Irrigation Engineering

ID-601
3(2-1)

Engr. Kashif Mehmood

Water Requirements of
Crops of a crop means
The term Water Requirement
the total quantity and the way in which a crop
require water, from the time it is sown to the
time it is harvested.
Crop water requirement (CWR) for a particular
crop is the amount of water required to grow
that crop during its entire growing season.
It further includes the water required for rouni
(pre-sowing irrigation), weeds and crop growth
and all water losses through evaporation,
transpiration and water required for metabolic
activities.

Water Requirements of Crops

While estimating the CWR all types of
precipitation falling on the crop or soil
during its growth period is considered.
The knowledge of CWR for a crop especially
with its growth stages is important to meet
water needs of the crop.
As most part of the area of Pakistan lies in
arid to semi-arid region, therefore
assessment of CWR is very helpful in
planning water availability for the crop
The CWR is a function of climate, crop type,
growth stage, and soil type

Water Requirements of
Crops
Based on annual rainfall in
Pakistan,the climate can broadly be
grouped as:Arid
< 400 mm
Semi-Arid
400 to 600 mm
Sub humid
600 to 1200 mm
Moist sub humid 1200 to 1500 mm
Humid
> 1500 mm

Cropping Zones of Punjab

Districts
Cropping Zone

Districts

Rice-Wheat

Sialkot, Narowal, Gujarat, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujranwala,

Hafizabad, Nankana Sahib, Sheikhpura

Mixed

Lahore, Kasur, Okara, Pakpattan, Sahiwal, Toba Tek

Singh, Faisalabad, Jhang, Sargodha, Chiniot

Cotton-Wheat

Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur,

DG Khan,Muzaffargarh, Multan, Lodhran, Vehari

Maize-Wheat-Oil seed

Attock, Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Jehlum

Pulses-Wheat

Bhakkar, Layyah, Mianwali, Khushab

CWR of Different Crops in Pakistan

and at Faisalabad
Sr. No.

1
2
3
4
5

Crops

Wheat
Maize
Sugarcane
Cotton
Rice

CWR (mm)

Faisalabad
(mm)

Sr.No.

271-515

316

289-367

336

1278-1887

1536

627-1161

749

587-1318

652

10

Crops

Barley
Alfalfa
Beans
Sorghum
Bajra

(Source: Ullah et
al., 2001)

CWR (mm) Faisalabad

(mm)

450-650

500

601-1675

700

247-408

284

370-537

406

450-650

510

WATER PRODUCTION FUNCTION

Irrigation water plays a critical role during crop growth
and producing crop yields especially in the arid
climate regions but its quantity has gained
significant economic value in wake of the energy
crisis.
Therefore, it is imperative to quantify the impact of
applied irrigation water on the crop yields.
The relationship between crop yield and water applied
is mostly quadratic. After achieving a certain level of
crop yields, the slope becomes flat while it is steep
in the beginning.
Whereas first derivative i.e. slope can be equaled to
zero to determine the optimum amount of water
required for obtaining maximum crop yields under
that particular environment.

Example Problem
Under a particular crop environment, the applied irrigation water and crop yield relationship
are described by the following quadratic equation;
Whereas the crop evapotranspiration and crop yield relationship is given as;

Where,
Y = Crop yields (kg ha-1).
IW = Irrigation Water applied (mm).
ET = Evapotranspiration in (mm).
Calculate:
The ratio of change in yield to the irrigation water applied when the irrigation water is
changed from 350 to 450mm and 650 to 750mm.
The efficiency at 400 and 700 mm of applied water level when it is defined as ratio of ET to
IW.

FACTORS AFFECTING
CWR
The following factors can affect the CWR;
Climate: Temperature, wind, solar radiation, sunshine
hours, humidity,precipitation
Crops:
Crop type, crop stage, crop height
Soil type: Sand, silt and clay fractions as that affect soil
water availability
OM: Type and concentration
Topography: Degree and slope
Drainage: Type of drainage and sources of excess water
Irrigation practices: Method of irrigation and its efficiency
Groundwater level: Depth and quality of groundwater

Important Terminologies
Duty of Water(D):
It is the area to be irrigated using unit amount of
water flow during entire growth period of the
specific crop is called as duty of water for that crop.
Duty of irrigation water for growing 1000 hectares of
wheat from sowing to harvesting using water supply
of 56 liters per second will be 17.86 ha L -1sec-1
All those factors, which can affect water application
to the field such as soil and topography, stream
size, field size, degree of level and irrigation
practice, for meeting duty of water can be managed
for improving duty of water.

Important Terminologies
(Cont.)
Delta of Water ()
It is in fact the CWR or amount of water required
to grow the crop during its growth period such
as 160mm of water for wheat applying four
irrigations each of 40mm in depth.
Base Period (B)
It is the duration starting from the first irrigation
applied to the field for sowing till last irrigation
is applied whereas crop period is the duration
from sowing till harvesting.

Relationship between duty, delta

and base period
Relationship between duty, delta and
base period can be described;
Where,
= Total amount of water applied in
cm.
B = Base period in days.
D = Duty in ha/cumec.

Assignments
What is electronic Telemetry System? Why it fails
in Pakistan?
Prove that
Where,
= Total amount of water applied in cm.
B = Base period in days.
D = Duty in ha/cumec.

