IRRIGATION SCHEDULING

1. INTRODUCTION

Proper irrigation management demands application of water at the time of actual need
of the crop with just enough water to wet the effective root zone soil. The interval
between two irrigations should be as wide as possible to save irrigation water without
affecting adversely the growth and yield. The principal aims to obtain maximum crop
yield by making the most efficient and economic use of water. It is desirable to apply
irrigation neither more than the crop requirement nor economize water so much to
force water stress to crop plants affecting the yield seriously. Irrigation applied before
the time of actual crop need encourages only losses of water through higher
evapotranspiration and deep percolation. On the other hand, delayed irrigation causes
plant water stress that depresses the growth activities and yield.

2. TIME OF IRRIGATION

Time of irrigation is usually governed by two major conditions namely, (1) water need
of crops and (2) availability of irrigation water. Water need of crops is, however the
prime consideration to decide the time or irrigation.

2.1 Water needs of crop

Crop plants require water to meet the transpiration loss, build up body tissues and to
carry on biochemical and physiological activities within the body. Transpiration, which
is considered as a vital physiological activity of plants, occurs continuously as long as
the water supply is maintained. Also, a continuous evaporation occurs from the moist
soil surface ion crop field. After irrigation, the evapotranspiration begins at a peak rate
drawing water from the moist soil below and continues till there is a peak rate drawing
water from the moist soil below and continues till there is available water in soil. This
causes a continuous decline in soil water content. Rate of evapotranspiration decreases
continuously sometime after completion of irrigation with reduction in available soil

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water below the field capacity. A stage is reached within a few days after irrigation
when the rate at which soil water is available for extraction by crop plants becomes
equal to the normal consumptive use rate. This stage of soil water is considered as the
lowest point of the optimum soil water regime. The optimum soil water regime means
the range of available soil water in which plants do not suffer from water stress and all
the plant activities occur at an optimal rate. Field capacity is the uppermost lime of
optimum soil water regime for crops other than rice. A soil water deficit below
optimum soil water regime causes water stress in plants causing decline in growth and
yield, as the rate of availability of soil water falls short of the normal consumptive use
rate. Irrigation is, therefore, needed when this lowest lime optimum water regime is
reached, and it is considered as the most opportune time for irrigation.

The stage of available soil water below which water stress begins to cause a serious fall
in crop growth and subsequently the yield is termed as the critical level of soil water
for crop plants. This level of available soil water coincides with the lowest level of
optimum available soil water regime. The optimum available soil water regime and the
critical level of soil water may be diagrammatically represented as in fig. 1.

Every crop has a characteristic optimum water regime; the regime varies with the crop
ability to extract water from different soil layers.

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 Fig. 1: Schematic diagram of soil water status and critical level of soil water.

2.2 Availability of Irrigation Water

Irrigation water is often in short supply in most locations and therefore demands a careful
and economic use. Economy of water helps to bring more areas under protective irrigation
and leads to a greater crop production in areas of limited water supply. In areas where
water is scarce farmers are not able to apply normal irrigation to crops and are forced to
skip some irrigations.

It is therefore necessary that one decides a priority of stages of crops when irrigations are
to be applied and stages when one can afford to miss irrigation. The critical stages of
water need of crops receive the foremost attention. It is necessary to simultaneously
consider and weigh the relative importance of the various stages for irrigation and the
availability of water. A preferential status of crop stages according to their relative
importance to yield should be considered for irrigation in areas of water scarcity.

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3. CRITICAL STAGES OF WATER NEED OF CROPS

During the life cycle of a crop plant, there are some crucial stages in the life cycle of a crop
plant when the plant is badly in need of water. Denial of water or allowing water stress
beyond a certain limit during these stages causes a definite set back to growth processes
and the yield is adversely affected. These stages are referred to as the critical stages of
water requirement. These stages do not usually coincide with the periods of peak
consumptive use by crops. It will not be correct to consider that crops at these critical
stages require more water as their water needs are utmost. Critical stages of water
requirement are usually the turning points in plant life cycle.

Fig. 2: Characteristic S-shaped growth curve showing critical stages of water need in
crop plants.

This can be represented by a sigmoid or S-shaped growth curve (Fig. 2). the curve shows
two most important points of change in the growth rate, viz the point of inflection and the
point of deflection. The point of inflection indicates a sudden spurt in vegetative growth
and the point of deflection represents the slowing down of vegetative growth and initiation
of the reproductive phase. Crops demand for adequate water at these stages and cannot

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afford to stand water stress without serious reduction in growth and yield. These two stages
of crop life are, therefore, considered as the most critical stages of water requirement.

