I.

Definition of Terms:

a. Irrigation - Irrigation is the process of applying water to the crops artificially to

fulfil their water requirements. Nutrients may also be provided to the crops
through irrigation. The various sources of water for irrigation are wells, ponds,
lakes, canals, tube-wells and even dams. Irrigation offers moisture required for
growth and development, germination and other related functions.

b. Evapotranspiration - Water evaporation from the ground and transpiration by

plants are examples of evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration is also the process
through which water vapor returns to the atmosphere.

c. Irrigation Water Requirements – Is the quantity of water required for irrigating

a certain area or field of crops

d. Consumptive Use – is the water removed from available supplies without return
to a water resources system.

e. Seepage – slow escape of a liquid or gas through porous material or small holes. A
vertical flow of water to below the root zone.

f. Percolation – after soil profile wetting, the subsequent movement of additional

water downward through the soil.

g. Water Management – activity of planning, developing, distributing, and managing

the optimum use of water resources.

h. Crop Growth stages – different developing stage

i. Critical Water Stage – stage where the water supply of crops is very limited.
 j. Water stress – the water supply to their roots becomes limiting or when the
transpiration rate becomes intense.

II. Discussion
1. Discuss the different methods of irrigation.
Irrigation can be carried out by two different methods
1. Traditional Method – in this method, irrigation is done manually. Here, a
farmer pulls out water from wells or canals by himself or using cattle and
carries to farming fields. The main advantage of this method is that it is
cheap. But its efficiency is poor because of the uneven distribution of water.
Also the chances of water loss are very high.

2. Modern Methods – this method compensates the disadvantage of

traditional methods and thus helps in the proper way of water usage.

a. Sprinkler System – A sprinkler system, as its name suggests,

sprinkles water over the crop and helps in an even distribution of
water. This method is much advisable in areas facing water scarcity

b. Drip System – water supply is done drop by drop exactly at roots

using a horse or pipe. This method can also be used in regions where
water availability is less.

2. What is water management?

 When water is scarcer than land, it may be beneficial to maximize water
productivity rather than land productivity in irrigation system
management. For instance, a typical rice-based irrigation system that faces
water shortage in the main reservoir. A usual response option of the
irrigation system manager is to program less area for irrigation that the
 designed command area. In practiced, this means that upstream farmers
would get sufficient water for flooded rice production and downstream
farmers would not get any water at all and their land would be left fallow.
 To maximize total production from the irrigation system and to improve
fairness among farmers, it would be more beneficial to spread out the
available amount of water over the complete command area and impose
some water scarcity on all farmers. Instead of upstream farmers practicing
continuously flooded irrigation and downstream farmers having no water
at all, there could be a mix of farmers growing flooded rice and adopting a
water-saving technology such as alternate.

3. How is irrigation water requirement computed?

Crop water nee (ET crop can be supplied to the plants in various ways: by
rainfall, by irrigation and by combination of rainfall and irrigation. When there is
no rainfall during growing season, All water has to be supplied by irrigation.
Therefore, irrigation water need (IN) is the difference between the crop water
need (ET crop) : IN = ET crop. However, In most cases, part of the crop water need
is supplied by rainfall and the remaining part is by irrigation. Therefore, irrigation
water need (IN) is the difference between the crop water need (ET crop) and that
part of rainfall which is effectively used by the plants (Pe).

In summary:
If sufficient rainfall : IN =0
If zero rainfall : IN = ET crop
If partly irrigation, partly rainfall : IN = Et crop-Pe

4. What is irrigation development of a certain area? How is it determined?

 Irrigation development is the improvement of artificial application of water
for the crops. It is the total service area over the total irrigable area.
Irrigation is practiced to maintain the different developmental parameters.
Those are
 a. To make up for the soil moisture deficit.
b. To ensure a proper and sustained growth of crops
c. To make harvest safe
d. To colonize the cultivable wasteland for horizontal expansion of
cultivation.
e. To shift from seasonal cultivation
f. To promote more intensive cultivation by multiple cropping
g. To improve the level of agricultural productivity by acting as an
agent for adoption of modern technology.

