WATER REQUIREMENTS FOR

CROPS
Chapter No 02

By

Santosh Kumar Garg

WATER REQUIREMENTS OF
CROPS
 For its full and successful growth, every crop requires proper
warmth, proper amount of water, proper agricultural soil, air
and proper methods of cultivation.
 The main crops growing in Pakistan are wheat, cotton, rice,
maize, barley, cane etc.
 The water requirement is different for different crops and also
the different type of land is required for various crops. From
agricultural point of view the soil is classified as,
1. Light soil
2. Medium or normal soil (10 - 20% clay contents)
3. heavy soil

 This classification of soil depends on the clay content. If the

clay contents are more, the more will be the water retentive
power and vice-versa.
WATER REQUIREMENTS OF
CROPS
Heavy and retentive soil is suitable for
crops like cane, rice etc. requiring more
water, whereas light or sandy soil is
suitable crops like wheat grain etc
requiring less water. Normal and medium
soil i.e. the one having 10 - 20% clay
content is suitable for crops like cotton,
maize etc.
Some terminology used for the water
requirements of the crops are following:
WATER REQUIREMENTS OF
CROPS
Base Period:
It is defined as the time period between
the First watering of a crop at the time of
its sowing and the last watering, before its
harvesting.
Crop Period:
It is the time period between the sowing
of a crop and its harvesting. Theoretically
the crop period is more than the base
period but practically we take it same.
WATER REQUIREMENTS OF
CROPS
Gross Command Area (G.C.A.)
GCA contains unfertile barren land, alkaline soil, local ponds,
villages and other areas as habitation. Gross Command
Area=Cultivable Command Area + Uncultivable Area
Cultivable Commanded Area (C.C.A.)
Cultivable Command Area is that part of Gross Command
Area, which is fit for cultivating crops. So, cultivable area
excludes forest and barren land from the Gross Command
Area. What is left is uncultivable area.
WATER REQUIREMENTS OF
CROPS
Intensity of Irrigation
It is the percentage of CCA proposed to
be irrigated annually. As irrigation is done
according to the crop season viz.,Rabi or
Kharif, the precise definition of Intensity
of Irrigation is the percentage of CCA
irrigated at a time in one crop season.
DELTA AND DUTY :
The water requirements of crops is on the basis of
duty and delta concept. Each crop requires certain
amount of water after fixed interval of time
throughout its period of growth. As the amount of
each watering and the interval of watering and
hence the number of watering are fixed for each
crop, the total quantity of water required by each
crop is also fixed and is different for different
crops. The depth of each watering is usually from
2 ½’ to 4’ depending on the kind of the crop.
The total depth of water in inches required by a
crop to come to maturity is called Delta of the
crop.
DELTA AND DUTY :
e.g. the depth of each watering for Rice =4”
Interval between each watering =10 days
Crop Period = 120 days
 Total No. of watering =
120=12
10
 Total water required = 12 x 4 =48
 = 48 = 4 ft.
 Total water required for “A” acres of land
(on which Rice is cultivated = A = 4A acre
- ft.
[ 1 Acre - ft = 43560 ft2 ]
DELTA AND DUTY :
 The number of acres irrigated by the constant flow of one
cusec (1Cfs.) is called Duty of irrigation water during crop
period.
 Water supplied during the crop period of rice at the rate of 1
Cfs. = 120 crop period (24 x 60 x 60) x 1 =
10368000 ft3
  Area of rice land irrigated by this water will be,
 A = 10368000=2592000 ft2[1 acre = 4840 Yards2]
 4
= 59.5 acres [1 acre = 43560 ft2] =60 Cfs.
 This is the maturing capacity of this 1 Cfs. flow. Therefore
the duty of irrigation water for rice is 60 acres/cusec on the
field, the period being 120 days.
Relation Between Duty and Delta:

