University of Bahri - College of Engineering & Architecture - Department of Civil Engineering

Crop Water Requirements

Irrigation & Drainage - Topic 4

Lecturer: Mohamed Mahgoub Sharif

 Contents

Calculations of Crop Water

Requirements

Irrigation Water Requirements

Introduction

Crop & Irrigation

Rotation
 Introduction

 for proper growth and maturity of the crops, water is of vital importance throughout the crop
period. The water requirement may vary from crop to crop, from soil to soil and from period
to period. Again, the total water requirement for a crop is not supplied at a time, but at a
fixed interval so that the root zone of the crop may remain saturated throughout the crop
period. Generally, the seasonal rainfall can not meet the total water requirement. Hence, the
additional requirement is fulfilled by the irrigation system.

 The irrigation engineer should be acquainted with the type of soil, characteristics of soil
moisture, quality of irrigation water, frequency of irrigation etc. for the proper
implementation of irrigation system. 1
 Factor's Affecting The Water Requirement

 The following are the factors that affect the water requirement of crops:

 Water Table: If the water table is nearer to the ground surface, the water requirement will be
less. If it is much below the ground surface, the water requirement will be more.

 Climate: In hot climate, the evaporation loss is more and hence the water requirement will be
more.

 Ground Slope: If the slope of the ground is steep, the water flows down very quickly and the soil
gets little time to absorb requisite moisture resulting in water loss. So, the water requirement will
be more. But if the ground is flat, the water flows slowly and the soil gets sufficient time to absorb
the requisite moisture. So, the water requirement is less.
2
 Con. Factor's Affecting The Water Requirement

 Intensify of Irrigation: If the intensity of irrigation for a particular crop is high, then more area
comes under the irrigation system and the water requirement is more.

 Type of Soil: In sandy soil water percolates very quickly and cannot be retained. So, water
requirement is more. But the clayey soil can retain water near the root zone of crops. S0, it
requires less water.

 Method of Application of Water: In surface method more water is required to meet up

evaporation loss. In sub-surface method less water is required as the soil just absorbs the optimum
moisture. In sprinkler method also less water is required as it just moist the soil like rainwaters.
3
 Definition of Important Terms

 Gross Command Area (GCA): The whole area enclosed between an imaginary boundary
line which can be included in an irrigation project for supplying water to agricultural land by
the network of canals is known as Gross Command Area (GCA). It includes both the
culturable and un-culturable areas.

 Un-culturable Area: The area where the agriculture cannot be done and crops cannot be
grown is known as un-culturable area.

 Culturable Area: The area where the agriculture can be done satisfactorily is known as
culturable area.
4
Con. Definition of Important Terms

Gross Command Area (GCA)

5
 Con. Definition of Important Terms

 Culturable Command Area(CCA): The total area within an irrigation project where the
cultivation can be done and crops can be grown is known as Culturable Command Area
(C.C.A).

 Culturable Cultivated Area: It is the area within CCA. where the cultivation has been
actually done at present.

 Culturable Uncultivated Area: It is the area within the CCA. where cultivation is possible
but it is not being cultivated at present due to some reasons.

6
 Con. Definition of Important Terms

 Intensity of Irrigation: The total culturable command area may not be cultivated at the same
time in a year due to various reasons. Some area may remain vacant every year. Again,
various crops may be cultivated in the culturable command area. So, the intensity of irrigation
may be defined as a ratio of cultivated land for a particular crop to the total culturable
command area, it is expressed as a percentage of CCA. For example, If total culturable
command area is 1000 hectares where wheat is cultivated 250 hectares, then

 Intensity of irrigation of wheat = 250/1000 = 25%

 So, area to be irrigated = CCA X Intensity of irrigation

7
 Con. Definition of Important Terms

 Crop Season: The period during which some particular types of crops can be grown every' year
on the same land is known as crop season.

 Cash Crop: The crops which are cultivated by the farmers to sell in the market to meet their
current financial requirements are known as cash crops.

 Crop Rotation: The process of changing the type of crop for the cultivation on the same land is
known as crop rotation. It is found that if same crop is cultivated on the same land every year, the
fertility of the land gets reduced and the yield of crop also gradually reduces. This is so because the
necessary salts required for the growth of a particular crop get exhausted. It is found by experiment
that if the principle of crop rotation is practiced, the fertility of the soil can be restored.
8
 Con. Definition of Important Terms

 Crop Period: The crop period is defined as the total period from the time of sowing a crop to
the time of harvesting it. That means, it is the period in which the crop remains in the field.

