KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE

BSc (Agribusiness), End of Semester Examinations, First Semester, 2013/14

Second Year

AE 291 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

Instruction: Attempt ALL questions in sections A and B. Write your INDEX NUMBER only in the space
provided below and return this paper. Write or mark the correct answers on the question paper. For
questions requiring computations, do your rough work on this paper if necessary before selecting the
appropriate answer. Failure to comply with the instructions shall attract penalty.

Index Number:_______________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

SECTION A

1. Irrigation is the ____________________________________________________________________

2. Supplementary irrigation can be expressed mathematically as:

a) Irrigation = Crop water requirement + Rainfall
b) Irrigation = Crop water requirement - Rainfall
c) Irrigation = Rainfall – Crop water requirement
d) None of the above

3. State two (2) benefits of irrigation.

a)_________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

b)_________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

4. State whether the following statements are true or false:

a) Naturally, the soil medium is used for plant production but soil-less medium and other media can
also be used.
b) Irrigation is intended to supplement rainfall but in areas where rainfall is too small or absent,
irrigation can be used to provide all the crop water requirements.
c) Nearly all the world’s food and fiber requirements are produced under irrigation.
d) The most efficient of all the irrigation methods is sprinkler irrigation.
e) Drip irrigation can be capital intensive but can be used to grow high value crops with very high
irrigation efficiencies and high crop water productivity. It does not lend itself to chemigation.
f) The water year in Ghana starts at the beginning of March of each year end ends at the end of
February of the following year.

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 g) The lowest rainfall recorded in Ghana is in the Guinea savannah zone of Ghana.
h) The high water deficit in northern Ghana as a result of excess of evapotranspiration over rainfall
makes irrigation a necessary intervention.
i) From a policy perspective, irrigation development in Ghana is classified as formal, informal and
commercial.
j) For the same volume of sand and clay, the former weighs heavier than the former.
k) For the same volume of soil, the pore volume of silt is larger than the pore volume of clay.
l) , where the symbols have their usual meanings.
m) One millimeter of rain recorded by a rain gauge over 10 ha is equivalent to 10 hamm.
n) If the farm level is lower than the level of the source of water, irrigation should be done by
pumping.
o) Two millimeters of evaporation from a 45.6 ha irrigation reservoir is equivalent to 912 m3 of
water.

5. The state department in charge of irrigation in Ghana is called________________________________

6. The informal irrigation schemes in Ghana include_________________________________________

7. The commercial irrigation schemes in Ghana are__________________________________________

8. Soil sample taken from an irrigated farm was found to have 1.56 g/cm3 wet bulk density at 18.2 %
gravimetric water content. What is the volumetric water content of the soil?
a) 28.4 %
b) 24.0 %
c) 18.2 %
d) None of the above

9. What is the depth of water present in 1.5 m depth of the soil in question 6?
a) 273 mm
b) 360 mm
c) 426 mm
d) None of the above

10. If the farm area in question 6 is 4.5 ha, compute the volume of water present in 1.5 m depth of the
soil.
a) 1242 hamm
b) 1620 hamm
c) 1917 hamm
d) None of the above

Problem: Consider a crop with rooting depth of 1.5 m, grown in a medium textured soil. The field
capacity and permanent wilting points (weight basis) are 20 and 9% respectively. The specific gravity of
the soil is 1.30, the maximum allowable soil water depletion factor is 0.5, the peak crop consumptive
water use is 7.5 mm/day and the irrigation efficiency is 60 %. [Answer questions 11 – 14]

11. Calculate the water content of the soil at irrigation (% volume)

a) 18.9 %

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 b) 16.3 %
c) 14.5 %
d) None of the above

12. Calculate the net irrigation requirements.

a) 179.0 mm
b) 107.3 mm
c) 71.5 mm
d) None of the above

13. Calculate the gross irrigation requirements.

a) 179.0 mm
b) 107.3 mm
c) 71.5 mm
d) None of the above

14. Calculate the design irrigation interval.

a) 24 days
b) 18 days
c) 14 days
d) None of the above

Problem: Soil samples were taken at different locations from a 0.4 ha, well-drained farm using the core
samplers (10 cm diameter x 5 cm length) about 48 hours after a major rainfall event. The following
measurements were made before and after oven drying the samples:

Sample No. Mass of wet sample (gm) Mass of dry sample (gm)
1 651.49 549.78
2 644.90 541.93
3 632.47 530.15
4 613.12 510.51
5 647.92 545.85
6 628.83 526.22
7 593.96 490.88
8 602.19 502.66
9 572.56 471.24
10 644.44 542.00

Answer questions 15 – 21.

15. Calculate the average water content of the soil (% volume).

a) 18.5 %
b) 19.6 %
c) 25.9 %
d) None of the above

16. Calculate the average depth (mm) of water present in 50 cm depth of the soil.
a) 131.3 mm

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 b) 130.0 mm
c) 126.7 mm
d) None of the above

17. Calculate the average volume of water present in the soil.

a) 525.0 m3
b) 520.0 m3
c) 507.0 m3
d) None of the above

18. Assuming the soil water conditions at the time of sampling represent the field capacity water content
of the soil and assuming further that the average permanent wilting point water content of the soil on
the farm is 8.73 % by mass, compute the average water content of the soil at irrigation for an
allowable soil water depletion factor and average rooting depth of 0.55 and 1.2 m respectively.
a) 13.6 %
b) 18.5 %
c) 19.6 %
d) None of the above

19. Calculate the average net irrigation requirement (mm) on the farm.
a) 95 mm
b) 130 mm
c) 136 mm
d) None of the above

20. Calculate the gross amount of irrigation required (mm) if irrigation is applied at 70 % efficiency.
a) 95 mm
b) 130 mm
c) 136 mm
d) None of the above

