop by constraining availablity of water as well as non-water nutients. As such, under or over application of ‘water, bth lead to reduced crop yields and poor qualtyof produce. The water shortage at any stage of plant growth retards its development anc hampers photosynthesis process. ‘The farmers in Pakistan irigate crops solely based on visual observations of sol and crop appearance: ‘and/or on availability of water at thei rotational turn of canal supply, Uncontrolled surface flooding is the only method of water application, which results in over irigaion during inal crop growth stage and Under irrigation at its matunityirut development. The ultimate success of irrigation operation is, therefore, largely dependenton the water management skills ofthe irigator, ‘The technological developments have significantly advanced over the past decades enabling eficient Use of irigation water to increase crop yields and improve quality of produce. Adoption of scientific techniques and technologies of irrigation scheduling can bring a breakthrough in maximizing water productivity in crop production, Over Irrigation Under tigation "Restricts root zone aeration and "Restricts crop growth by ‘stresses plant growth constraining water availbity = Leaches soil nutrients ™ Adversely affects produce quality Encourages root diseases "= Weakens piants "= Retards root development = Reduces crop yield = Wastes eneray Lowers produce qualityIRRIGATION Irrigation scheduling isthe accurate determination of “WHEN and HOW MUCH water(o be applied to@ fel thereby providing exact amount of water to crop atthe right time. It is an important tool for SCHEDULING ‘optimizing the plant growth by ensuring adequate water availabilty. The timing of an irigation event (WHEN) depends on plant need and soll water condition whereas “HOW MUCH is contingent upon Soi water holding capacity, crop rooting depth, soil moisture depletion level, and planned irrigation interval. The iigator should have complete control over iigation operation e.g. flow rate, water pplication duration, ligation frequency etc. for maximizing water use efficiency and ulimately taining higher crop production, ‘The importance of iigation scheduling has long been recognized and a wide range of scientific and practical tools have been developed to help farmers in applying water to crops more accurately because ofits folowing advantat | Minimizes the crop water stress thereby increases crop output |& Reduces cost of irigation by making maximum use of soil moisture storage, Decreases labor through optimizing irigation duration. CCurtals fertilizer costs by controling surface runoff and deep percolation. Reduces wateriogging thus decreases drainage requirements. LLessens root zone salinity problems. Controls excessive vegetative growth, Increases net returns from farming by increasing crop yield and improving quality of produce. In order to scientifically schedule iigation, itis required to understand basic concepts of solL-water- plant relationship. The water inthe root zones taken up by the plans though roots. The rate of entry of water into soll ands retention, movement, and availabilty to plant roots are all physical phenomena, Hence, itis importantto understand sol properties for efficient management ofirigated agriculture. Sil is composed of minerals, organic matter, air, and water. It supplies plant nutrients, provides ‘mechanical supporto plants, and stores water. Its mineral fraction consists of various particle sizes. including sand, si, clay, and rock. There are spaces between the particles known as sol pores. The texture of soll is the relative proportion of various sizes of mineral particles, which differs widely in size asgivenin Table-1.The availablity of water, a, minerals & organic matter before and afte flooding and underénpirigatonisshowninFiguets Minerals Be ongenie Mattor & Organic Matter om EE Before Flood tigation ‘Aer Flood Wigstion ‘Ate OrpInigation Figure Conosnon oor Tablet: Classification of mineral particles in the soi En Gravel worelian Easy) Sand 1-05 Easy Silt 015 to 0,002) Ditficut Clay Less than 0,002 Impossible er OP tare Ware eer Feet Mr repre Cot dot Shichi rgd fs ggg et cen ent (cord, sit” cay, eigen mate) ne’ porous Ear eae compounds, The ‘bese types, of aggregate Ml cruryemerts ore gla, Doct, pone, end Soo muschunshounlnripred a cetModerate Fow Moderate Flow ‘Stow Flow Figure 2: Examples ofsol'siuctre Soil Water When soi is irigated, water moves down through pores or openings between the particles. The velocity with which the water seeps into the soilis called the infiltration rate of sol. The water fim, formed around each individual sol patce, is tghtly held around sol patcies. After fling ofthe root zone completly, the water fim becomes so thick that surface tension can no longer resist the pull of gravity and the extra water moves downward the crop root zone, which is termed as gravitational water (GW) There remains no airn the solla this stage and solis called in saturation condition Aield does not usually remain saturated for long afte irigaion and it takes only a few hours