 Overlap Allowance: Sometimes a crop of one season may overlap the next crop season by a
few days more which it requires to mature. During this period of overlapping the irrigation
water is to be supplied simultaneously to the crops of both the seasons. Due to the extra
demand of water during this period, the discharge of the canal has to be increased. So, for the
purpose of canal design, a provision should be made for this extra demand.

9
 Con. Definition of Important Terms

 Time Factor: The ratio of the number of days the canal has actually been kept open to the
number of days the canal was designed to remain open during the base period is known as
Time factor.

 Capacity Factor: Generally, a canal is designed for a maximum discharge capacity. But,
actually it is not required that the canal runs to that maximum capacity all the time of the base
period ‫؛‬So, the ratio of the average discharge to the maximum discharge (designed discharge)
is known as capacity factor.

10
 Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

 Crop water requirement or the term consumptive use is used to designate the losses due to
evapotranspiration and the water that is used by the plant for its metabolic activities.

 Although various methods have been developed in order to estimate evapotranspiration

(consumptive use) values of different crop in an area, or for areas vegetated with the
same cropping pattern, but the most simple and commonly used methods are :

1) Blaney-Criddle Equation.

2) Hargreaves class A pan evaporation method.

3) Penman’s equation. 11
Con. Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

 The reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo) (sometimes called potential

evapotranspiration, PET) is defined as the rate of evapotranspiration from a large area
covered by green grass which grows actively, completely shades the ground and which is
not short of water. The rate of water which evapotranspirates depends on the climate. The
highest value of ETo is found in areas which are hot, dry, windy and sunny whereas the
lowest values are observed in areas where it is cool, humid and cloudy with little or no
wind.

12
 Con. Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

1) Blaney and Criddle (1975) observed that the amount of water consumptively used by crops
during their growing seasons was closely correlated with mean monthly temperatures and
daylight hours and the length of the growing seasons. It requires the use of only two factors,
namely, temperature which is readily available from the weather stations and information on
daylight hours which is a factor based purely on the latitude of the place.

 The Blaney-Criddle formula: ETo = p(0.46Tmean + 8)

where: ETo = reference crop evapotranspiration (mm/day)

Tmean = mean daily temperature (° C)
p = mean daily percentage of annual daytime hours.
13
 Con. Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

2) Hargreaves class A pan evaporation method In this method, (ETo) can be obtained by
experimentally determined the quantity of water evaporated from the standard class A pan. This
pan is 1.2 m in diameter, 25 cm deep and bottom is raised 15 cm above the ground surface. The
depth of water is to be kept in a fixed range such that the water surface is at least 5 cm and never
more than 7.5 cm below the top of the pan. .

 Hargreaves class A pan evaporation formula: ETo= Kp*Epan

Where, Epan = pan evaporation in mm/day and represents the mean daily value of the period considered.
Kp = pan coefficient.
14
Con. Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

3) Penman’s equation for computation of PET for an area, has a sound theoretical reasoning,
and it is not a simple empirical equation. This equation has, in fact, been derived by
intelligently combining the energy balance and mass transfer approaches of the
computations of transpiration and evaporation, respectively.

 Hence, although slightly complicated mathematical conceptual work is invoked here, yet its
use is becoming more and more popular, in today’s modern computer age. Penman’s
equation, incorporating some of the modifications suggested by other investigators, is given
as:

15
Con. Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

𝐀∗𝐇𝐧:𝑬𝒂∗Ύ
 Penman’s formula: 𝐄𝐓𝐨 =
A:Ύ

 Where

A = Slop of the saturation Vapour pressure Vs Temperature.

Hn = Net incoming solar radiation or energy expressed in mm of evaporable water per day.
Ea = A parameter including wind velocity and saturation deficit (mm/day).
Ύ = Psychometric constant = 0.49 mm of Hg/oC
16
 Con. Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

 The basic formula for the calculation of Crop Water Requirements is:

CWR= ETcrop= Kc*ETo

Where: Kc= Crop Factor

 Factors affecting for the value of the crop coefficient (Kc):

 The crop characteristics
 Crop planting or sowing date
 Rate of crop development
 Length of growing season
 Climatic conditions 17
Con. Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

The values of Kc during the

initial growth stage largely
depends on the level of ETo
and the frequency of
irrigation and can be
evaluated from the curve.

18
 Con. Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

 The crop growing seasons has been divided into four stages:

1) Initial stage: germination and early growth (ground cover < 10%).

2) Crop development stage: from end of initial stage to attainment of effective full ground
cover (ground cover = 70 -80%).

3) Mid season stage: from attainment of effective full ground cover to time of start of maturity
as indicated by discoloring of leaves (beans) or leaves falling off (cotton).

