Irrigation Interval

- Key parameter to design is total allowable depletion

TAD=TAM*MAD*Dr
TAD = total allowable depletion , mm, TAM = total available moisture,
mm/m , MAD =management allowed depletion, fraction Dr = depth of
active root zone, m
TAM= FC-WP = ρ ( wfc –wp ) = ( wfv – wpv )
FC, wfc, wfv= SMC at field capacity, mm/m , dwb, vol%
respectively ,WP=SMC at wilting point, mm/m, dwb, vol % ,
ρ = bulk density of soil or apparent specific gravity
- Net irrigation depth dn = CWU = TAD if water available from
other source is negligible. dn = ρ ( wfc –wp ) MAD Dr
= ρ ( wfc –wi ) Dr , wi = SMC at the time of irrigation
Gross depth of irrigation dg = dn / Ea
E = over all irrigation efficiency
Guidelines for the total available moisture, TAM, mm/m
Light sandy soil = 80,
Medium loam soil =140,
Heavy clay soil =200

Guidelines for management allowed depletion MAD:

High value- shallow rooted crop=33% ,
Medium value – Medium rooted crop = 50% ,
Low value- deep rooted crop =67%

Time between successive irrigations, the irrigation interval,

Ti= TAD/Etcrop = dn/Etcrop Therefore, dn = Ti *Etcrop
Where Ti = irr. interval, day,
ETcrp= peak CWR, mm/d
 system capacity
-System capacity continuous flow rate required to irrigate the specified
area within the selected operating schedule
Q = dg A / Nop Top simplest form- Q t = A d
Q = system capacity, say Q = 30l/s = 30*60*60/1000
dg = gross depth of irrigation =108 m3/h, t =10 h, A = 2 ha
A= total irrigated area d = 108*10/2*10000 = 0.054 m
Nop = no. of days of operation per irrigation interval or = 5.4 cm
Top = hours of operation per day
Nop Top = total time of irrigation = t
-In case time of irrigation for one setting (Ts) is considered,
Irrigated area will be the area irrigated in one setting (As)
Q = dg As /Ts = n q or n = Q/q
n = total number of Sprinkler, q = sprinkler discharge
-Discharge of Lateral- Ql = nl q Q main Ql
-Similarly discharge of Main- lateral* *
Qm =Q = Ql * Numbers of laterals * * sprinkler-q
nl = number of sprinklers on the lateral * *
 Determination of Sprinkler Irrigation System components
Example: Installation is required for a level field of 3.6 ha ( 100m x 360m) in
which three crops are to be grown . Data for soil and crops are as under
Soil : FC = 25% (Dry Wt Basis), PWP= 15% , Bulk Density = 1.2
Crop:
Crop type Root zone(m) Daily consumptive Management allowed
use (mm/day) depletion (MAD) %
A 1.2 6 80
B 0.6 6 60
C 0.9 6 70
-Efficiency = 70%. Sm=12m, Sl = 12m
-Sub-main= 360m, placed in the centre of the field.
-Water is available for 18 hours per day.
-Selected sprinkler has the following operating characteristics.
Sprinkler discharge qs = 1.7 m3/hr, Operating pressure hs = 20 m
Sprinkler application rate I = 11.8 mm/hr
Required: 1. maximum number of laterals required to operate the system
2. Total number of lateral settings, settings per day
3. Total sprinkler required
 Solution
Design for a crop A
 Net crop water requirement, dnet =  b (FC-PWP) *Drz*MAD
= (0.25- 0.15)*1.2*1.2*0.8 *1000 = 115 mm
readily .available.depth d net 115mm
 Computed Irrigation interval= = =
daily .consumptive.use CU 6mm / days
= 19days
Taking the number of days free of irrigation for other operation as 4 days, the
maximum net time for an irrigation cycle is
TN max = 19-4 = 15 days
d net 115mm
 Gross water requirement , dgross=   164mm
efficiency 0.7
 Duration of application, required daily operating hours for a given set
d gross 164mm
t=   14hrs
sprinkler .applicatio n.rate 11.8mm / hr
 Number of application per day ,
available.daily .operating .hours
 Nappl =
required .operating .hours. for.a.setting
18hrs
=  1.3  1
14hrs
This implies we can do only one operation per day. 360 m
 Total number of lateral settings 100m sub-main
length.of .submain
* field .sides
lateral.spacing
Nlat = lateral
360m
 * 2  60
12m
 Number of laterals required daily
total.number.of .lateral.settings 60
Nlat. daily =   4laterals / day
design. int erval 15
 Number of laterals operating simultaneously
required .daily .settings 4
Nsimult =   4 laterals
No.of .applicatio n. per.day 1
Applying similar procedure to crops B and C , the results are
summarized as follows.
crops NWR,mm- T(days)- TN.max- GWR- t-5 Nappl- N lat. Nsimult-
1 2 -3 4 =4/11.8 6= daily- 8=
=1/6 =1/0.7 18/5 7= 7/6
60/3
A 115 19.16=19 15 164.28 13.89=14 1.28=1 4* 4
B 43.2 7.2=7 5 61.7 5.2=5 3.6=3 12 4
C 75.6 12.6=12 8 108 9.1=9 2 7.5=8 4
Length of lateral line depending on the width of field = 50m
Number of sprinklers on each lateral = 50/12 = 4.17 = 4
Actual length of each lateral depending on numbers of
sprinklers on each lateral= 4 *12 = 48 m
Total laterals = 4
Total length of Lateral = 4 *48 = 192 m
Total Number of sprinklers = 4 * 4 = 16
Discharge of each lateral Ql = 4 * 1.7 = 6.8 m3/h
System capacity Q= 4 * 6.8 = 27.2 m3/h

sub-main
lateral 50 m