to drain ‘away the water in sandy soils but the process in clay soll is completedin days. At taining equilibrium between gravity and the evaporative forces, the evaporation process at sol surface pulls the water ‘upward through capilary action while surface tension holds itaround the sollparticles.Atthis stage, the soll grasps the maximum amount of water available for plants against the pull of gravity that is called the field capacity (FC).This moisture condition, fora well-drained sol, occurs one to three days after thorough irigation “The soll moisture thatthe plant can extract for unrestricted growth termed as readily available water (RAW). After consumption ofthe RAW, the moisture extraction becomes dificult for plants and more water is required to maintain the optimum growth, the sola this stage is said to be a refill (RF) point “The drier the soil, the more water would be needed to bring itbackto FC. Generally RF pointis taken as. £50 percent of available water, though strictly speaking itdepends on crop growth, If feldisnotirigated at RF point, the growth slows down and further dryness leads soil to wilting point (WP). Temporary witing can occur in many crops on a hot windy day but the plants recover in cooler part of the day. A plant is permanently witted when it will not recover from rewetting and the soil water contents at this stage is called as permanent wilting point (PWP). There may be some water in sol, buttoo dificultfor the roots to extractit,as the waters held witha suction force of about 1S atmospheres (-15 bar). pe em eo ~ eso -escuseosoe Table 3 Avaliable water content fearon sis “The witing of plant depends on (a) rate of water used % — by plants; (b) the depth of the root zone; and (c) the = water holding capacty ofthe sci. The water held by Srswstnsomnmont the soil between FC and PWP is termed as available Settent-uemiasninentonse water content or water holding capacity, which Sovnerme em depends on texture and structure othe sol Arange of mmoarauns-ancovsnnmraronr values of water holding capacty (WHC) for diferent mmnemcnsnsertie typesof soilsisgivenin Table-3 ae Biseeeey‘The water holding capacity is closely ‘elated to soil texture. For instance, = Sane F a percent as much plant available al water as a silt loam with an equivalent z ae Soria teraeees By alacant E plant’s available water for difierent $= ‘Unavailable Water aor i] “Figure 4 Efecto sol texaure on avalabe water or aiferen sols Soil Water There are three theories regarding ease of water withdrawal by the crop between FC and WP. One aba consideration is that the water remains uniformly avalabe othe plant between these two extemes vi whereas second school of thought considers that its availabilty proportionally declines as quantity of Plants the soi moisture content moves towards witing point. There isa third group of scents who postulates that wate avaiabittyo plans remains unrest ictecy avaiable upto certain levelbetween saturation level and WP andits further decine ftom tis stage, weter avaiblty toplentis considerably restricted, whichis actualy the RF ortime tigate (Figure-5) Itis, however, established that best crop growth occurs when the soil moisture level remains within RAW range, whereas crop growth slows down above or belowit(Figure-3), Management Allowed Deficit (MAD) is ancther concept used in irigation scheduling, which isthe deficit allowed fr managementto stat iigation. This indicates hat plant can uptake waterin sufficient ‘amounts, not only for its survival but also for normal growth. The MAD value, however, is a function of sol type and not much research has been done for this aspect. Scientifically MAD values should be ‘more for clay Soi and less for sandy soil Effective Root The etfecive rot zone o a plant isthe area where the main mass ofits roots is found. Water below its ost 10 deep Zone Of Crop jercoiaton orisnot instantly used bythe pant. The distribution bofroots and water usein the rot zone by a crop is notunform in depth. The rooting depth varies withthe growth stage of erep. " (ver the course ofthe growing season, plans generally extract 4 Shou TO percent water rom efoctvo eo ae (op hall than {fom the lower part. Rooting depths are often modifed by soil compaction, statiication, and moisture conditions. The root evelopment and percentage of moisture extraction from the fctverootzonein deep and unformsolis shown in Figure 6 rs ee Figs amsprerin aCrop Critical Tar crea stages in tn plant growth period where optimum moisture love must be maintained for getting high yields. The critical period for annual crops mostly occurs during flowering and ripening Growth Stages stagesic. inthe leer part of the season. Crops like paddy, sugarcane, potato, and banana are very sensitive fo gation supplies, which means minor water shortages considerably reduce yield. The ‘109s like millet and sorghum, onthe ther hand, are less sensitive to drought. For example; a farmer ‘rowing potatoes and wheat, when faces water shortages should give prolly to irigate potatoes Because ofits more sensitivity to inigaion deficiency, The sensitivity of major