Subject: IRRIGATION ENGINEERING

MUET
Presentation No. 07 (03 hrs) Jamshoro

Irrigation Efficiencies &

Irrigation Requirements of Crop
Shafi Muhammad Kori, PhD
Professor, CED, MUET, Jamshoro
email: shafi.kori@faculty.muet.edu.pk
Skype: Shafism62 cell #: +92 334 9848762

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 Lesson Learning Objectives
The students will be able to:
 define Irrigation efficiency and describe its types.
 solve the practical examples of the types of
irrigation efficiencies.
 describe the irrigation requirements of crop and
the solution of particular examples.

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Irrigation Efficiencies
Irrigation efficiency is the ratio of the water output to
the water input, and is usually expressed in % age.
water output
Irrigation Efficiency  x 100
water input

Input – output = losses

If losses are more, output is less, therefore, efficiency is
less. Hence, efficiency is inversely proportional to the
losses.

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 Types of Irrigation Efficiencies
Water is lost in irrigation during various processes,
hence there are different types of irrigation
efficiencies, as given below :
(1)Water conveyance Efficiency
(2)Water application Efficiency
(3)Water storage Efficiency
(4)Water-use Efficiency
(5)Water distribution Efficiency or Uniformity
coefficient
(6)Consumptive use Efficiency
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(1) Water conveyance Efficiency (ηc)
It is the ratio of the water delivered into the fields from the
outlet point of the channel, to the water put into the channel
at the starting point. It takes the conveyance or transit
losses into account.
Water delivered to the farm Wf
c  
Water diverted from the river or reservoir Wr
Example 1: One cumec of water is pumped into a farm
distribution system, 0.8 cumec is delivered to a turnout
(watercourse), 0.9 kilometer from the well. Compute the
water conveyance efficiency.
Solution: by definition
Output 0.8
Water conveyance eff. (c) = x 100  x 100  80 % Ans.
input 1.0

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(2) Water application Efficiency (ηa)
It is the ratio of the quantity of water stored into the
root zone of the crops to the quantity of water
delivered into the field. It may also be termed as
farm efficiency, as it takes into account the water
lost in the farm.
Water stored in the root zone during irrrigation
a 
Water delivered to the farm
Ws W f   R f  D f 
 
Wf Wf
where
R f  Surface runoff ; D f  Deep percolation

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Example: 10 cumec of water is delivered to a 32 hectare field
for 4 hours. Soil proving after the irrigation indicates that 0.3
meter of water has been stored in the root zone. Compute the
water application efficiency.

Solution:
Volume of water delivered to the field for 4 hr @ 10 cumecs,
Wf = (10 x 4 x 60 x 60) m3 = 1,44,000 m3
= (14.4 x 104) m3 = 14.4 m x 104 m2 = 14.4 ha-m
= 14.4 ha-m (where 104 m2 = 1 hectare)
Water stored in the root zone,
Ws = 32 hectare land is storing water up to 0.3 m depth
= 32 x 0.3 ha-m = 9.6 ha-m
Ws 9.6
a    100  66.67%
Hence, W f 14.4

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 (3) Water storage Efficiency (ηs)
It is the ratio of the water stored in the root zone during
irrigation to the water needed in the root zone prior to
irrigation ( i.e. field capacity – existing moisture content ).

Water stored in the root zone during irrrigation Ws

s  
Water needed in the root zone prior to irrigation Wn

(4) Water-use Efficiency (ηu)

It is the ratio of the water beneficially used, including
leaching water, to the quantity of water delivered.