4) Late season stage: from end of mid season stage until full maturity or harvest.
19
Con. Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

Length of Growing Season Stages (Days)

Crops Stage - 1 Stage - 2 Stage - 3 Stage - 4 Total

Cotton 30 50 60 55 195

Ground Nuts 25 35 45 25 130

Sorghum 20 30 40 30 120

Wheat 20 25 60 30 135

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Con. Calculations of Crop Water Requirements

Crop coefficient (Kc) for

field and vegetable crops
for stages of crop growth
and prevailing climatic
conditions

21
Example of crop
coefficient curve

22
 Irrigation Water Requirements

Irrigation water requirement (IWR) of a certain agricultural project is defined as the quantity of
water that meets the evapotranspiration requirements of the grown crops and the different water
losses which occur during the irrigation process.
𝑛

IWR = ETcropj + 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠

𝑗=1
 If irrigation Efficiency (η)
𝒏
𝟏
𝐈𝐖𝐑 = 𝐄𝐓𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒋
η
𝒋=𝟏
23
Con. Irrigation Water Requirements
 By considering Rainfall parameter:

𝟏 𝒏
 Where: 𝐈𝐖𝐑 = (𝐄𝐓𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒋 - Pd)
η 𝒋=𝟏

 IWR: Irrigation water requirement in

mm/month or m³/month.  Where:
 Pd = 90% Reliability Rainfall
 ETcropj : Water requirement for crop j ,
j = 1,2,3,…  ETcrop: Rate of consumption of the crop in
(mm/day) or (mm/month)
 n: Number of grown crops.
 ETo: Reference crop evapotranspiration
 Losses: Water losses including seepage,
(mm/day) or (mm/month)
evaporation and drainage.
 Kc: Crop factor for the considered month 24
 Project Design Factor

The Design Factor (F) for each cropping pattern is determined based on the maximum monthly
irrigation requirements (IWR)max occurred along the year.

𝐈𝐖𝐑𝐦𝐚𝐱
𝐅=
N ∗ 𝐀𝐭
 Where

 F: Project Design Factor in (m³/feddan/day).

 N: Number of days of the month at which the IWRmax occurs.
 At: Total Project area in feddan.
 IWRmax: Maximum monthly irrigation requirement in (m³/month). 25
 Canal Design Discharge

The design discharge for each canal is determined by:

𝐀𝐜 ∗ 𝐅
𝐐=
𝟑𝟔𝟎𝟎 ∗ 𝐓
 Where

 Q: Canal design discharge in (m³/sec).

 F: Design Factor in (m³/feddan/day).
 Ac: Area in feddan served by the considered canal.
 T: Number of operation hours (12 -18) hours.
26
 Crop Rotation

 It is the sequence of different crops cultivated in the land during a specific period (Showing
the percentage of the grown areas for the selected crop with the fallow area).

# Hawasha - 1 Hawasha - 2 Hawasha - 3 Hawasha - 4

Project - 1 (4 Rotation)
Year 1 Crop - 1 Crop - 2 Crop - 3 Fallow
Crop - 1 Crop - 2
Year 2 Fallow Crop - 1 Crop - 2 Crop - 2
25% 25%
Year 3 Crop - 1 Fallow Crop - 2 Crop - 3
Crop - 3 Fallow
25% 25% Year 4 Crop - 1 Crop - 2 Fallow Crop - 3
27
 Con. Crop Rotation

 The objectives of the crop rotation are as follows:

1) Maintaining the land suitable for being cultivated. That is by keeping a balance between
the different food elements in the soil. Each crop needs a specific kind of food element in
the soil. Some crops leave in the soil some food elements which are useful for other
crops.

2) Optimum usage of the soil and the subsoil. That is by cultivating the crops of short roots
after the crops of tall roots, and so on.

28
 Con. Crop Rotation

4) Rehabilitating some lands by leaching them from salts. That is by cultivating these lands with
rice.

5) Improving the properties of some lands and providing them with natural organic fertilizers.
That is by cultivating these lands with clover.

6) Giving sufficient time for land service. That is by choosing the crops such that there will be
enough time between collecting the old crop and cultivating the new crop.

29
 Irrigation Rotation

 Water is discharged in the distributor canals for a specific period called (working period) or
(on-interval). Then, water is prevented from being discharged in these canals for another
period called (closing period) or (off-interval). The sum of the two periods is called [the
length of the irrigation rotation].

 The objectives of the irrigation rotation are as follows:

1) Protecting the lands beside the distributor canals from continuous seepage of water. That is
because the distributor canals in the off-intervals act as drains that collect the excess water
percolated to these lands during the on-intervals.
30
 Con. Irrigation Rotation

 Con. The objectives of the irrigation rotation are as follows:

2) Helping the irrigation engineer to supervise different areas in sequent periods, which leads to
achieving the required distribution of water among the different canals.