When crop plants are young and delicate, they are not able to stand water stress and
demand a liberal supply of water. Again, with the start of grand growth period, the crop
puts up a faster rate of vegetative growth and transpiration and biochemical activities in
plants occur at a higher rate. This leads to tremendous increase in water need of the crop
and the supply of water should be adequate to maintain the normal rate of active growth
and evapotranspiration. Water stress at the sensitive stages causes a serious retardation in
growth process that ultimately depresses the yield.

Table 1: Sensitive stages of some important crops for irrigation scheduling

The sensitive stages cause a serious retardation in growth process that ultimately depresses
the yield. The sensitive stages differ from one crop to the others (Table 1). Water stress at
these stages causes lower tillering, branching, pegging, tuber bulking, inadequate flowing
and in the extreme case, flower drops, poor setting of grains or fruits, bad filling of grains
or serious fruit drops depending on the type of crops. In dwarf wheat, crown root initiation
stage is the most important critical stage of water need as crown roots fail to develop in dry
soils. Lack of adequate water at this stage reduces tillering and affects the yield adversely.
It is true that crops require adequate water supply throughout their life cycle for best

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growth and yield. Only in the later stages of crop maturity, water supply is reduced or cut-
off to obtain uniform and quicker crop maturity. Crops may be allowed to stand water
stress to some extent during certain periods of life excepting at the critical stages to save
some water under situations of water scarcity. The critical stages of water need of crops
that do not have distinguishable stages are decided experimentally.

3.1 Determination of Critical Periods of Water Need

To make a judicious use of irrigation water particularly when the water supply is limited, it
is essential to determine the critical periods of water need of crops. For this purpose, a crop
is subjected to predetermined water stress at different stages of growth and then the
corresponding yield reductions are considered; it is then related to the yield of crop that has
not been subjected to any water stress and irrigated according to the normal schedule.
Another way to decide the critical periods is to miss irrigations at different stages of the
crop and then relating the corresponding yield reductions with the yield from control plot
which is irrigated normally. Periods at which yield reductions are significant are
considered as the critical periods of water need in the life of the crop.

Table 2: Effect of water shortage at different stages of rice on yield

The effect of water shortage in different stages of rice can be studied from Table 2. The
table shows that water shortage during tiller initiation, primordial growth and flowering
stages reduced the crop yield considerably whereas, the water shortage during maximum

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tillering caused only a slight reduction. There appeared to be no adverse effect of water
shortage during maturity period.

4. CRITERIA FOR SCHEDULING IRRIGATION

Since irrigation water is of limited supply in most of the places, an emphasis should be laid
on making the most efficient and economic use of water for crop production. In a situation
where adequate water is available on demand, farmers often irrigate their crops earlier than
the time of actual need in their eagerness to obtain good growth and high yield of crops.
Their attention is to produce more yields per unit area of land without much consideration
of the amount of water used. This leads to waste of valuable water, and it may sometimes
cause damage to crops and lands owing to over-irrigation. On the other hand, a delay in
irrigation for lack of proper knowledge may force water stress to crop causing decline in
yield. The optimum scheduling of irrigation under this situation should be based on crop
needs to avoid both over- and under- irrigation and to ensure a high water use efficiency.
Since adequate water is not available in most places, attention must be given to produce the
maximum yield per unit of water used by rational distribution of water among crops over
the growing seasons.

A thorough understanding of the soil-water-plant-atmosphere relationships is essential for

proper scheduling of irrigation since irrigation needs of crops are decided by the
evaporative demand of the ambient atmosphere, soil water status and plant characteristics.
The criteria for scheduling irrigation as attempted from time to time may be grouped into
three categories, namely, (1) plant criteria, (2) criteria based on soil water status and (3)
meteorological criteria.

4.1 Plant Criteria

Plants show up certain characteristic changes in their constitution, appearance and growth
behaviour with changes in available soil water and atmospheric conditions. These changes
in plants are often valuable pointers to the time of irrigation. Different plant criteria
considered to schedule irrigation are the general appearance of crop plants, plant water

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potential and water content of plant tissues, growth, critical periods of water need,
indicator plant, stomatal opening, leaf diffusion resistance and pant temperature.

4.1.1 Plant appearance

With water stress, some characteristic changes usually occur in the general appearance of
plants. There may be changes in the normal colour of plant or distortions of plants such as
wilting or drooping of plants and curling or rolling of leaves. Some crops are very
sensitive to soil-water changes and develop scarcity symptoms easily, while others do not.
Some plants such as wheat change their normal deep green colour to lighter green and then
to yellow when water stress occurs. Changes in colour appear first in the lower leaves. On
the other hand, deep green and light green colours in alfalfa are indicative of water stress
and adequate supply of water respectively. Water stress is also shown by rolling of leaves
in wheat or rice or by temporary wilting of plants as with sunflower and sugarbeet during
the hottest part of the day. Fruit plants do not easily show up water stress by changes in
appearance until serious retardation in growth takes place. This technique is however quite
simple and rapid, but suffers from many deficiencies. Changes in colour may be
misleading since nutritional disorder, insect damage, disease attack and varietal character
cause variable changes in foliage colour. However, distinct changes in colour have been
used to schedule irrigation to beans (Robins and Domingo, 1956, Burman and Painter,
1964).