Example Problems
1) A 0.50m of water is required by the
crop for its base period of 160 days.
What will be the duty of water?
2) Water at the rate of 12m3/sec
released at the canal head. Calculate
the irrigated area, if duty of water at
the field is 1200 ha/cumec and
transit losses are 22%.

Factors affecting duty of

water

Length of base period of a crop

Rainfall
Evaporation
Soil Characteristics
Defective handling of water
Kind of crop
Cultivation method
Quality of water
Topography of land
Skill of Irrigator
Departmental Practices

Important Terminologies
(Cont.)
Gross Command Area
It is the area enclosed within the
boundary of an irrigation project.
It includes both culturable and nonculturable area.
It can be irrigated without limitation of
water.

Important Terminologies
(Cont.)
Culturable Command Area
It is that part of G.C.A on which cultivation is
possible. It includes fields, pastures, fallow lands
and excludes towns, roads, water ponds etc.
Intensive Irrigation
Irrigating the whole C.C.A at the same time.
Extensive Irrigation
Irrigating only a part of C.C.A. It is preferred over
intensive Irrigation because of
Shortage of water
Risk of water logging

Important Terminologies
(Cont.)
Irrigation Intensity (seasonal)
It is the ration of actually irrigated area
during a crop season to the C.C.A.
It is the percentage of CCA irrigated at a
time in one crop season.
Area to be irrigated = C.C.A. * Intensity of
Irrigation
Annual Irrigation Intensity
It is the ration of the area irrigated during the
entire year to the total C.C.A.

Important Terminologies
(Cont.)
Net and Gross Sown Area
Area which is sown once in a year is known as net sown
area. If this area is added in the area which is sown
more than once in a year is called Gross Sown Area.
Net and Gross Irrigated Area
Area which is irrigated once in a year is known as net
irrigated area. If this area is added in the area which
is irrigated more than once in a year is called Gross
Irrigated Area.
Crop Ratios
Ratio of areas under the crops of two main seasons.

Important Terminologies
(Cont.)
Time Factor
It is a ratio of number of days the canal has actually to run
to the number of days the canal was supposed to run for
a particular period of watering as per design calculations.
Capacity Factor
It is the ratio average discharge of a canal at a point to the
full supply discharge of the canal at the same point.
KOR water/depth/Irrigation
The first irrigation after sowing is known as
KOR water. It is slightly more than the rest of irrigations.
KOR Period
The interval in number of days required for KOR Irrigation.
The period of KOR watering is called KOR period.

Example Problem
An irrigation canal has a grass
commanded area (GCA)of8000 ha
and the cultivable commanded area
(CCA) is 75%. Irrigation intensity (I.I)
is 50%.Calculate delta of water
()and the outlet discharge if base
period (B) is 120 days and duty of
water (D) is 1600 ha/cumec.

Example Problem
The G.C.A for a distributary is 6000 ha,
80% of which is cultivable. The
intensity of Irrigation for rabi season
is 50% and for kharif season is 25%.
If the average duty at the head of a
distributary is 2000 ha/cumec for
rabi season and 900 ha/cumec for
kharif season. Find the discharge
required at the head of distributary
for average demand consideration.

Example Problem
The C.C.A of a water course is 1200 ha,
intensity of sugarcane and wheat crops are
20% and 40% respectively. The duties for
the crops at the heads of the water course
are 730 ha/cumec and 1800 ha/cumec
respectively. Find
1) Discharge required at the head of w/c?
2) Determine the designed discharge at the
outlet assuming a time factor equal to
0.8?

Example Problem
The C.C.A for a distributary is 15000 ha. Intensity of
irrigation for rabi (wheat) is 40% and for kharif
(rice) is 15%. If the total water requirements of two
crops are 37.5 cm and 125 cm and their growth
periods are 160 days and 140 days respectively.
1) Determine outlet discharge for average demand
considerations?
2) Determine the peak demand discharge assuming
that KOR water depth for two crops are 13.5 cm
and 19 cm and their core periods are 4 weeks and
2 weeks respectively?

Example Problem
A channel carrying 2.25 cubic meters of water
per second is able to command 1620
hectares of culturable land. Intensity of
irrigation is 50%. Base period for the crop is
140 days. In another system, a distributary
carrying 0.56 cubic meters of water per
second is capable of irrigating 243 hectares
of land. Base period of the crop in this case is
also 140 days. Compare duties of the two
systems and state which system is using
water ore economically.

Example Problem
For a distributary, G.C.A is 500
hectares. C.C.A. is 80 percent of
G.C.A. The intensity of irrigation is 30
percent for wheat (Rabi) and 12
percent for rice (kharif). If the Kor
period is 3 weeks for the former and
2 weeks for the latter, neglecting
losses determine outlet discharge.
Assume suitable depths for watering

Effective Rainfall
It is the rainfall utilized for any beneficial purpose. In
different fields, specialists interpret the term in
their own way.
According to a Hydrologist, the rain which directly
contributes to the storage reservoirs and indirectly
from the surrounding area by surface runoff is an
effective part.
For a hydro-electrical engineer, a portion of rainfall
which is used for running the turbines to generate
electricity is effective.
A Geo-hydrologist defines effective rainfall as
aportion which directly contributes to the storage
of groundwater.
An Agricultural Engineer considers effective rainfall