Design of Irrigation water

systems-CIV224
Water Requirement of Crops
PART 2 of Module 1
Water Requirement of crops

• The water requirement of the crop is defined as the total quantity and the mode
of water required for a crop from the time it is sown to the time it is harvested.

• The water requirement varies from one crop to another and also with the
agriculture land. Hence, water requirement differs with crops and the same crop
demands different water requirement for different places of cultivation.
MAJOR CROP SEASONS IN INDIA
Important Terminology
• The time period from the sowing of the
crop to the instant of its harvesting is
called a crop period.
• The time period from the first watering
of the crop during its sowing to the last
watering of the crop before its harvesting
is called a base period. Unit- days.
• Delta of a crop is defined as the total
depth of water required by a particular
crop to attain its maturity condition. It is
represented by symbol. Unit – cm or
m.
Paleo Watering.
This is the watering applied to the fields before sowing the crops.
This watering is given so as to develop sufficient moisture in the unsaturated zone of the soil so that seeds
may germinate easily.

Kor Watering.
After sowing, when crops have grown a few centimeters this watering is given.
It is the first watering after sowing of the crop.
Depth of kor watering is always more than the subsequent watering to be given to the crops in its growth or
base period.

Kor Period.
It is that initial part of the base period for a crop, in which Kor watering has to be necessarily given to the
crop, otherwise its yield may be affected.
While designing the capacity of the canal, Kor watering is always taken into account.
Maximum canal discharge is required during Kor period as Kor watering has to be given in limited Kor period
of the crop.
Kor watering requires maximum discharge in limited time.
Important Terminology

• Every crop requires a certain amount of water at certain intervals throughout its period of
growth. The time interval between such consecutive watering is called as “Frequency of
irrigation” or “Rotation period”. Unit- time in days or weeks.

• Duty is defined as the number of hectares of land that is irrigated for the complete growth of a
crop by supplying 1 cubic meters per second of water continuously throughout the crop or base
period ‘B’ of the respective crop.

Duty of water gives a relation between the volume of water and the area of the crops that are
harvested. Unit- hectare/cumec.
Delta( ) and Base period(B)of some
important crops.
S.No CROP Delta( in cm) Base Period( in days)

1 Rice 120cm 120

2 Wheat 40cm 120

3 Sugarcane 120cm 320-340

 Irrigation Terminologies
Consumptive Use of Water
• Considerable part of water applied for irrigation is lost by evaporation & transpiration.
• This two processes being difficult to separate are taken as one and called Evapotranspiration
or Consumptive use of water.
Duty :
Duty- Area of the crop irrigated/ Volume of water required.
Delta:
• The depth of water required every time, generally varies depending upon the type of the
crop.
The total depth of water required a crop to nature is called delta.
• Crop period: the time from the instant of its sowing to the instant of harvesting.
• Base Period: time b/w the first supply of water to the land and the last watering before
harvesting.
Factor affecting the duty: Irrigation Terminologies
1) Soil Moisture
• In clayey soil less water is required since its retentive capacity is more.
• Pervious soil it will be more.
2) Topography
• Uniform distribution depends on topography.
• If the area is sloping the lower portion will get more water than the flat portion, & hence
Water requirement is increase.
3) Nature of rainfall
• If rainfall is high over the crop period water requirement becomes less, otherwise it will be
more.
4) Nature of crop irrigated
• Dry crop required less water where as wed crop required more water.
 Irrigation Terminologies
Factor affecting the duty:
5) Method of cultivation:
• If the fields are properly ploughed it will have high retentive capacity & the number of watering are reduced.
6) Season of crop
• Less irrigation water is required for rainy season crop and the duty increased.
• If the crop grown in summer, more irrigation water is required & the duty gets decreased
7) System of Irrigation
• In perennial irrigation, continuous supply of water is given & hence water table is kept high
& percolation losses is minimized
• In inundation type wastage is more by deep percolation.
8) Canal Condition
• Well maintained canal will have more duty as the losses is less.
Improving Duty
1. The water losses can be reduced by having the irrigated area nearer to the head of the
canal.
2. Evaporation losses can be minimized by using the water as quickly as possible.
3. Water losses can be minimized by lining the canals.
4. The cultivators should be trained to use water economically without wasting.
5. The soil properties should be studied by establishing research stations in villages.