crops to water stressis sivenin Tabo-4. a ai aa eae ‘ator est Mee Pasty Sorgtum Surower Temata Sugarcane vase ine nor Potio (Gaseeve Grounanut Peas (Groen Vegas Foam Pea ‘Soyabean ‘Watenalon Banana Betas Cstee0e ‘The length of entire growing season and each growth stage of crop are important for estimating crop ‘water needs. The growth ofan annual crop is usualy divided into four stages. |B Initia! establishment: from sowing to 10 percent ground cover ‘Vegetative development: from 10 to 70 percent ground cover Fruit formation (mid-season): lowering and fruit setting yield formation) @__ Fruit ripening (late-season) maturity and harvest “The quantity of water needed to meet crop water requirements depend on crop type, growth stage, local cimate, soil conditions, and irigation interval. The crtical period for commonly inigated crops, their MAD, and root depths are given in Table. ‘TableS: Ctcalgrowtn stages, rooting dpth and MAD for ferent crops crop ‘crop critical Growth Stages neat lena. flowering ran fing ee “Towa, fad dveoper. exovey pti’ at Wareiariag —— is Coton ‘Towering. ba Toran ‘Sugarcane “ig. tm rgaton Mowe. ee neing hy pina ga ng ————— ‘Scsiowar ——Toweig. 00d developer. vepeiavebefod CGeundnia Towering. yd ermaton Seyseen Tower ed deve ng a for Tonga a at —— “ower, fo ropa fe Teaer Ra os Fenegarate— ower Fu erveepmen Gate ‘ub maton Se San Ti sven a ee oud odig. Toma al por aayteget —— “rooing, ro enargerert Maskreice ‘ary sage af we growth cop estabssvrert vine development owing Fuldevecoment ‘Source OF WA Fak Maul, Volume VI rgstion Arnomy Federal ir Marsperrt ClCalculating step-wise procedure for calculating RAW is given below as guidelines for OFWM staf. Moreover, the values of RAW at ifferent water tensions for diferent sol textures are also given in Table-6 as guideline ‘Step-t: Identification of effective root zone ‘Step-2: Determination of soil texture Step-3: Selection of MAD. ‘Step-4: Caleulating/adcing up RAW of each sol laye EXAMPLE "RAW for Maize In Sandy Loam Soll RAW = TAW X MAD MAD = 50% (Table-5) TAW = WHOX Red RAW = 124805 = 624 mmm WH = 104 mmim (Tabio 3 Sandy Loam Soi) Red = 12m (Teble-5 Maize) TAW = 104 x12% 1248 mmm Tablo-6: Effect of sol texture on RAW (1kPa = 0.01 bar) “WterTension——-2OKPA(O2ba)—AOKPA(O4Da)——-ADAPA(OSEaN — -TODKPa(T Ban c= RAW (emmy ‘sand a = Pa ” say Sa “6 20 ss © ‘Sanya “ cy 6s 0 oan w ay ss * Senay Cy Loan ~ © * o ‘ay teem ” % 05 o eis B * = 70 a Note: Incaee oftipinigaton eystem that doesnot wet the ene cropped area, RAI mami) isconvetedinto RAW (Liters) a8 desenbed under preceding Section CONVERTING RAW Dr p inigation tne only method, maintains soil moisture contents close tothe field capacity (optimum TO LITERS FOR _ 2%") 25 compared to other conventenalratonal surface iigation methods. A comparatve pattern of moisture availabilty to crops under different iigation methods is graphically presented in DRIP IRRIGATION Foue-7. om Figure 7: Soil moisture availabilty to plants under different irigation methodsDrip irrigation distributes water over a small feld area and roots follow this pattem. tis often easier to Use liters to describe both water use and storage in the plant root zone, which also allows simple calculation of irigation time as the discharge from drip systems is commonly reportedin Iters per hour (LPH). The volume ofroct zone wetted by the crip system depends onthe size and shape ofthe wetting pattern. Overlapping '¥e"=P0ing tippers, drip irigation produces strip or sausage-shaped wetted patern, The volume ; ‘of water, in this case, held inthe sol can be estimated from the width and length ofthe wetted strip and Drippers thereadiy avaiiable water (RAW) in root zone. Volume of water stored (L) = wetted width (m) x wetted length (m) x RAW (mm) Example For example, fora width of 1.5 m wetted, 3 m tree spacing, and root zone RAW of 14mm, the volume of Readily Avaiable Water= 1.5x3 x 14=63 liters of RAW Pertree. \Where wetting patterns do not overiap, the wetted volume is calculated by Non-overlapping tring ytnaer sphere or cone-shaped weting pate. here's mre Drippers than one dripper per plant, multiply this figure by the number of drippers, to getthe total ites avalable foreach plant Example For example, if a root zone with RAW of 14 mm is wet by a dripper with a ‘cylindrical pattern of 0.2 m radius, the volume of readily available water = 1rr'x RAW | 3.14 x(0.2)'x14=1.8Liter/dripper. (rvs the area of acircle where pi(m) equals 3.14) IRRIGATION Itis not easy for farmers to adopt proper inigation scheduling practices because of difficulties in soll moisture measurement. Iti, therefore, inevitable to develop and indigenize the irigation scheduling SCHEDULING techniques/methods and tools suited to local conditions, which are simple and easily adoptable by the METHODS irigators. Several methods are available for estimating crop water use ranging from the feel of sol, personal calendar scheduling, soil moisture measurements, evapotranspiraion records, plant moisture sensing devices etc. it is important to note that these are al indirect measurements and Fequire some assumptions. In