IRRIGATION
ENGINEERING
CHAPTER 3
Crop Water
Requirements
(CWR)
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Contents of the study are
Evapotranspiration process
Determination of Reference evapotranspiration (ETo)
Determination of crop evapotranspiration (ETc)
Duty-delta relationship
Irrigation Efficiencies
Irrigation Scheduling
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Evapotranspiration Process
Evapotranspiration (ETo)
Is the process whereby water is lost on one hand from the soil surface by
evaporation and on the other hand from the crop by transpiration.
Evaporation:
Liquid water is converted to water vapour (vaporization) and removed from
the evaporating surface (vapour removal).
Energy is required to change the state of the molecules of water from liquid
to vapor.
This energy is mainly from solar radiation and, to a lesser extent, from
temperature of the air.
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Transpiration
Transpiration consists of the vaporization of liquid water
contained in plant tissues.
Crops predominately lose their water through stomata.
Nearly all water taken up is lost by transpiration and only a
tiny fraction is used within the plant.
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Factors affecting Evapotranspiration
Climatic (weather) parameters
Crop factor
Solar radiation Crop type & Variety
Temperature Growing
length/development
Humidity
stages.
Wind speed Management factor
Soil factor Mulching
Soil moisture Irrigation
Application of fertilizer
Salinity
Weeding
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Cont…
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Crop Evapotranspiration under standard conditions - ETc
Refers to the evapotranspiration from excellently managed, large,
well-watered fields that achieve full production under the given
climatic conditions.
Deficit practice is not allowed.
Crop Evapotranspiration under non-standard conditions – ETc-
adj.
Due to sub-optimal crop management and environmental constraints
that affect crop growth and limit evapotranspiration.
ETc under non-standard conditions generally requires a correction.
Deficit practice is allowed.
E.g. Water stress coefficient (ks)
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Cont…
ETc = ETo * Kc
ETc –adj. = ETo * Ks*Kc
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Direct ETo measuring méthodes
1. Lysimeter method
The crop grows in isolated tanks filled with either disturbed or
undisturbed soil.
Two types of Lysimeter
a) Weighing lysimeter
The water loss (ETo) is directly measured by the change of mass.
b) Non-weighted lysimeter
Evapotranspiration for a given time period is determined by
deducting the drainage water, collected at the bottom of the lysimeters,
from the total water input.
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Cont….
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2. Field experimental plots
This is most suitable for determination of seasonal water
requirements.
Water is added to selected field plots; yield obtained from
different fields are plotted against the total amount of water
used.
The yield increases as the water used increases for some limit
and then decreases with further increase in water.
The break in the curve indicates the amount of consumptive
use of water.
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3. Soil moisture studies
Soil moisture measurements are done before and after
each irrigation application.
Knowing the time gap b/n the two consecutive irrigations,
the quantity of water extracted per day can be computed
by dividing the total moisture depletion b/n the two
successive irrigations by the interval of irrigation.
Then a curve is drawn by plotting the rate of use of water
against the time from this curve, seasonal water use of
crops is determined.
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4. Water Balance method
Based on inflow – outflow – storage principle.
ET = I + P - RO - DP + CR ± ΔSF ± ΔSW
Where: I - Irrigation
P – rainfall
RO - Runoff
CR – capillary rise
DP – Deep percolation
SF – subsurface flow
SW – soil water content
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Climatic approaches of estimating ETo
The following methods are the combination of some empirical,
analytical and theoretical approaches (Indirect method):
1. FAO Balnney-Criddle Method
2. FAO Radiation Method
3. FAO Penman Method
4. Hargreave's Class A Pan Evaporation Method
5. FAO Pan Evaporation Method
6. FAO Penman-Monteith Method
7. Thornthwaite Method
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Cont…
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Cont….
Calculation procedure by the crop coefficient approach:
ETc = Kc * ETo
Where: ETc crop evapotranspiration (mm/d),
Kc crop coefficient,
ETo reference crop evapotranspiration (mm/d).
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Cont….
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Crop coefficient
i− LPrev
K ci = K c prev + K c next − K c prev
Lstage
Where:
i = day number within the growing season [1.. length of the
growing season],
Kci = crop coefficient on day i,
Lstage = length of the stage under consideration [days],
(Lprev) = sum of the lengths of all previous stages [days]
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Steps for Constructing the crop coefficient curve:
1. Divide the growing period into four general growth stages
(initial, crop development, mid-season, and late season stage),
2. Identify the three Kc values that correspond to Kc ini, Kc mid and
Kc end from Table (Allen et al., 1998).
3 . Adjust the Kc values to the frequency of wetting and/or
climatic conditions of the growth stages.
4. Construct a curve by connecting straight line segments
through each of the four growth stage.
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Cont……
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Effective Rainfall (Peff )
There are four methods for calculating the effective rainfall from
entered monthly total rainfall data.