Importance of Duty
• It helps us in designing an efficient canal irrigation system.
• Knowing the total available water at the head of a main canal, and the overall duty for all the
crops required to be irrigated in different seasons of the year, the area which can be irrigated
can be worked out.
• Inversely, if we know the crops area required to be irrigated and their duties, we can work
out the discharge required for designing the channel.
 Duty of water at various places

Duty increases as one moves downstream from the head of

main canal to the watercourse.
Duty at the head of watercourse is called as Outlet factor.
Irrigation Terminologies
Irrigation Terminologies
Relationship between duty, delta and base period of a crop.

Delta (in m)

where , B – base period of crop in days

D- duty of crop in ha/cumec.
Example 1:
Find the delta for a crop if the duty for a base period of 110 days and 1400 hectares/cumec.

Answer delta = 68 cm
Example 2:
A crop requires a total depth of 92 cm of water for a base period of 120 days. Find the duty of water

Answer: Duty = 1127 hectares/cumec

Example 3:
The left branch canal carrying a discharge of 20 cumecs has culturable commanded area of 20000
hectares. The intensity of rabi crop is 80 percent, and the base period is 120 days. The right branch canal
carrying a discharge of 8 cumecs has culturable commanded area of 12000 hectares, intensity of irrigation
of rabi crop is 50 percent, and the base period is 120 days. Compare the efficiencies of the two canal
systems

Answer: Duty of left canal = 800 hectares/cumec

Duty of right canal = 750 hectares/cumec
Example 4:
A water course has a CCA of 1200 hectares. The intensity of irrigation for crop A is 40% and for crop B is
35%, both crops being rabi crops. Crop A has a kor period of 20 days and crop B has kor period of 15
days. Calculate the discharge of the water course if the kor depth for crop A is 10 cm and for crop B its is
16 cm.

Answer:
Duty for crop A = 1728 ha/cumec
Duty for crop B = 810 ha/cumec
Discharge required
Crop A = 0.278 cumec
Crop B = 0.519 cumec
Design discharge = 0.8 cumec
Example (HW): For a canal G.C.A. is 5000 hectares. Out of which 20% area is uncultuable The intensity of irrigation is
40% wheat and 20% for rice. Outlet discharge factor for wheat and rice are 1850 and 1200 hectare/cumec
respectively. Determine the discharge at the head of the canal neglecting all the losses
Consumptive use of crops
Definition:
• It is the quantity of water used by the vegetation growth of a given area.
• It is the amount of water required by a crop for its vegetated growth to evapotranspiration and
building of plant tissues plus evaporation from soils and intercepted precipitation.
• It is expressed in terms of depth of water. Consumptive use varies with temperature, humidity, wind
speed, topography, sunlight hours, method of irrigation, moisture availability.
Mathematically,
Consumptive Use = Evapotranspiration = Evaporation + transpiration
• It is expressed in terms of depth of water.
Factors Affecting the Consumptive Use of Water
Consumptive use of water varies with:
1. Evaporation which depends on humidity
2. Mean Monthly temperature
3. Growing season of crops and cropping pattern
4. Monthly precipitation in area
5. Wind velocity in locality
6. Soil and topography
7. Irrigation practices and method of irrigation
8. Sunlight hours
Crop Water Requirements
Soil moisture
Classes and availability of soil water
Water present in the soil may be to classified under three heads
1. Hygroscopic water
2. Capillary water
3. Gravitational water
Hygroscopic water
Water attached to soil particles through loose chemical bonds is termed hygroscopic water. This
water can be removed by heat only. But the plant roots can use a very small fraction of this soil
moisture under drought conditions.
Capillary water
The capillary water is held within soil pores due to the surface tension forces (against gravity)
which act at the liquid-vapour (or water-air) interface.
Gravitational water
Gravity water is that water which drains away under the influence of gravity. Soon after irrigation
(or rainfall), this water remains in the soil and saturates the soil, thus, preventing circulation of air
in the void spaces.
1. Available moisture for the plant = FC - ϴ

2. Readily available moisture for the plant = FC - Mo

Here FC= field capacity
φ = wilting point or wilting coefficient below plant can’t
survive.
Mo= Readily available moisture content

dw=
Example 5:
The root zone of an irrigation soil has dry weight of 15 kN/m 3 and a field capacity of 30%. The root zone of depth of a
certain crop, having permanent wilting percentage of 8% is 1 m.
Determine a) depth of moisture in the root zone at field capacity
b) depth of moisture in the root zone at permanent wilting point, and
c) depth of water available