3) Helping the farmer to irrigate the land in the on-interval, and to do the required agricultural
processes in the off-interval.

4) Decreasing the dimensions required for the sections of the canals. So, the cost is decreased.

5) Decreasing the losses, where the water does not exist in the canals for long periods.

31
 Con. Irrigation Rotation

 Two factors must be considered in the irrigation rotation::

1) The on-interval must be sufficient for allowing water to fill the distributor canals and to
reach the designed levels. It must be also sufficient for allowing the farmers to irrigate
the land.

2) The maximum period between the irrigation processes detects the length of the irrigation
rotation. This maximum period depends on the soil moisture coefficients of the soil and
the kind of the cultivated crop, as discussed previously. If several crops are cultivated,
then the crop of minimum Pmax will detect the length of the irrigation rotation.
32
 Example

 Considering the following data for the Irrigation Project (x)

 Total Project Area= 40,000 Fed Crop Pattern
 Project Operation Hours= 18 hr
Crop - 1 Crop - 2
 Project Cropping Pattern= 4 Rotations 20% 30%
 Project Overall Efficiency η = 62.5% Crop - 3 Fallow
30% 20%
 Find the followings:
1. Project Design Factor in (m³/feddan/day)
2. Design Discharge for the main canal (Reach) in m3/sec
3. Project monthly IWR (Million m3/ month)
4. Design Discharge for the canal that serve an area of 50,000 feddan 33
 Con. Example

 The table below shows the Crop Water Requirement Data (ETcrop in mm/day)

Month
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Crop

Crop - 1 4.5 5 6.5 5.7 4.4

Crop - 2 6.5 5.5 4 4.6 4.8 5.5

Crop - 3 6.2 5.2 4.2 5.3 5.5 6

34
 Con. Example

 Solution
𝒏
𝟏
 Step 1: Write the general equation of IWR. 𝐈𝐖𝐑 = 𝐄𝐓𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒋
η
𝒋=𝟏
 Step 2: Estimate IWR for Each month individually.

1 4.5∗31∗ 40,000∗0.2 ∗4200

 For July = IWR = *[ ]
0.625 103
1 5∗31∗8,000∗4200
 For August = IWR = *[ ]
0.625 103
1 6.5∗30∗8,000∗4200
 For September = IWR = *[ ]
0.625 103
35
 Con. Example

 Con. Step 2:
31∗4200 5.7∗8,000 4.6∗12,000 5.3∗12,000
 For October = IWR = *[ + + ]
0.625 103 103 103

30∗4200 4.4∗8,000 4.8∗12,000 5.5∗12,000

 For November = IWR = *[ + + ]
0.625 103 103 103

31∗4200 5.5∗12,000 6∗12,000

 For December = IWR = *[ + ]
0.625 103 103

31∗4200 6.5∗12,000 6.2∗12,000

 For January = IWR = *[ + ]
0.625 103 103
36
 Con. Example

 Con. Step 2:
29∗4200 5.5∗12,000 5.2∗12,000
 For February = IWR = *[ + ]
0.625 103 103

31∗4200 4∗12,000 4.2∗12,000

 For March = IWR = *[ + ]
0.625 103 103

 Step 3: Show the IWR for each month in table and identify the maximum value (IWRmax).

Month 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3
IWR
3 7.50 8.33 10.08 34.20 32.01 28.74 31.74 25.02 20.50
(Mm )
37
 Con. Example

 Step 4: Identify the maximum value (IWRmax)

 Maximum (IWRmax) in October with consumption = 34.20 Mm3

 Step 5: Estimate project design factor (F) 𝐈𝐖𝐑𝐦𝐚𝐱

𝐅=
N ∗ 𝐀𝐭

𝟑𝟒.𝟐𝟎
𝐅= = 27.58 M3/fed/day
31∗𝟒𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎

38
 Con. Example

𝐀𝐜 ∗ 𝐅
 Step 6: Estimate Design Discharge for the main canal 𝐐=
𝟑𝟔𝟎𝟎 ∗ 𝐓
𝟒𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎∗𝟐𝟕.𝟓𝟖
𝐐= = 17.02 m3/sec
𝟑𝟔𝟎𝟎∗𝟏𝟖

 Step 7: Estimate Design Discharge for the canal that serve an area of 50,000 feddan

𝟓𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎∗𝟐𝟕.𝟓𝟖
𝐐= = 21.28 m3/sec
𝟑𝟔𝟎𝟎∗𝟏𝟖

39
 MANY THANKS

Moh.Mahgoub89@[Link]
42 MASSIVE X presentation to DesignTuts team