4.1.2 Plant water potential and water content

Some crops such as sugarcane show strong correlation between the water content of leaf or
leaf sheath and the available soil water, and this has been taken advantage of in
determining the time of irrigation in sugarcane in Hawaii (Clement, 1960). The relative
leaf water content (RLWC) and leaf water potential change with variations in soil water
availability or owing to lag between water absorption by plants and evaporative demand of
the atmosphere. Namken (1965) recommended irrigation to cotton when its afternoon
RLWC dropped below 72% over a long period. Boyer (1970) and Sandhu and Horton
(1977) noted adverse physiological and growth phenomena specific to plant species with

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fall in the RLWC and water potential below certain critical limits. Shardakov (1957) and
Potinov (1959) suggested the use of plant water potential as a guide for irrigation in cotton
and wheat. However, sophisticated equipment, intricate measuring devices, high cost and
lack of proper standardization of instruments deter the use of this technique on a large
scale.

4.1.3 Plant growth

Cell elongation is considered as the growth process that suffers first with water stress in
plant. Subsequently, retardation in growth of height or intermodal length occurs. Timing
of irrigation can be set as and when the normal growth rate is observed to decline. This is,
however, possible in places where a continuous measurement of plant growth is
maintained as is done in sugarcane in Hawaii (Clement, 1960). Namken et al. (1971) used
radial changes in stem as a guide to irrigate cotton. This technique offers difficulties
owing to unavailability and high costs of equipment, inadequate standardization of the
method, difficulties in selection of proper growth parameter and precise growth
measurement and so on. The serious objection to this approach of scheduling irrigation is
that the plants suffer before they show any retardation in growth processes.

4.1.4 Critical crop stages of water need

Irrigation scheduling may be decided based on stages of growth more conveniently in

crops in which the physiological stages are distinct to locate the critical periods of water
need (Table 2). The crown root initiation, tillering, flowering, milk and dough stages in
wheat, branching, flowering and pod development stages in mustard, pegging, pod setting
and pod development stages in groundnut and tasseling, silking and grain filling stages in
maize are very specific and can be easily identified by a common farmer for scheduling
irrigation. Majumdar (1998) commented that scheduling of irrigation based on these
critical stages is most convenient for ordinary Indian farmers who may need, at the most,
some guidance or education initially. However, it may be a little difficult in crops where
stages are not so well defined.

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4.1.5 Indicator plant

There are some plants that are sensitive to soil-water variations. They may be used for
detecting the water stress in crops that do not show symptoms of water stress easily or
exhibit the same when they have already suffered seriously. Sunflower plants are often
used as indicator plants in onion crop. An indicator plant for irrigation should be such that
it shows the water stress before the root has suffered from it. When an indicator plant is
gown in a crop field, care should be taken not to shade the plant by crop plants.

4.1.6 Stomatal aperture

Opening of stomata in plants is regulated by soil-water availability. Stomata remain fully

open when the supply of water is adequate, whereas they start closing with scarcity of
water in soils to restrict the transpiration. Slatyer and Shmueli (1967) stated that the
stomatal aperture is an indicator of water deficit in plants because it influences both
photosynthesis and transpiration by its effect on carbon dioxide and water vapour
transport. Water deficit in plants is directly related to availability of soil water and that
may be used for scheduling irrigation in crops.

4.1.7 Leaf diffusion resistance

Leaf resistance to vapour diffusion is primarily governed by the degree of stomatal closure
which under sufficient day light condition is regulated mainly by the leaf water deficit.
Several scientists reported a close relationship between leaf diffusion resistance (LDR) and
plant water stress. Sandhu and Horton (1977) observed that on cloudy days LDR is a
sensitive index of internal water balance in the mild to moderate stress range and holds a
promise for scheduling irrigation. Sij et al (1972) found that LDR of sorghum leaves
followed the plant water status and suggested that diffusion porometer, a device to measure
LDR, may be a useful tool in irrigation scheduling. Prihar and Sandhu (1987) stated that

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the LDR is a sensitive index of plant water stress in sugarcane and can be used as a basis
for scheduling irrigation.

