WOLAITA SODO UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Assignment for Irrigation Principles and Practices (Agen

442)
Target group for: summer IV
1. What is irrigation means? Discuss merits and demerits of excess and less water application at
a given crop land.
2. Describe various methods of irrigation, their advantages and disadvantages.
3. (a) Explain the difference among: evaporation, transpiration, and evapotranspiration. Bring
out their significance (to a more or less degree) (i) in arid region and (ii) in humid region.
(b) Is evapotranspiration same as consumptive use? What are the factors, which affect
evapotranspiration?
4. What are the major ways in which water is lost on the farm resulting in lower water
application efficiencies? What are the methods or strategies used to reduce the losses and
improve the application efficiency?
5. Write a water balance of a small irrigation area and describe how to determine each
parameter.
6. What factor do you think determine how often we should irrigate a crop?
7. Write types of soil water and describe basic instruments which are used to measure soil
moisture.
8. What is the meaning of consumptive use? On what factors does it depend? How would one
calculate the consumptive use for a given crop?
9. Before application of any ground or surface water to the farm land irrigators must be
measured its rate. Why? Describe in detail methods and their techniques to measure irrigation
water.
10. (a) Enumerate the various water losses
(b) Determine the consumptive use of wheat in the month of December if the pan
evaporation for the month is 8.5 cm. Assume the growing season from November to
February and consumptive use coefficient at 120 growth stage as 0.52.
11. A clay soil having an average field capacity (FC) and permanent wilting point (PWP) of 47.2
and 30.1%, respectively at the first 45 cm of the soil profile is planted to corn. If actual
evapotranspiration (AET) is 6.2 mm/day, irrigation interval is 1 week and application
efficiency is 65%, find the following:
a)

Available water in the root zone (AW) if apparent specific gravity (A si) is 1.2,

b)

Readily available water in the root zone (RAW),

c)

Depth of irrigation (DI) based on allowable depletion (MAD) of 50% and

application efficiency (Ea) of 65%

d)

Depth of irrigation based on consumptive use (AET) and irrigation interval

12. A moist soil sample has a volume of 484 cm3 in the natural state and a weight of 7.94N. The
dry weight of the soil is 7.36 N and the relative density of the soil particles is 2.65.
Determine the porosity, soil moisture content, volumetric moisture content, and degree of
saturation.
13. The field capacity and permanent wilting point for a given soil are 35 and 15 per cent,
respectively. Determine the storage capacity of soil within the root zone of the soil which
may be taken as 80 cm. At a given time the soil moisture in the field is 20 per cent and a
farmer applies 25.0 cm of water. What part of this water would be wasted? Assume porosity
of soil as 40 per cent and relative density as 2.65.
14. Determine the frequency of irrigation for the following data:
Field capacity of soil

30%

Permanent wilting point

10%

Management allowed deficit

45%

Effective root zone depth

0.75 m

Consumptive use

12 mm/day

Apparent specific gravity of soil (including the effect of porosity) 1.6

15. The following data were obtained in determining the soil moisture content at successive
depths in the root zone prior to applying irrigation water:
Depth of sampling

Weight of moist soil sample

Weight of oven-dried soil sample

0-25 cm

1.35 N

1.27 N

25-50 cm

1.36 N

1.26 N

50-75 cm

1.23 N

1.15 N

75-100 cm

1.11 N

1.02 N

The bulk specific gravity of the soil in the root zone is 1.5. The available moistureholding capacity of the soil is 17.8 cm/m depth of soil. Determine (i) the moisture
content at different depths in the root zone, (ii) the moisture content in the entire
root zone prior to irrigation, and (iii) depth of water to be applied to bring the
moisture content to the field capacity.
16. For the following data relating to a cultivated land, determine irrigation interval and amount
of irrigation water needed at each irrigation event so that the moisture content at any stage
does not fall below 40 per cent of the maximum available moistures.
Field capacity of soil = 35%
Permanent wilting point = 12%
Porosity of soil = 0.42

Depth of root-zone soil = 1.20 m

Consumptive use = 12 mm per day
Application efficiency = 60%
17. A sample of silt clay has a volume of 14.88 cm 3, a total mass of 28.81 g, a dry mass of 24.83
g, and a specific gravity of solids 2.7. Determine the void ratio and the degree of saturation.