some cases, however, more than one methad are used to schedule irigation. The methods for scheduling irigation can broadly be classified in three categories. = Observational @ Soil Moisture Measurements | Evapotranspiration Calculations ‘These methods vary in complexity and may requir the use of technology. Each method has strengths {and weaknesses and it soften recommended that more than one method is used. A common and ‘widely used irrigation eiterion is soil moisture status. Table-8 depicts an overview of diferent methods ofiigation scheduling, ts advantages and disadvantages. Feel and Thismethodis based on appearance ofthe plant and soln response to water stress. Thisisthe oldest A ‘and most commonly employed way for guessing soil moisture content for irrigation purposes. Its APPEATANCE basen personal experience ofthe irigator by observing the crop condition e.g, change in color ofthe plant canopy, curing ofthe leaves, plant wilting condition etc. These changes can only be detected by looking atthe crop as a whole, rather than individual plants. The stressed crop appearance changes. {rom vigorous to slow or even no growth as the young light green leaves become darker, grayish, and dullincolor.‘This method is quick, easy, and popular because it does not require any equipment or technical suppor. It may, however, not aways be much accurate as extensive experience is required to use it effectively. In addition, the moisture stress may have already caused significant damages for most ‘crops by the time the symptoms are evident, leading to huge yield losses. The irigator should not walt for the appearance of witing symptoms, especially in the critical stages of crop growth. It is rmcopmended tnt val observation conbiaten wth ler method ry be id orate ligation scheduling, Soil Moi ‘The measurement of soil moisture content through instruments placed at various depths in the root Me oll Moisture zone allows monitoring the water available to plants. The sensors buried in the soil or placed on the soil Measurements surface, measure properties like conductance of electric current (conductivity meters), resistance to current flow (rsistvty meters) and time elapsed in conductance (time domain celactometry) that ae felated to sail water contert. There isa wie range of soll moisture monitoring equipmentitechniques ‘currently available for estimating soil moisture. The same includes tensiometers, gypsum blocks, neutron probes, capadtance devices, soil moisture sensors, time domain relectomety, time delay tfansmission, FulStop(weting ron detector) ele. See isons inigalon Technologies ahd Practons {echnical brochure publshed by OF WM, Punjab, Lahore Evapotranspiration ‘There are methods that account for the amount of water lost by crop evapotranspiration (ET) and the amount, which enters the sol reservar as effective rainvirigation. The logic behind the water budget based Crop Water technique s to apply water equivalent tothe accumulated ET losses since the last irigaion. The soi Budgeting protiesusrecnergedtotulcepacy andthe cop stars to evapovenspre water ashe cyce begins ‘gain. ful recharge isnot desired or not possibe, the new balance can be determined from the net imigaton amountorby fel observations. This approach atemprs to represent he physical process of water movement into the sol, within the soi, and through the plant As such, extensive data and experience are requiredto obtain an accurate crop water budget. The liniation ofthis typeof rigation ‘scheduling is its complexity. Table 8: Comparison of commonly used mothods for irrigation scheduling Irrigation ‘Measured ul Methoa | tigation ot Easipment Advantages Disadvantages Fealand [oil moisture | Soll moisture hand probe ‘easy to use Tess accurate Appearance | content | content by feel and * simple * field work involved in taking appearance ‘© Improve accuracy | samples with experience Gravimetric | soll moisture | Sol moisture ‘auger, caps, oven |* high accuracy © Tabor intensive inclding field Method | content| content by taking work samples «time 9 ap between samping TTensiometers | soll moisture | soll moisture ‘ensiometers © good accuracy needs maintenance tension | tension Including vacuum | quick «© breaks at tensions above 0.7 gauge atm, Electrical [soll moisture | electric resistance | resistance blocks |» instantaneous *® complex Resistance | tension | of soll moisture | AC bridge (meter) | reading « affected by soil salinity Blocks ‘© works overlarger | less accurate at low tensions range of tensions ‘needs some maintenance and + canbe used for field reading remote reading Water moisture | dimnatie ‘weather station or | ® no field work required | * needs calibration and periodic Budget content | parameters: available weather | flexible adjustments ‘Approach temperature, information forecast inigation |» cumbersome without computer radiation, wind, needs hhumiaty and ‘Schedule many fields expected rainfal, depending on model used to predict ET ‘imometer | moisture | reference ET ‘aimometer gauge |» easyto use ‘needs calibration content * direct reading of reference ET.UU tas