4.1.8 Plant temperature

Solar radiation received on earth heats up leaf tissues besides causing evapotranspiration
and heating up the ambient air. With water deficit in plant the temperature of leaf tissues
rises. Many investigations have shown that leaf or canopy temperature is a sensitive index
of plant water status in soybean, oats, barley, alfalfa, wheat, sorghum and corn (Wiegand
and Namken, 1966, Horton et al., 1970, Carlson et al., 1972, Miller et al., 1971, Sandhu
and Horton 1978, Idso et al., 1981, and many others). Sandhu and Horton (1978) observed
that during the hotter part of the day under semi-arid climate, fully exposed leaves of oats
subjected to mild and moderate stress were 1oC to 4oC warmer than non-stressed leaves.
Further, it was observed that unstressed sugarcane and mungbean crops were cooler by 9 oC
and 9oC respectively and the difference between the stressed and unstressed canopy
temperatures was a better index of water deficit than the difference between plant canopy
and air temperatures.

4.2 Criteria Based on Soil Water Status

Scheduling irrigation based on soil water content is the most accurate and dependable
method. Determination of available soil water is rather more important than estimating the
total water content of soils. For this purpose, an information on the optimum water regime
of crops and the available water holding capacity of soils is essential. Irrigation is applied
when the soil water content reaches the lowest point of optimum soil water regime. The
optimum water regime for a crop in a place is determined experimentally by correlating
yields with the water contents of soils. The optimum soil water regimes of different crops
have been studied for various areas of the world, however, in areas of limited irrigation
resources, irrigation may be applied at any other pre-decided level of soil water below the
optimum soil water regime.

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Determination of soil water from time to time becomes necessary to know when the soil
water reaches the level at which the irrigation is best applied. Various methods are used to
determine the soil water status and farmers may choose any of the methods according to
their need, accuracy wanted and facilities available for estimating soil water. The criteria
based on soil water status attempted or used to schedule irrigation to crops are summarized
here.

4.2.1 Soil water content

Early attempts were made to schedule irrigation when the soil water content reached a
certain value. The idea did not succeed since there existed a wide variation in the water
content retained by the different classes of soils. Ritchie et al (1972) however advanced a
new concept of scheduling irrigation based on the lower limit of soil water content for
potential evapotranspiration of a crop. They assumed that the growth of crop was likely to
suffer below this level of soil water. For soybean, this level corresponded to 18 cm depth
of water for 180 cm layer of clay loam soil. This threshold limit could be decided for
various crops, soil types and atmospheric evaporativity.

4.2.2 Depth-interval of irrigation

Attempts to schedule irrigation based on depth of water applied or interval between

irrigations was not found very effective owing to various limitations. Since the water
retentive capacity of soils varies widely with soil types and soil physical conditions, and
root zones of crops vary with types of crops and their rooting characteristics at different
growth stages, the depth and interval of irrigation require modifications in different soils
and at various crop growing periods. An arbitrarily fixed depth or interval of irrigation has
misleading effects on crop growth and yield.

4.2.3 Critical level of soil water

As stated earlier, the critical level of soil water denotes the level of available water below
which the crop growth and yield decline drastically. It is the lowest level of the optimum
soil water regime. This level once established experimentally for various crops in different

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soil types and soil conditions can be profitably used for scheduling irrigation. This
approach has been widely suggested for adoption. A periodical determination of soil water
content is made to know the time when the soil water is likely to reach the critical level.
This criterion is synonymous with the concept of available soil water depletion for
deciding the time of irrigation. The depth of irrigation however needs revision upwards
every time with increasing vegetative growth and rooting depth of an actively growing
crop.

4.2.4 Soil water tension

Many scientific workers have used this criterion for scheduling irrigation to crops in
various parts of the world. Miller and Dulcy (1925) were the earliest to use this approach
for scheduling irrigation to maize. Richards (1942) and Richards and Marsh (1961) used
tensiometer techniques for irrigation. Taylor (1952) suggested the use of mean soil water
tension of the entire root zone for deciding the time of irrigation and found the same more
dependable than the soil water tension measured at shallow depth of soil. In many
countries, the tensiometer has been considered as a useful device for scheduling irrigation
to orchard and vegetable crops particularly on coarse textured soils where most of the
available water is held at low tensions. Taylor (1965) prepared a guide that included soil
water tension as a criterion for irrigating crops on various soils under different evaporative
conditions.

The use of tensiometer for controlling irrigation did not find much favour with common
farmers since the device presents certain difficulties in its use. The tensiometer can be
used only in the lower tensions up to 0.85 bars. It does not show the actual soil water
content for direct calculation of the depth of irrigation to be applied. The water content is
calibrated from the soil-tension curve. Again, there exists a time lag in tension-equilibrium
between the porous cup and the surrounding soil that makes the tensiometer showing the
energy status of soil water earlier to the existence of the actual soil water content.