Answer a) = 459 mm/m

b) = 122 mm/m
c) = 269 mm/m

a) depth of moisture in the root zone at field capacity = S X d X (FC)

= 1.529 X 1 X (0.3) = 459 mm/m
b) depth of moisture in the root zone at permanent wilting point = S X d X (PWP)
= 1.529 X 1 X (0.08) = 122 mm/m
c) depth of water available = S X d X (FC - PWP)
= 1.529 X 1 X (0.3 – 0.08) = 336 mm/m
Example 6:
The field capacity of a certain soil is 15% and the moisture content of the soil before irrigation is 8%. Determine the
depth up to which the soil profile will be wetted with an application of 60 mm of water. Take the dry unit weight of soil
as 15.3 kN/m3

Answer d = 550 mm

a) depth of moisture in the root zone at field capacity = S X d X (FC - MO)

60 = 1.59 X d X (0.15 -0.08)

d = 550 mm
Example 7:
A loam soil has field capacity of 22% and wilting coefficient of 10%. Dry unit weight of soil is 15 kN/m 3 . If the root
zone depth is 70 cm, determine the storage capacity of the soil. Irrigation water is applied when moisture content falls
to 14%. If the water application efficiency is 75%, determine the water depth required to be applied in the field.

Answer : Maximum storage capacity = 12.8 cm

Depth of irrigation water = 8.6 cm
Field irrigation requirement = 11.46 cm
Example 8
After how many days will you supply water to soil (clay loam) in order to ensure efficient irrigation of the given
crop, if
i. Field capacity of soil = 27%
ii. Permanent wilting point = 14%
iii. Dry density of soil = 15 kN/m3
iv. Effective depth of root zone = 75 cm
v. Daily consumptive use of water for the given crop = 11 mm
vi. Assume readily moisture is 80% of the available moisture

Answer: 10 days
Example 9:
Determine the frequency of irrigation from the following data
i. Field capacity of soil = 35%
ii. Permanent wilting point = 18%
iii. Dry density of soil = 15 kN/m3
iv. Depth of root zone = 70 cm
v. Daily consumptive use of water = 17 mm
vi. Readily available moisture = 75% of the available moisture
Answer : frequency of irrigation = 7.87 = 8 days
Available moisture = Field capacity - permanent wilting point
= 35-18=17%
Let the readily available moisture be 75% of the available moisture
Readily available moisture= 17x 0.75 = 12.75%
Maximum level upto which soil moisture may be allowed to be
depleted (mo) = 35- 12.75
= 22.25%
Depth of water stored in root zone during each watering = (Density of
soil x depth of root zone) x (Field capacity - mo ) / (density of water)
= (15 x 0.7) x (0.35 – 0.2225) / (9.81)
= 0.1337 m = 133.7 mm
Daily consumptive use of water = 17 mm
Watering frequency = 133.7 / 17 = 7.87 days = 8 days
Example 10:
The command area of channel is 4000 ha. Intensity of irrigation of a crop is 70%. The crop requires 60 cm of
water in 15 days, when the effective rainfall is recorded as 15 cm during that period.
find
a) The duty at the head of field
b) The duty at the head of channel
c) The head discharge at the head of channel.
Assume total losses as 15%