Water used consumptively Wu

u  
Water delivered to the farm W f
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(5) Uniformity coefficient or Water distribution Efficiency (ηd)
The effectiveness of irrigation may also be measured by its water
distribution efficiency, which is defined below:
 y
 d  1   100;
 d
where
d  average depth of water stored during irrigation;
y  average numerical deviation in depth of water stored from
.
average depth stored during irrigation

The water distribution efficiency represents the extent to

which the water has penetrated to a uniform depth,
throughout the field. If the deviation from the mean depth is
zero, then water distribution efficiency will be 100 %.
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Example 3: The depth of penetrations along the length of a boarder
strip at points 30 meters apart were proved. Their observed values
are 2.0, 1.9, 1.8, 1.6 and 1.5 meters. Compute
D =the water distribution
efficiency
Solution:
The observed depths at five stations are 2.0, 1.9, 1.8, 1.6 and 1.5 meter, respectively
2.0  1.9  1.8  1.6  1.5 8.8
Mean depth, d    1.76 m
5 5
Values of deviations from the mean are:
(2.0 – 1.76), (1.9 – 1.76), (1.8 – 1.76), (1.6 – 1.76), (1.5 – 1.76)
i.e. 0.24, 0.14, 0.04, -0.16 and -0.26
The average of these absolute values of deviations from the ,
0.24  0.14  0.04  0.16  0.26 8.4
y   0.168 m
5 5
y 0.168
The water distribution efficiency,  d  1  1   0.905
d 1.76

Hence, water distribution efficiency (d) = 90.5% Ans

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6. Consumptive use Efficiency
Normal consumptive use of water
 cu 
Net amount of water depleted from root zone soil water
Wcu

Wd

Consumptive use Efficiency, cu

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Example 10.17: A stream of 135 litres per second was
diverted from a canal and 100 litres per second were
delivered to the field. An area of 1.6 hectares was
irrigated in 8 hours. The effective depth of root zone was
1.8 m. the runoff loss in the field was 432 cu.m. The
depth of water penetration varied linearly from 1.8 m at
the head end of the field to 1.2 m at the tail end.
Available moisture holding capacity of the soil is 20 cm
per meter depth of soil. Determine the water
conveyance efficiency, water application efficiency,
water storage efficiency and water distribution
efficiency. Irrigation was started at a moisture extraction
level of 50 percent of the available moisture.

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Solution:
(i) Water conveyance efficiency,
W
c  f 100  100 100  74%
W 135
d

(ii) Water application efficiency,

W
a  s 100
W
f

Water delivered to the plot

W  100 60 608  2880 cu.m
f 1000

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 Water stored in the root
Ws = 2880 -432-0 = 2448 cu.m
zone,
Water application efficiency  2448 100  85%
2880
(iii) Water storage efficiency,
Ws
s  100
Wn

Water holding capacity of the zone

 20  1.8  36 cm

Moisture needed in the root zone

Wn  36 - 36  50 18cm
100
or Wn  18 1.610,000  2880 cu.m
100

Water storage efficiency  2448 100  85%

2880

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(iv) Water distribution efficiency
 y
 d  1  .100
 d
1.8  1.2
d   1.5 m
2

Numerical deviation from depth of penetration:

At upper end = 1.8 – 1.5 = 0.3
At lower end = 1.5 – 1.2 = 0.3
0.3  0.3
Average numerical deviation, y   0.3 m
2
 0.3 
 d  1  .100
 1.5 
 80%

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Problem:
Five cumec of water is supplied to a field having an area of 30
hectares for 6 hours. It is found that 25 cm of water depth has
been stored in the root zone of the crop. Determine water
application efficiency.
Solution:
Quantity of water applied
= 5 x 6 x 3600 = 10.8 x 104 m3 = 10.8 ha.m
Quantity of water stored in the root zone
= 30 x 0.25 = 7.5 ha.m
Water application efficiency =7.5/10.8*100 = 69.44%
Alternatively,
Depth of water applied 10.8/30.0 = 0.36 m
Depth of water stored = 0.25 m
Water application efficiency = (0.25/0.36) x 100 = 69.44%
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 DETERMINATION OF IRRIGATION
REQUIREMENTS OF CROP
In order to determine the irrigation requirements of a certain crop, during
its base period, one should be acquainted with the following terms.
1.Effective Rainfall (Re): is part of the precipitation falling during the
base period of the crop, that is available to meet the evapotranspiration
needs of the crop.
2.Consumptive Irrigation Requirements (CIR): is the amount of
irrigation water that is required to meet the evapotranspiration needs of the
crop (Cu) during its full growth. CIR = Cu - Re
3.Net Irrigation Requirement (NIR): is the amount of irrigation
water required at the plot to meet the evapotranspiration needs of water as
well as other needs such as leaching etc. Thus
NIR = CIR + water lost in deep percolation for the purposes of leaching
= Cu - Re + water lost in deep percolation for the purposes of leaching