4.2.5 Electrical resistance

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The concept of electrical resistance of the actual soil water content in soils was also tried to
schedule irrigation. For this purpose, resistance blocks made of gypsum, nylon, nylon-
resign etc. were used. Crops were irrigated when the electrical resistance reached a certain
value. The value could be decided experimentally for various crops by using the resistance
blocks. Haise and Kelley (1946) and Taylor (1952) suggested the use of gypsum blocks
for scheduling irrigation to crops that are capable of withstanding higher tensions. This
method has however many limitations and did not become popular. The limitations are: (i)
resistance blocks cannot be used at low tension at which most of the available water is held
by soils, (ii) difficulty of deciding the depth of irrigation as resistance blocks do not
directly show the prevailing soil water content and (iii) the existence of a time-lag in
tension-equilibrium between the porous block and the surrounding soil which causes
showing up the energy status of soil water earlier.

4.3 Climatological Approach

4.3.1 Empirical formulae

Attempts have been made from time to time to use meteorological parameters for
estimating the evapotranspiration and consumptive use for controlling irrigation. For this
purpose, empirical formulae using different meteorological parameters have been
developed. Penman (1948) and Thornthwaite (1948), Blaney-Criddle (1950) and
Christiansen (1968) developed formulae for estimating potential evapotranspiration, and
then used the estimated potential evapotranspiration for scheduling irrigation by water
budget method. The daily evapotranspiration loss is deducted from the soil water reserve
in root zone soil after irrigation and a balance is worked out. When the balance shows that
the soil water is depleted to a predetermined level, say, the lower level of optimum soil
water regime, irrigation is applied to replenish the water lost through evapotranspiration.
The adoption of empirical formulae for irrigation control demands the knowledge of water
holding capacity of soil and a continuous record of rainfall and other meteorological
parameters. This approach of scheduling irrigation to crops is complicated for an ordinary
farmer.

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4.3.2 Evaporimeter

Evaporimeters like United States Class-A Open Pan Evaporimeter, Sunken Screen Open
Pan Evaporimeter and atmometer may be used for irrigation control. They are employed
to measure the evaporation loss, which is used to determine the consumptive use by crops
by multiplying the evaporation values with crop coefficient values. The coefficient varies
from 0.6 to 0.8 for most crops at their different stages. Irrigation is applied when crops
consume the available soil water to a certain limit, calculated on the basis of consumptive
use rate as determined by evaporimeters. Sunken screen evaporimeter value can be used
from the period of 25 per cent ground coverage by crops till their maturity (Gautam and
Dastane, 1970). With pan evaporimeter, the irrigation is applied when a certain amount of
water gets evaporated from the pan. The values of pan evaporation for this purpose are
found for various crops at their different growth stages under different soil and climatic
conditions.

4.3.3 Irrigation water/cumulative pan evaporation ratio (IW/CPE ratio)

Prihar et al. (1974 suggested the use of IW/CPE ratio as a practical basis of scheduling
irrigation. The approach is based on the close and direct relationship of crop
evapotranspiration with pan evaporation. When irrigation is applied, water is lost from the
soil through evapotranspiration in the same way as the evaporation occurs from an open
pan evaporimeter. The ratio of the amount of irrigation applied to cumulative pan
evaporation values has been used for scheduling irrigation. The pan evaporation values are
added up every day till it is equal to a certain ratio of the amount of water applied as
irrigation. The ratio for various crops is determined experimentally by estimating the
evapotranspiration by Lysimeter studies.

Prihar et al. (1974) found that the optimum IW/CPE ratio for wheat was 0.75 to 1.00. The
IW/CPE ratios for wheat and rapeseed in West Bengal, India, were found to be 0.9 and 0.7
respectively (Majumdar and Mandal, 1984 and Yadav, 1995). Assuming that an irrigation
of 5cm depth would be applied to wheat, the CPE value at which the irrigation is to be

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applied would be 5.55cm when IW/CPE ratio is 0.9 (CPE = 5cm/0.9 = 5.55cm). The CPE
value is calculated each time starting from the date of irrigation to the subsequent one.

Prihar et al. (1976) observed that scheduling irrigation to wheat based on IW/CPE ratio of
0.75 to 1.00 irrespective of growth stage saved 34 per cent water for postsowing irrigations
compared to the practice of giving five irrigations at five phonological stages.

5. FREQUENCY AND INTERVAL OF IRRIGATION

The terms, frequency of irrigation and interval of irrigation are closely related and are
often interchangeable. With higher frequency of irrigation, the interval between two
irrigations decreases in a given period, while with lower frequency the interval between
two irrigations increases. The term, interval of irrigation indicates the time gap, usually
expressed in days, between two subsequent irrigations. The total amount of water required
by a crop for producing an optimum yield is termed as delta of water and it is synonymous
with water requirement of crop.