Answer Depth of water = 60cm

d) 288 hectares/cumec Effective rainfall = 15 cm
e) 244.80 hectares/cumec Depth of irrigating water = 60 – 15 = 45 cm
f) 11.438 cumec ⇒ Delta = 45 cm = 0.45 m
B = 15 days
From relation, ∆= 8.64×B/D
⇒ Duty(D) = 8.64×15/0.45 = 288ha/cumec
Due to loss of water, duty at head of channel is reduced
Here losses are 15%
So, duty at head of channel = 288 × 85/100
= 244.80 ha/cumecs
The head discharge = A/D = 2800 ha/244.80 ha/cumecs
= 11.43 cumecs
Irrigation Efficiencies
 Efficiency is the ratio of the water output to the water input, and is usually expressed as percentage.
 Input minus output is nothing but losses, and hence, if Losses are more, output is less and, therefore,
efficiency is less. Hence, efficiency is inversely proportional to the losses.
 Water is lost in irrigation during various processes and, therefore, there are different kinds of irrigation
efficiencies, as given below
1) Efficiency of Water-conveyance
2) Efficiency of Water Application
3) Efficiency of Water Use
4) Efficiency of water storage
5) Water Distribution Efficiency
Irrigation Efficiencies
Efficiency of Water-conveyance (ηc)
• 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 ηc. It takes the conveyance or
transit losses into consideration.
Efficiency of Water Application (ηa)
• It is ratio of water stored into the root zone of the crop to the quantity of water delivered at
the field (Farm).
Efficiency of Water Use (ηu)
• It is the ratio of the water beneficially used including leaching water, to the Quantity of water delivered.
It may be represented by ηu.
Efficiency of water storage: (ηs)
• The concept of water storage efficiency gives an insight to how completely the required
water has been stored in the root zone during irrigation.
Water Distribution Efficiency (ηd)
Water distribution efficiency evaluates the degree to which water is uniformly distributed throughout the
root zone. Uneven distribution has many undesirable results. The more uniformly the water is
distributed , the better will be crop response.
Consumptive use Efficiency (ηcu)
It is the ratio of consumptive use of water to the water depleted from the root zone.
Important Terminology
• Sometimes, the crop of one season may sometimes overlap the next crop season for some
period. During such a period of overlapping, irrigation water is required to be supplied
simultaneously to the crops of both the seasons. Thus there is extra demand of water
during this period and thus the water supply must be increased by some amount. The
extra discharge that has to be supplied for this purpose is known as Overlap allowance.

• A crop which has to be encashed in the market for processing as it cannot be consumed
directly by the cultivators is called a cash crop. Eg. Jute, tea, cotton, tobacco, sugarcane
etc.
Important Terminology
• Sowing together of two or more crops in the same field is called as mixed cropping. It is found necessary

where irrigation facilities are lacking. It affects the productivity and purity of a crop.

• Mixed farming is a type of farming which involves both the growing of crops and the raising of livestock.

• When the same crop is grown again and again in the same field the fertility of the land gets reduced. The

method of growing different crops in rotation, one after the other in the same field is called as crop rotation.

Eg. Wheat-jowar-gram

Rice-gram

Cotton-wheat-gram
Important Terminology
Important Terminology
• The yield increases with water, reaches maximum value and then
falls down. The quantity of water at which the yield is maximum,
is called the optimum water depth.