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4. Field Irrigation Requirement (FIR): is the amount of
irrigation water required to meet the net irrigation
requirements plus the water lost at the field (i.e in
percolation in the field water courses, field channels and
field application of water). If ηa is water application
efficiency:
FIR = NIR / ηa
5. Gross Irrigation Requirement (GIR): is the sum of water
required to satisfy the field irrigation requirement and the
water lost as conveyance losses in distrbutaries up to the
field. If ηc is the water conveyance efficiency, then
GIR = FIR / ηc

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Example:
Determine the consumptive and net irrigation requirements for
a crop from the following data. Also determine the field
irrigation requirement and the gross irrigation requirement.
Take, application and conveyance efficiency as 80%.

Period Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.

10-30 1-31 1-31 1-31 1-15

Pan evaporation (Ep) (cm) 7.50 14.30 12.40 11.80 6.40

Consumptive use coefficient (K) 0.45 0.55 0.95 0.99 0.75

Effective precipitation (Re) (cm) 2.50 2.00 0.50 0.20 0.10

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 Solution:
Period Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Total
10-31 01-30 01–31 01–31 01-15 (cm)
Consumptive use, Cu = K*E0 3.375 7.865 11.780 11.682 4.80 39.502

CIR = Cu – Re 0.875 5.865 11.280 11.482 4.70 34.202

 Total consumptive use = 39.502 cm

 Consumptive irrigation requirements = 34.202 cm
 Net irrigation requirements NIR = 34.202 cm as Le is zero.
 Field irrigation requirements, FIR = NIR /ηa = 34.202/0.80 = 42.75 cm
 Gross irrigation requirements, GIR = FIR /ηc = 42.75/0.80 = 53.44 cm

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Problem, (p/73, Punmia):
Determine the Consumptive use (Cu) and Gross irrigation requirement (GIR) for wheat crop from the following
data:

ηa = 0.68 , ηc = 0.8
Pan Evaporation Consumptive use Effective rainfall
Dates and period Ep coefficient, Re
of growth K
(cm) (cm)
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Nov. 03-30 15.8 0.3 -

Dec. 01-31 13.1 0.77 0.8

Jan. 01-31 12.8 0.90 0.6

Feb. 01-29 15.0 0.76 -

Mar. 01-12 16.2 0.58 -

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 Determination of Irrigation Requirements of Wheat
Period of Growth : 3rd Nov – 12 March (131 Days), ηa = 0.68 , ηc = 0.8

No . of
Pan Consump- Consump
days % of Evapora- tive -tive use Effective NIR FIR
GIR
Interval up to growing tion, use Cu rainfall = Cu – Re =
Re = FIR /ηc
mid point season Ep coefficient = K . E NIR/η a
p (cm)
of interval (cm) (cm) (cm)
(cm) K (cm)
(9)
(3) (6) (8) (10)
(1) (2) (4) (5) (7) =
= (2) * 100 = (4) * (5) = (6) - (7) = (9)/0.8
(8)/0.68
Nov
3-30
14 11 15.8 0.3 4.7 - 4.7 6.9 8.6
Dec
1-31
44 33 13.1 0.77 10.1 0.8 9.3 13.7 17.1
Jan
1-31
75 57 12.8 0.90 11.5 0.6 10.9 16.0 20.0
Feb
1-29
105 80 15.0 0.76 11.4 - 11.4 16.8 21.0
March
1-12
125 95 16.2 0.58 9.4 - 9.4 13.8 17.3

∑= 1.4
47.1 45.7 67.2 84.0

Refer similar example in S. K. Garg Book

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Thanks...