The principal objectives of irrigation water management re to make the most effective use
of water coupled with higher crop productivity and crop production, to prevent waste of
water and to save water as much as possible to irrigate new areas. Fewer irrigations at
longer intervals encourage saving of water. Losses of water occur in the irrigation practice
and the losses may take place in conveyance channels and in fields every time irrigation is
applied. The loss may get aggravated due to inadequate knowledge and experience of the
farmers in water application. With higher frequency of irrigation, surface soils remain
moist for longer periods leading to higher evapotranspiration losses. Thus, frequency of
irrigations should be as low as possible to avoid waste of water. Of course, frequent
irrigations with smaller depths of water each time are often more conducive to higher

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yields than heavier irrigations at long intervals, the delta of water remaining the same
within a certain limit (Dastane, 1969). This has been represented in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3: Schematic representation of yield-irrigation frequency relationship

Immediately after irrigation when the soil is wet, evapotranspiration occurs at a potential
rate. It starts declining some days after irrigation as the surface soil dries up. Dry and
loose soil surface helps to reduce evaporation. Since soil water declines progressively
owing to continuous evapotranspiration, the rate of evapotranspiration also declines
progressively with the advance of time after irrigation. Therefore, the longer is the interval
between irrigations, the greater is the saving of water. Besides, a longer interval between
two irrigations cuts down the number of irrigations during the growing season. Care
should, however, be taken not to cause any water stress beyond a certain limit by making
the irrigation interval unduly long unless compelled to do so for reasons of water scarcity.
Irrigation is usually advised at the lowest limit of the optimum water regime, as already
stated earlier. The interval between two irrigations should normally be the time taken by
crops to reduce the soil water from field capacity to the lowest level of optimum soil water
regime, as already stated earlier. The interval between two irrigations should normally be
the time taken by crops to reduce the soil water from field capacity to the lowest level of
optimum soil water regime.

5.1 Factors Affecting Frequency of Irrigation

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The two main considerations namely, water need of crops and the availability of irrigation
decide the irrigation frequency. Once these two are known the frequency of irrigation is
influenced mainly by:

(a) Climate and season

(b) Soil characteristics
(c) Crop characteristics
(d) Crop and water management practices

5.1.1 Climate and season

Climate is responsible for causing variations in consumptive use rate and frequency of
irrigation. High temperature, low humidity, high wind velocity, greater solar radiation in a
place emphasize the need to irrigate crops more frequently as evapotranspiration takes
place at a higher rate due to greater evaporative demand of the atmosphere. This is
particularly evident in arid regions and during summer season. When temperature shoots
up in summer, the evaporative demand of atmosphere increases tremendously causing
higher evapotranspiration rate. Since air remains dry, temperature is high during summer
months and the rainfall is low in the arid region, there is a necessity to irrigate crops
frequently. With greater evapotranspiration, frequent replenishment of soil water becomes
necessary to maintain the optimum growth of crops. On the other hand, higher rainfall and
greater relative humidity during the rainy season reduce the irrigation requirement of crops
and irrigations may be applied at longer interval, if it at all becomes necessary. In humid
areas where rainfall is higher, the irrigation requirements of crops are lower, and irrigations
are applied less frequently. During winter months the crop demand for water is much less
due to the lower temperature and evaporative demand of the atmosphere. The irrigation
requirement during winter months is, therefore, lower and irrigations may be applied at
longer interval.

5.1.2 Soil characteristics

Water retentive capacity of soil is considered as the most important soil factor deciding the
frequency and interval of irrigation. Texture, structure, aggregates and organic matter

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content influence the water retentive capacity of soils. A soil with greater water retentive
capacity serves as a bigger water reservoir for crops and can supply water for longer
duration. Consequently, frequency of irrigation is lower and interval of irrigation is longer
in heavier soils and in soils with crumb structure, good organic matter content and low
content of soluble salts. On the other hand, the frequency is higher in porous sandy soils
with coarse texture, poor structure and low organic matter content. Retention of greater
amount of available water is considered more important than total quantity of water
retained by a soil.

Depth of soil is another factor that influences the frequency of irrigation. A shallow soil
cannot hold enough water to meet the crop demand for a longer period. Necessarily,
frequent irrigations are required with smaller depth of water each time. Irrigations at
longer interval is applied to deep soil that has a greater water storage capacity. Such a soil
can supply water for longer duration particularly when the root system is quite deep and
extensive.