Let there be a crop of base period B days

Let one cumec of water be applied to this
crop on the field for B days. ·
Now, the volume of water applied to this
crop during B days
 By definition of duty (D), one cubic metre supplied
for B days matures D hectares of land. OR
 This quantity of water (V) matures D hectares of land
or 104 D sq. m of area.
 Total depth of water applied on this land

 By definition, this total depth of water is called delta

 Where ∆ is in cm, b is in days and D is duty in
hectares/cumec.
TABLE
CROP CROP DELTA (INCH)
PERIOD(DAYS)
RICE 120 48
SUGARCANE 360 48
WHEAT 150 12
COTTON 200 20
MAIZ 120 10
Factors affecting Duty
1. Soil Characteristics:
If the soil of the canal bed is porous and coarse
grained, it leads to more seepage loss and
consequently low duty. If it consists of alluvial soil,
the percolation loss will be less and the soil retains
the moisture for longer period and consequently the
duty will be high.
2. Climatic Condition:
When the temperature of the command area is high
the evaporation loss is more and the duty becomes
low and vice versa.
3. Rainfall:
If rainfall is sufficient during the crop period, the duty will be
more and vice versa.
4. Base Period:
When the base period is longer, the water requirement will be
more, and the duty will be low and vice versa.
5. Type of Crop:
The water requirement for various crops is different. So the
duty varies from crop to crop.
6. Topography of Agricultural Land:
If the land is uneven the duty will be low. As the ground slope
increases the duty decreases because there is wastage of water.
7. Method of Ploughing:
Proper deep ploughing which is done by tractors requires
overall less quantity of water and hence the duty is high.
8. Methods of Irrigation:
The duty of water is high in case of perennial irrigation
system as compared to that in inundation irrigation system.
9. Water Tax:
If some tax is imposed the farmer will use the water
economically thus increasing the duty.
Various methods of improving duty are:
Measures for improving DUTY
(1) Proper Ploughing:
Ploughing should be done properly and deeply so that the
moisture retaining capacity of soil is increased.
(2) Methods of supplying water:
The method of supplying water to the agriculture land
should be decided according to the field and soil
conditions. For example,
Furrow method For crops sown in rows
Contour method For hilly areas
Basin For orchards
Flooding For plain lands
(3) Canal Lining:
It is provided to reduce percolation loss and evaporation loss due to
high velocity.
(4) Minimum idle length of irrigation Canals:
The canal should be nearest to the command area so that idle length
of the canal is minimum and hence reduced transmission losses.
(5) Quality of water:
Good quality of water should be used for irrigation.
(6) Crop rotation:
The principle of crop rotation should be adopted to increase the
moisture retaining capacity and fertility of the soil.
(7) Method of Assessment of water:
Particularly, the volumetric assessment would encourage
the farmer to use the water carefully.
(8) Implementation of Tax:
The water tax should be imposed on the basis of volume of
water consumption.
Kharif & Rabi Crops
 Kharif crops or monsoon crops are domesticated plants
cultivated and harvested during the rainy (monsoon) season
in the South Asia, which lasts between April and October
depending on the area. Main kharif crops are millet and rice.
The sowing season of summer crops(Kharif meaning autumn)
is generally longer. It starts in February for sugarcane,
March-May for cotton, June-July for rice and July-August for
maize crop.
 Rabi crops or Rabi harvest are agricultural crops sown
in winter and harvested in the spring in the South Asia. The
term is derived from the Arabic word for "spring", which is
used in the Indian subcontinent, where it is the spring harvest
(also known as the "winter crop").
The winter crops (Rabi meaning spring) are sown during
October-December and are harvested during March-April.
2.5 Some important definitions:
1. Kharif-Rabi ratio or Crop ratio:
The area to be irrigated for Rabi crop is
generally more than that for the Kharif crop.
This ratio of proposed areas, to be irrigated in
Kharif season to that in the Rabi season is called,
Kharif-Rabi ratio.
This ratio is generally 1: 2, i.e. (Kharif area is
one-half of the Rabi area).