21. The gross irrigation required at an irrigation efficiency of 70 % for a sprinkler system was 110 mm.
Compute the irrigation interval based on peak crop water demand of 7.0 mm/day.
a) 10 days
b) 11 days
c) 16 days
d) None of the above

22. Compute the amount of irrigation water applied at the field level on a 1.5 ha farm if the amount of
water used by the crop amounts to 75 mm at a field water application efficiency of 50 % .
a) 1,125 m3
b) 1,500 m3
c) 2,250 m3
d) None of the above

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23. The field water distribution efficiency on the farm in question 22 was 75%. Compute the quantity of
water delivered to the farm gate.
a) 1,500 m3
b) 2,000 m3
c) 3,000 m3
d) None of the above

24. If the conveyance efficiency in question 22 was 80%, compute the quantity of water supplied from
the source.
a) 3,750 m3
b) 2,500 m3
c) 1,875 m3
d) None of the above

25. The project irrigation efficiency in question 22 was:

a) 30 %
b) 40 %
c) 60 %
d) None of the above

26. The gross irrigation required at an irrigation efficiency of 70 % for a sprinkler system was 100 mm.
Compute the irrigation interval based on peak crop water demand of 7.0 mm/day.
a) 10 days
b) 11 days
c) 12 days
d) None of the above

27. State two disadvantages of the fixed amount, fixed interval method for irrigation scheduling.
a)________________________________________________________________________________

b)________________________________________________________________________________

28. Chemigation is_____________________________________________________________________

Problem: You have been contracted by the Tono irrigation project to do cost analysis for the production
of irrigation rice. The data generated for such an estimate are as follows:

Investment Cost (Gh ¢ / ha) Years of use for depreciation

Land 650 -
Dam/Reservoir 1,050 25
Pump/Engine 220 20
Pipeline & accessories 680 20
Canal system 460 20

Assume taxes = 1%; Interest = 2.5%; Insurance = 2% on original costs.

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Operation
Land preparation Gh ¢200/ha
Seed 80kg/ha @ Gh ¢5/kg
Fertilizer NPK: 10bags/ha @ Gh ¢50/bag
Sulphate Ammonia: 6 bags/ha @ Gh ¢50/bag
Other agrochemicals Herbicide: 8litres/ha @ Gh ¢20/litre
Furadan: 20kg/ha @ Gh ¢5/kg
Cymbush: 2litres/ha @ Gh ¢30/litre
Dithane: 5kg/ha @ Gh ¢15/kg
Irrigation levy Gh ¢130 ha
Labour 250 manhours/ha @ Gh ¢0.60/manhour
Repair and maintenance Dam/Reservoir 1%; Pump/engine 5%;
Pipe line & accessories 1%; Canal 5% of original costs
Polysacks 75nos/ha @ Gh ¢2/unit
Other incidentals Gh ¢35/ha

Answer questions 29 - 31

29. What is the total annual cost of investment per ha?

a) Gh ¢ 278.10
b) Gh ¢ 378.10
c) Gh ¢ 478.10
d) None of the above

30. What is the total annual cost of operation per ha?

a) Gh ¢ 478.10
b) Gh ¢ 2,311.30
c) Gh ¢ 2,589.40
d) None of the above

31. What is the total annual irrigation cost on investment and operation per ha?
a) Gh ¢ 2,078.10
b) Gh ¢ 2,311.30
c) Gh ¢ 2,589.40
d) None of the above

32. Irrigation scheduling involves two main decisions. What are they?
a)_________________________________________________________________________

b)_________________________________________________________________________

33. Name three (3) instruments that are generally used for soil moisture monitoring in irrigation
scheduling
a)
b)
c)

34. A gross irrigation amount applied on a farm at 60 % irrigation efficiency amounted to 100 mm. What
should be the irrigation interval if crop water use was 5 mm/d?
a) 12 days
b) 20 days

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 c) 33 days
d) None of the above

35. Oranges are less tolerant to salinity than maize (True or False?)

36. State two possible methods by which salt-affected lands can be reclaimed.
a)________________________________

b)________________________________

37. Compute the leaching fraction values for the two leaching fraction formulae normally used, given the
following data: ECd = 5.85 mmhos/cm; ECiw = 2.38 mmhos/cm?
a) 2.458, 0.967
b) 1.433, 0.527
c) 0.407, 0.089
d) None of the above

38. What was the equivalent depth of drainage water removed from the soil if 125 mm of net irrigation
water was applied to leach the soil?
a) 50.85 mm
b) 81.05 mm
c) 111.25 mm
d) None of the above

39. Using the Rhoades leaching fraction formula, compute the time required to leach the soil in order to
reduce soil salinity to tolerable levels. The soil basic infiltration rate was 25.4 mm/h.
a) 5.4 h
b) 8.3 h
c) 11.0 h
d) None of the above

SECTION B

40. A field water study for an irrigation farm revealed the following information:

Soil Depth (cm) Field Capacity water Permanent Wilting Point Soil dry bulk
content (% wt.) water content (% wt) density (g/cm3)
0 – 10 18.5 7.1 1.52
10 - 20 22.7 8.3 1.35
20 – 30 25.2 10.2 1.20
30 – 40 20.3 8.0 1.39
40 - 50 19.8 7.9 1.43

Compute the net and gross irrigation water required (mm) if the soil water depletion factor is 0.5. If the
field size is 5 ha and the average field conditions are represented by the data above, what will be the total
irrigation water required (m3) if the field water application efficiency is 90 %? Present your solution in a
TABULAR form ONLY. Use the space on page 8 for your answer.

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