5.1.3 Crop characteristics

Crops vary in their consumptive use of water, sensitivity to water stress, water extraction
capacity and optimum water retime. Frequency of irrigation thus varies with crops. A
crop having higher consumptive use rate consumes the soil water quickly and requires
more frequent replenishment of soil water. Rice crop thus requires frequent irrigations
than wheat crop. Crops like vegetables, onion, tobacco and sugarbeet that require a higher
level of water to be maintained in the soil need frequent irrigations than crops like wheat,
mustard, maize and pearly millet.

Many crops have varieties that are either sensitive or tolerant to drought conditions.
Varieties sensitive to drought conditions require frequent irrigations compared to tolerant
varieties. Since dwarf wheat varieties are usually more sensitive to water stress than the
tall wheat varieties, frequent irrigations are required for the former type.

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Rooting characteristics of crops such as shallow or deep, fibrous or tapering, vertically or
laterally extensive root systems decide the frequency of irrigation. When the root system
is shallow and fibrous, crops are not able to utilize water from deeper soil layers and are
frequently irrigated with smaller depth of water to wet only the upper soil layers. Crops
with deeper and extensive root systems command a greater depth of soil and water reserve
and require irrigations at longer interval. Sometimes, they may get water from water table
which is not deep enough. Shallower water table reduces the irrigation requirements and
helps to increase the interval between irrigations. Besides, the concentration and relative
proportion of the root mass in different soil layers decides the water extraction capacity.
Fig. 4 represents the extraction capacity of crops from different depths of soils. Maximum
quantity of water is extracted from the upper 25 per cent of the effective rooting depth and
the extraction is least from the last 25 per cent of the rooting depth which is about one-
fourth of that from the upper section. The water extraction pattern shows that a higher
frequency with smaller depth of irrigation each time is preferable for crop with shallow
root system that extract most of their water need from the upper soil layers.

Fig. 4: Design water extraction pattern from effective rooting depths

Irrigation frequency varies with stages of crop growth. The consumptive use rate,
sensitivity to water stress and rooting characteristics of crops change at different stages. A
crop when young and delicate needs frequent irrigations. Plants at this stage are very
susceptible to water stress because their root system is not deep and extensive enough to
draw water from deeper soil layers. Subsequently, the consumptive use rate gradually

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increases at the same time the root system also develops. Irrigations can then be applied at
longer intervals, as roots are able to draw water from greater volume of soils.

When a crop approaches maturity, the demand for water greatly declines because of steep
fall in consumptive use rate. Besides, the well-developed root system can also draw water
from deeper layers. The irrigation requirement, therefore, declines with approach of
maturity and crops are irrigated at longer intervals.

5.1.4 Crop and water management practices

Soil water conservation practices such as artificial or soil mulching and crop cultural
practices like weeding and hoeing help to reduce the evaporation loss and conserve more
soil water for crop use. Thus, there is a reduction in irrigation requirement of crops.
Method of irrigation, depth of water applied each time and the water distribution efficiency
influence the frequency of irrigation. Sprinkler irrigation adopted in porous and lighter
soils demands frequent irrigations which cause more evaporation loss as the surface soil
remains moist for a longer period. A smaller depth of irrigation is, therefore, applied each
time. On the other hand, irrigations are applied at longer interval when the surface
irrigation is adopted in soils that have higher water retentive capacity and are not too
porous.

5.2 Irrigation period

Irrigation period is the time, usually expressed in days, that can be allowed for applying
one irrigation to a given design crop area during the peak consumptive use period of the
crop. It is a function of the peak-period consumptive use rate. It is considered for
designing the irrigation system capacity and equipment. The irrigation system must be so
designed that the irrigation period is not greater than the irrigation interval. It is estimated
as follows,

Irrigation period (days) =

Net depth of soil depletion∈the design crop area just before irrigation , cm
Peak period consumptive use rate of crop , cm

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 (1)

5.3 Design Irrigation Frequency

It is same as the irrigation period and refers to the time, usually expressed in days, between
two irrigations that is necessary to irrigate the design crop area during the period of peak
consumptive use of the crop to be irrigated. The design irrigation frequency is used to
decide the capacity of the irrigation system to be able to supply the required water to crops
in the area. Irrigation frequency depends on how fast soil water is extracted when crop is
transpiring at its maximum rate. The average consumptive use rate during this period is
used for planning the system. The design irrigation frequency may be decided by the
following relationship:

( F c −M b ) x A s x D /100
Design irrigation frequency (days) = (2)
Peak period of consumptive use of crop, cm

where:

Fc = field capacity, %

Mb = soil water content just before irrigation, %

As = apparent specific gravity of soil or bulk density of soil (dimensionless)

D = depth of crop root zone, cm

6. DEPTH OF IRRIGATION

Depth of irrigation is a function of the water retentive capacity of the root-zone soil and the
extent of soil water depletion at the time of irrigation. It refers to the depth to which the
applied water would cover an area. For example, a 10-centimetre depth of irrigation to a
hectare of land represents the volume of water which when allowed to stand without any
loss and infiltration into the soil would stand over one hectare area to a depth of 10 cm.