5. Discuss the cultural and water management practices of the following crops:
a. Lowland Rice
 Rice is typically grown in bunded fields that are continuously flooded up to
7-10 days before harvest. Continuous flooding helps ensure sufficient water
and control weeds. Lowland rice requires a lot of water. On average, it takes
1,432 liters of water to produce 1kg of rice in an irrigated lowland
production system. Total seasonal water input to rice fields varies from as
little as 400 mm in heavy clay soils with shallow groundwater tables to
more that 2000 mm in coarse-textured(sandy or loamy) soils with deep
groundwater tables

b. Upland Rice
I. Choice of land
a. Select your site in an ecological zone with at least 14–20
mm of five-day rainfall during the growing cycle.
b. Choose fertile land with good drainage and good water retention
capacity
II. Land Preparation
a. For newly cleared areas, stump big trees before the rains and
remove all stumps, roots and trees before plowing.
 b. Plow once and disc harrow twice with the first rains to make a
good tilth if land is flat
c. Plow and disc harrow once if the land is sloppy.
d. Harrow two weeks after plowing to allow the weeds to die.
e. Divide the field into plots of 50 m2 or 100 m2 and construct
bunds, depending on the slope, to accumulate rain water and
also to allow good drainage.
III. Choice of seed
a. Use good quality seeds with no insect damage and no
contaminants (weed seeds, stones, other seed types) with high
percentage of viability (>80%).
b. Avoid seeds of mixed varieties. Seed viability testing and seed
requirement.
c. Use only filled grains of good quality for sowing: add water to
seeds and discard all empty grains that float in water.

IV. Fertilizer application

a. Fertilizer should be applied based on the residual nutrients in
the soil from soil test results, the expected yield and the type of
fertilizer materials available.

V. Seed treatment
a. Treat selected seeds with a mixture of insecticide and fungicide.
b. Soak seeds in water for 24 hours and incubate for 48 hours
before sowing to ensure uniform seedling emergence and good
establishment.
VI. Method and time of application
 a. For acid soils or soils under continuous cultivation that are likely
to be deficient in P and K, apply both phosphate and potash
fertilizer at final harrowing before seeding.
b. Always apply K although most cases show no response to K
(potash) application.

c. Corn
 A vigorous growing maize plant requires about 2-3 liters of water per
day during peak growing period or an average consumptive use of
water varies from 2.5 to 4.3 mm/day.
 The crop cannot tolerate Excess water or waterlogging
 conditions. Crop under water logged conditions become pale, grow
poorly and the uniformity of the crop is lost.
 Corn requires the most water during the early reproductive growth
stages which are also the most sensitive stages to water stress. When
corn does not receive enough water to meet ET demands during this
critical water use period, significant reductions in yield can occur.
 PLANTING OF CORN
a. ) Plant when soil temperatures are above 50°F at a 2-inch depth
for 3 to 4 days.
b. A soil temperature of 50°F at 7:00 a.m. or 55°F at 1:00 p.m.
should assure that temperatures are suitable for germination
and growth for at least several hours during the day.
c. Under good conditions of temperature and moisture, a 11/2- to
2-inch depth is ideal. For early planting, especially when the soil
is cooler, plant at a slightly shallower depth of 1 to 1 ½ inches. If
the soil is dry, which is sometimes the case when planting late,
you may need to plant 2 1/2 to 3 inches deep to get the seed to
moisture. Soil temperatures in the upper 2 inches are greatly
influenced by air temperature and solar radiation and can
fluctuate as much as 10°F during a single day.
 d. A seed treatment for insects is recommended with early planting.

d. Sugarcane
 Sugarcane is one of the crops cultivated by majority of farmers in the
irrigated and canal command areas. These crop requires more water in
growth period and in the present situation the water scarcity is
predominant problem in the areas if irrigated and canal command. The
farmers are urged to adopt the water management practices to
conserve soil moisture and to increase the water holding capacity.
 The following are the cultural and water management practices of
sugarcane.
 There are many varieties of sugarcane. Select a variety that can
give better productivity during the crop season. It is also
important that the variety you choose is a drought-resistant
variety.
 Have a good planting material. Carefully select only those with
good quality cane points. It should be a fresh cut. Do not use
planting materials that you found to be diseased, very thin, over-
aged and some sign of damaged to the cane.
 All cuttings of cane points should be treated with fungicides 2
days after to control the disease that will emerge during the
growing period.
III. References (cite your references, author/s, title of books/articles, year published,etc)

Creating Knowledge. Inspiring Action. © 2021 Earth watch Institute. All rights
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no. 1094467 https://www.constellation.com/energy-101/water-
conservationtips0.html

Das A, Tomar JMS, Ramesh T, Munda GC, Ghosh PK, Patel DP. 2010. Pro-ductivity and
economics of lowland rice as influenced by incorporation of N-fixing tree biomass in
mid-altitude subtropical Meghalya, North East In-dia. Nutrient cycling
agroecosystems, 87: 9–19

https://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/growth/water-
management