Irrigation - definition necessity -advantage

disadvantages
th
(11 Feb 2013)

Fresh water
3%

Periods of water resources renewal on

the Earth
Water of Hydrosphere

Period of renewal

World Ocean

2500 years

Ground water

1400 years

Polar ice

9700 years

Mountain glaciers

1600 years

Ground ice of the permafrost zone

10000 years

Lakes

17 years

Bogs

5 years

Soil moisture

1 years

Channel network

16 days

Atmospheric moisture

8 days

Biological water

several hours

Utilization of Water Resources

ROOTING CHARACTERISTICS AND MOISTURE USE OF CROP

Definition
Irrigation is the controlled application of water to
croplands. Its primary objective is to create an
optimal soil moisture regime for maximizing crop
production and quality while at the same time
minimizing the environmental degradation
inherent in irrigation of agricultural lands.
OR
Irrigation is the application of water to the soil to
supplement natural precipitation and provide an
environment that is optimum for crop production.
Irrigated crops produce more food.

Irrigation may be defined as

the artificial application of
water to the root zone of the
crop at right time and in
required quantity for the
optimum growth of agricultural
crops so as to get more crops
per unit of water used.

Following factors are important:

NECESSITY OF IRRIGATION
Throughout the crop period adequate
quantities of water is required near the
root zone of the plants for their growth
Insufficient Rainfall
Uneven Distribution of Rainfall
Improvement of Perennial Crops
Development of Agriculture in Desert
Area

Irrigation is
artificial application of water
to the root zone of the crop
at right time
in required quantity
for optimum crop yield.

FUNCTIONS:
1. Supplies moisture to the soil essential for,
germination of seeds and chemical and bacterial
processes during plant growth.
2. Cools the soil and the surroundings thus making
the environment more favorable for plant growth.
3. Washes out or dilutes salts present in the soil.
4. Softens the clods and thus helps in tillage
operations.
5. Enables application of fertilizers.
6. Reduces the adverse effects of frost on crops.
7. Ensures crop success against short duration
drought.
Normally natural Plants can grow with basic requirements like
Forests but to have better and earlier we need additional

Irrigation
What?
artificial application of water
Where to apply?
to the root zone of the crop
When to apply?
at right time
How much to apply?
in required quantity
What for?
for optimum crop yield

ADVANTAGES OF IRRIGATION

Stabilised Yield of Crops

Protection from Famine
Improvement of Cash Crops
Prosperity of Farmers
Source of revenue
Navigation
Hydroelectric Power Generation.
Water Supply
General Communication
Development of Fishery

DISADVANTAGES

Rising of Water Table

Formation of Marshy Land
Dampness in Weather
Loss of Valuable Lands

MEASUREMENT OF WATER
Water is measured - at rests and in
motion.
Water at rest- reservoirs, ponds,
tanks
volume units
- litre - l
- cubic metre m3
- hectare- centimetre ha-cm
- hectare- metre ha-m.

Duty of water - expression relationship between duty and

delta, Rooting characteristics
and Moisture use of crop

Water in motion - rivers, canals, pipeline,

field channels
Rate of flow
- litre per second - lps
- litre per hour - lph
- cubic metre per second - cumec
- cubic foot per second - cusec

DUTY OF WATER
(d ha/cumec)
The area that can be irrigated with
a continuous non-stop supply of
irrigation water at the rate of one
cumec or cusec throughout the base
period. It is expressed as acre/cusec
or hectare/cumec.

BASE PERIOD (B days)

The period over which
irrigation water is to be supplied
for the production of any crop.
Normally this is equal to the
period between the first and last
irrigation to a crop.

DELTA ( cm)
The depth of water required by a
crop during the crop season to
meet its requirements. This does
not have any relevance to the area
of the cropped field. It is
expressed in mm or cm.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DUTY, DELTA AND

BASE PERIOD
Let

be the depth of irrigation water required by a

crop in cm
B be the base period in days
d be the duty of water in ha/cumec.

Then,
The volume of water required per ha of
cropped field = x 10000 = 100 m
100
The base period = B days
= B x 24 x 3600
= 86400 B seconds

The term duty explains that to irrigate d

ha of land water is to be supplied at the
rate of 1 cumec.
Therefore,
To irrigate one ha the rate of flow
required = 1/d cumec.
The volume of water supplied @ 1/d
cumec over B days = 86400 B/d m 3

Equating the volume required

and supplied,
we get,
100 = 86400 B
d
i.e., = 864 B
d

Factor affecting duty of water

Choice of the crop
Choice of the Variety
Conveyance efficiency of the
irrigation system
Types of the Channel
Types of the regulating devices.
Total area to be irrigated.
Total volume of water available

GROSS DUTY OR INTAKE DUTY

Area irrigated by each cumec of water let
down at the head works of an irrigation
system
NET DUTY OR DELIVERED DUTY.
Area irrigated by each cumec of water
delivered at the field margin of an
irrigation system
Efficiency of the
irrigation system = Net duty /Gross duty.