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The net depth of irrigation is decided by the amount of water required to bring the soil
water content just before an irrigation to field capacity in the root zone soil. The water
content of soil just before irrigation must be known to calculate the net depth of water
required to be applied. It is calculated by the following formula:

n
F ci−M bi
d = ∑ 100
x A si x D i (3)
i=1

where;

d = net depth of water to be applied or net irrigation, cm

Fci = field capacity of the i-th layer of soil in % by weight

Mbi = water content of the i-th layer of soil just before irrigation in % by weight

Asi = apparent specific gravity of the i-th layer of soil, g/cc

Di = depth of the i-th layer of soil in the root zone, cm

n = number of layers of soil in the root zone D

Therefore, irrigation should consist of the quantity of water required to replenish the soil
water depleted in the crop root zone just before irrigation applied. It should neither be
lighter nor heavier than actual depth of water needed. A lighter irrigation leads to under-
irrigation keeping the lower soil dry, while a heavier one results to over-irrigation causing
loss of water through deep percolation. Roots do not grow in dry soil. Therefore, the root
development gets restricted and shallow rooting takes place when the lower soils remain
dry in case of under-irrigation. Roots of an actively growing plant move deeper and deeper
provided the soil below the growing point of roots is moist. Therefore, the depth of
irrigation is increased with growth of crop to wet the extending root zone. Shallow
irrigation causes the roots already grown in deeper layers to gradually die for lack of water.
On the other hand, when a heavy irrigation is made, some amount of water percolates
down beyond the root zone and gets wasted.

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Usually, the soil zone that accounts for 90 per cent of the root mass needs to be wetted by
irrigation when the crop is fully grown, but for an actively growing crop the soil a little
below the actively growing roots should be made moist. The depth of irrigation required
for different soil types when soil water is depleted to 50 per cent availability are given in
Table 3.

Table 3: Irrigation Depths Required for Different Soils at 50 per cent Soil Water
Depletion

Soil class Depth of irrigation in millimetres per

metre depth of soil
Sandy soil 40
Sandy loam soil 60
Loam soil 80
Clay loam soil 100
Clay soil 125
Source: Gautam and Dastane (1970)

6.1 Factors Affecting Depth of Irrigation

Depth of irrigation is closely but inversely related to the frequency of irrigation. When the
frequency of irrigation is more, the depth of irrigation applied each time is usually smaller
provided the delta of irrigation remains the same. Factors that govern the frequency of
irrigation also influence the depth of irrigation. Factors mainly concerned in modifying the
depth are as follows:

(a) Depth of effective root zone soil,

(b) Water retentive capacity of soil,
(c) Degree of soil water depletion

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 (d) Apparent specific gravity of soil

Depth of soil to be made wet regulates the depth of irrigation. When roots extend deeper
into soil, more water is necessary to wet the soil layers up to which roots have developed
since roots function as the principal water-absorbing organ of plants. A smaller irrigation
keeps the lower soils dry and it would lead either to shallower development of roots or the
deeper roots that have grown earlier will die down gradually, if the amount of water
applied continued to be smaller. Therefore, a greater depth of water is applied each time to
an actively growing crop so that roots grow deeper. A smaller depth of water is applied to
crops that have shallower root system. The depth of water is also smaller when the crop is
young and its roots are shallower. If a higher amount is applied, some water will percolate
down beyond the root zone and get wasted. With growth of the crop and its root system,
the depth of irrigation is increased.

Depth of irrigation is a function of water retentive capacity of the root zone soil. Soils of
heavier texture with a greater amount of capillary pores can retain more water in their pore
spaces than lighter soils with more of non-capillary pores. Again, soils with crumb
structure, higher organic matter content and water-stable aggregates retain more water.
The depth of irrigation is necessarily more in soils with a greater water retentive capacity
compared to soils with a lower water retentive capacity.

The consumptive use of crop decides the depth of irrigation. Soil water gets depleted
continuously after an irrigation is applied till the next irrigation. The amount of soil water
depleted from the field capacity level in the effective root zone is to be replenished to bring
back the soil water content to the field capacity to continue the normal crop growth.

The apparent specific gravity of soil is determined to estimate the net depth of water to be
applied to the crop. The value of bulk density is important since it gives the mass of soil
solids involved in water retention. The depth of irrigation increases with increase in bulk
density of soil. The apparent specific gravity is the bulk density without considering the
units of the bulk density. The bulk density of soil is influenced by tillage operation, soil,
texture, structure, and organic matter content.

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