2. Paleo irrigation.
Sometimes, in the initial stages before the
crop is sown, the land is very dry. This
particularly happens at the time of sowing
of Rabi crops because of hot September,
when the soil may be too dry to be sown
easily.
In such a case, the soil is moistened with
water, so as to help in sowing of the crops.
This is known as Paleo irrigation.
 3. Kor-watering.
 The first watering which is given to a crop, when the
crop is a few centimeters high, is called kor-watering.
It is usually the maximum single watering followed by
other watering at usual intervals, as required by drying
of leaves. The kor-watering must be applied within a
fixed limited period, called Kor-period.
 If the plants fails to receive this water in time or in
sufficient quantity, then they do suffer a significant
loss. The kor-period depends upon the climate. It is
less for humid climates and more for dry climates. The
kor-period for rice varies from 2 to 4 weeks, and that
for wheat varies from 3 to 8 weeks.
4. Cash crops.
A cash crop may be defined as a crop
which has to be encashed in the market
for processing, as it cannot be consumed
directly by the cultivators. All non-food
crops, are thus, included in cash crops.
Crops like jute, tea, cotton, tobacco,
sugarcane, etc. are, therefore, called cash
crops. The food crops like wheat, rice,
barley, maize, etc. are excluded from the
list of cash crops.
 5. Crops rotation.
 When the same crop is grown again and again in the
same field, the fertility of land gets reduced as the soil
becomes deficient in plant foods favorable to that
particular crop. In order to enhance the fertility of the
land and to make the soil regain its original structure, it
is often found necessary and helpful to give some rest
to the land. This can be achieved either by allowing the
land to lie fallow without any cultivation for some
time, or to grow crops which do not mainly require
those salts or foods which were mainly required by the
earlier grown crop. This method of growing different
crops in rotation; one after the other, in the same field,
is called Rotation of Crops.
 2.7. Irrigation Efficiencies
Efficiency is the ratio of the water output to
the water input. It is expressed in percentage.
(i) Efficiency of water-conveyance:
It is the ratio of the water delivered into the
fields from the outlet point of the channel, to
the water entering into the channel at its
starting point. It may be represented by “ɳc“.
It takes the conveyance or transit losses into
consideration.
(ii) Efficiency of water-application.
It is the ratio of the quantity of water
stored into the root zone of the crops to the
quantity of water actually delivered into the
field. It may be represented by “ɳa”· It may
also be called on farm efficiency, as it takes
into consideration the water lost in the farm.
(iii) Efficiency of water-storage:
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). It may be represented by “ɳs”·
(iv) Efficiency of water use:
It is the ratio of the water beneficially used,
including leaching water, to the quantity of water
delivered. It may be represented by ɳu·
(v) Uniformity coefficient or Water
distribution efficiency.
The effectiveness of irrigation may also
be measured by its water distribution
efficiency (ɳd), which is defined below :
The water distribution efficiency
represents the extent to which the water
has penetrated to a uniform depth,
throughout the field. When water has
penetrated uniformly throughout the field,
the deviation from the mean depth is zero
and water distribution efficiency is 1.0.
2.8 Consumptive Use or
Evapotranspiration (Cu).
Consumptive use for a particular crop may
be defined as the total amount of water used
by the plant in transpiration (building of
plant tissues, etc.) and evaporation from
adjacent soils or from plant leaves, in any
specified time. The values of consumptive
use ( Cu) may be different for different crops,
and may be different for the same crop at
different times and places .
2.9. Effective Rainail (Re)
Precipitation falling during the growing
period of a crop that is available to meet
the evapotranspiration needs of the crop,
is called effective rainfall. It does not
include precipitation lost through deep
percolation below the root zone or the
water lost as surface run off.
Examples
2.1 to 2.7 from book of S.K Garg are
included in course