• Optimum utilization of irrigation generally means, getting

maximum yield with any extra amount of water. The supplies of
water to the various crops should be adjusted in such a fashion,
as to get optimum benefit ratio, not only for the efficient use of
available water and maximum yield, but also to prevent water-
logging of the land.
• Consumptive Use refers to the loss of water as a result of
• (A) Evaporation and Transpiration
• (B) Crop water Requirement
• (C) Evaporation and Infiltration
• (D) Evaporation and Transpiration from the cropped area
• Consider the following statements in connection with soil-water crop
relationship
• 1. Water utilization by plants is mainly from capillary water.
• 2. The amount of irrigation water required to meet the evapotranspiration
needs of the crop during its full growth duration is its consumptive
irrigation requirements
• 3. The depth of water required to bring the soil-moisture level of a given
soil up to its field capacity is called hygroscopic water
• 4. With continuous increase in quantity of water applied, the yield of most
crops increase up to a certain limit and then is expected to be constant
• Consider the following terms relating to irrigation requirements:
• 1. Consumptive irrigation requirement
• 2. Net irrigation requirement
• 3. Field irrigation requirement
• 4. Gross irrigation requirement
For a given set up, which one of the following is the correct relation?
(A) 1 > 2 > 3 > 4
(B) 1 < 2 < 3 < 4
(C) (1 = 2) < 3 < 4
(D) 1 < (2 = 3) < 4
A field measures 40 hectares. When 8 cumecs of water was supplied for
6 hours. 30 cm of water was stored in the root zone.
The field application efficiency is nearly
(A) 70% (B) 80% (C) 85% (D) 90%
• Assertion (A) : The duty of water decreases as the point of its
measurement moves away from the field of application.
• Reason (R) : Duty depends on soil characteristics.
Codes :
• (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
• (B) Both A and R are true but R is not a correct explanation of A
• (C) A is true but R is false
• (D) A is false but R is true
• Assertion (A): In the border strip method of irrigation, the size of the
strip depends on soil characteristics, slope of the land and discharge.
Reason (R) : Border strip method is a method is a controlled type of
subsurface irrigation method.
• Codes :
• (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
• (B) Both A and R are true but R is not a correct explanation of A
• (C) A is true but R is false
• (D) A is false but R is true
• Assertion (A): Sprinkler method of irrigation has higher water
application/use efficiency.
• Reason (R): Sprinkler system causes less interference in cultivation
and other farming operations.
• Codes :
• (A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
• (B) Both A and R are true but R is not a correct explanation of A
• (C) A is true but R is false
• (D) A is false but R is true
• The command area of a canal grows only one crop, i.e., wheat. The
base periods of wheat is 120 days and is total water requirement is 40
cm. If the canal discharge is 3.2 m /sec the area in hectares, rounded
off to the nearest integer which could be irrigated _________.
• A field channel has cultivable commanded area of 2000 hectares. The
intensities of irrigation for gram and wheat are 30% and 50%
respectively. Gram has a kor period of 18 days, kor depth of 12 cm,
while wheat has a kor period of 18 days and a kor depth of 15 cm. The
discharge (in m3 /s) required in the field channel to supply water to
the commanded area during the kor period is __________.
• The intensity of irrigation for the Kharif season is 50% for an irrigation
project with culturable command area of 50,000 hectares. The duty
for the Kharif season is 1000 hectare/cumec. Assuming transmission
loss of 10%, the required discharge (in cumec, up to two decimal
places) at the head of the canal is_________.
• A canal was designed to supply the irrigation needs of 1000 ha of land
growing rice of 140 days base period and having a delta of 130 cm. If
the canal water is used to irrigate wheat of base period 119 days and
having a delta of 50 cm, the area that can be irrigated is_________.
• What is the moisture depth available for evapotranspiration in root
zone of 1 m depth soil, if dry weight of soil is 1.5 gm/cc, field capacity
is 30% and permanent wilting point is 10%?
• A stream of 123 litres/sec was diverted from canal and 107 litres/sec
were delivered to the field. Area of 1.7 ha was irrigated in 7 hours 30
minutes. The effective depth of root zone was 1.7m. The runoff loss in
the field was 450 m3 . The depth of penetration varied linearly from
1.9 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/m depth of the soil.
Determine irrigation efficiencies. Irrigation was started at moisture
extraction level of 40% of the available moisture.
The root zone of an irrigation soil has dry weight of 16 kN/m 3 and a field capacity of 26%. The root zone of depth of
a certain crop, having permanent wilting percentage of 9% is 1 m.
Determine a) depth of moisture in the root zone at field capacity
b) depth of moisture in the root zone at permanent wilting point, and
c) depth of water available

Answer a) = 459 mm/m

b) = 122 mm/m
c) = 269 mm/m

a) depth of moisture in the root zone at field capacity = S X d X (FC)

= 1.63 X 1 X (0.26) = 423 mm/m
b) depth of moisture in the root zone at permanent wilting point = S X d X (PWP)
= 1.63X 1 X (0.09) = 122 mm/m
c) depth of water available = S X d X (FC - PWP)
= 1.529 X 1 X (0.3 – 0.08) = 336 mm/m
Example 10:
The command area of channel is 6000 ha. Intensity of irrigation of a crop is 80%. The crop requires 75 cm of
water in 15 days, when the effective rainfall is recorded as 15 cm during that period.
find
a) The duty at the head of field
b) The duty at the head of channel
c) The head discharge at the head of channel.
Assume total losses as 20%

Answer Depth of water = 75cm

d) 288 hectares/cumec Effective rainfall = 15 cm
e) 244.80 hectares/cumec Depth of irrigating water = 75 – 15 = 60 cm
f) 11.438 cumec ⇒ Delta = 0.6 cm = 0.6 m
B = 15 days
From relation, ∆= 8.64×B/D
⇒ Duty(D) = 8.64×15/0.6 = 216ha/cumec
Due to loss of water, duty at head of channel is reduced
Here losses are 20%
So, duty at head of channel = 216× 80/100
= 270 ha/cumecs
The head discharge = A/D = 4800 ha/270 ha/cumecs
= 17.78 cumecs