1. Fixed Percentage Effective Rainfall
2. Dependable Rain
3. Empirical Formula for Effective Rainfall
4. Method of USDA Soil Conservation Service
(default)
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Duty-Delta Relationship
Crop period and Base period
Crop period:
The time period that elapses from the instant of its
sowing to the instant of its harvesting.
Base period:
The time between the first watering of a crop at the
time of its sowing to its last watering before
harvesting..
NB: Base period is less than crop period.
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Duty and Delta of Crops
Duty (D) (ha/cumec): is the area of the land which
can be irrigated by applying one Cumec (m3/sec) of
water to the land continuously for the entire base
period of the crop.
Delta ( ∆ ): is the total depth of water required by a
crop during the cropping period.
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Cont…
Volume of water applied= 1*B*24*60*60=86,400B, m3
If Delta (∆) is the total depth of water in meters supplied to the
land of D- hectares,
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
Total depth of water applied on this land (∆) =
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎
86400𝐵 8.64𝐵
= =
𝐷∗10,000 𝐷
Where, D = in ha/Cumec
∆ = in m
B = in days
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Different forms of Duty
1. Flow duty
2. Quantity of Duty
3. Duty in the form of total depth (or Delta)
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Factors affecting Duty
Type of soil
Type of crop and base period
Structure of soil
Slope of ground
Climatic condition
Method of application of water
Salt content of soil
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Irrigation Efficiencies
Irrigation water losses
Evaporation loss, seepage loss, deep percolation, and surface
runoff.
Inadequate irrigation application results in crop water stress
and yield reduction.
Excess irrigation application can result in pollution of water
resources.
Efficient use of irrigation water maximizes economic return
and water resources sustainability.
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Evaluating system performance
1. Water Conveyance efficiency ( Ec)
𝑾𝒇
𝑬𝒄 = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑾𝒅
Where Ec = water conveyance efficiency , %
Wf = Water delivered to the irrigated fields.
Wd = Water diverted from the source.
Loss: Evaporation loss, and seepage loss.
2. Water application Efficiency (Ea)
𝐖𝐬
𝐄𝐚 = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝐖𝐟
Where, Ea = application efficiency, %
Ws = water stored in the root zone.
Wf = Water delivered to the irrigated fields.
Losses: Runoff, evaporation, and percolation.
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Cont….
𝐖𝐬
3. Soil Water storage efficiency (Es) 𝐄𝐬 = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝐖𝐧
Where, Es = Water storage efficiency, %
Ws = water stored in the root zone
Wn = Water needed in the root zone prior to irrigation
𝐖𝐩
4. Field Canal Efficiency (Eb) 𝐄𝐟 = × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝐖𝐟
Where, Ef = Field canal efficiency
Wp = water received at the field plot.
Wf = water delivered to the field channel
𝐲
5. Distribution Efficiency (Ed) 𝑬𝒅 = 𝟏 − × 𝟏𝟎𝟎 =
𝐝
Where; Ed = water distribution efficiency (%)
d = average depth of water penetration.
𝑦 = average deviation from d.
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6. Water Use Efficiency
a. Crop Water Use Efficiency
𝒀
𝑪𝑾𝑼𝑬 =
𝑬𝑻𝒄
a. Field Water Use Efficiency
𝒀
𝑭𝑾𝑼𝑬 =
𝒅𝒈
Where, Y= Yield (Kg/m3), ETc= Crop water requirement,
and dg= gross irrigation.
7. Project efficiency (Ep)
Ep = Ec *Ea *100
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Irrigation Scheduling
Indicates
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Soil moisture irrigation scheduling
a. Depth of irrigation (d):
It is the depth of water retained in the crop root zone b/n the
field capacity and the given depletion of the available moisture
content.
d net = As × (FC − PWP) × Dr × P, m
Where; As = Apparent specific gravity of soil (-)
Dr = Effective root zone depth (in m)
FC = water content of soil at FC (in fraction)
PWP = Water content of soil at PWP (in fraction)
P = depletion factor (in fraction)
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Cont….
Because of application losses such as deep
percolation and runoff losses, the total depth(gross)
of water to be applied in the field will be greater than
the net depth of water.
As× FC−PWP ×Dr×P
d gross = ,m
E𝑝
Where; Ep = Project efficiency (in fraction)
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Cont…
b. Interval of irrigation (i):
Is the time gap in days between two successive
irrigation applications.
As × (FC − PWP) × Dr × P
i days =
ETC (peak)
Where; ETc = peak rate of crop evapotranspiration
(mm/day).
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QUIZ
1. What is the difference between ETo and
ETc?
2. What are the factors affecting ETo, Duty,
and Irrigation scheduling?
3. What is the difference between crop
water requirement and irrigation water
requirement?
