1.

Irrigation
Definition
 Irrigation is defined as a process of supplying water to crops artificially.
 Irrigation is
I. artificial application of water.
II. to the root zone of the crop
III. at right time.
IV. in required quantity.
V. for optimum crop yield
Objective
 Main objective of irrigation system is to help agriculture crop growth land
scape maintenance, reduce the effect of inadequate rain fall, maintaining the
right levels of moisture for the soil, etc

Importance of Irrigation
• Agriculture is often generally hampered due to irregular insufficient rainfall.
Proper irrigation can secure uninterrupted agriculture.
• Seeds cannot grow in dry soil as moisture is necessary for the germination of
seeds. With the help of irrigation supply, the required moisture content of soil for
the growth of seed can be ensured.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages Disadvantages
• Stabilized yield of crops. • Rising of water table
• Protection from famine (food • Formation of marshy land
scarcity). • Dampness in weather
• Improvement of cash crops • Loss of valuable land
• Prosperity of farmers
• Source of revenue
• Hydroelectric power generation
• Water supply
• Development of fishery
Systems of Irrigation
• Gravity irrigation

• Lift irrigation
• Well and tube well irrigation
• Infiltration galleries
• Sewage irrigation
• Supplemental irrigation

Lift Irrigation
Lifting water from the source from lower elevation to higher elevation by using
external energy is lift irrigation.
Advantages:
 Made irrigation possible at higher elevation.
 Land acquisition problem is less.
 Water losses are law.
 Man power is less used.
Disadvantages:
 Need for complex pumping
 Need power equipment, power supply,
 High operating costs.

Gravity Irrigation System

With gravity irrigation system, you can water plants anywhere in the ground or in
containers even if there is no electricity available.
This system work by taking advantage of water’s ability to travel the path of least
resistance.
Doesn’t require any pumps and can use this for watering your garden temporarily
or all seasons long.

Advantage of gravity irrigation system

• No energy wastes
• Simple operation
• Low maintenance cost
• No sudden pressure to change

Disadvantage of gravity irrigation system

• Gravity system is less flexible for future extension.
• Longer pipe lines are necessary.
• Small gradient having friction losses require large diameter pipes within
the whole system.

Three types of Irrigation scheme

 Major irrigation scheme
Major irrigation scheme are those schemes which have a cultivable
command areas of more than 10,000 hectares. eg:- Deduru Oya Reservoir,Yan
Oya Project.
 Medium irrigation scheme
Medium irrigation are those having irrigable command area of more than
2,000 hectares up to 10,000 hectares.
 Minor irrigation scheme
Those with cultivable command areas up to 2000 hectares. e.g., Tube-
wells,boring works, etc.
Hydrological cycle
Hydrological cycle is the water transfer cycle, which occurs continuously in nature.
2. Hydrograph
Hydrograph is a graph presenting the relationship between discharge and
corresponding time.

Factors Affecting Hydrograph Shape Since, the hydrograph is associated to the

runoff yield from the watershed for a given rainfall event; therefore, the factors
responsible to affect the shape of hydrograph are related to the rainfall and
watershed, both in combine form.

Direct Runoff Hydrograph

• The hydrograph resulted from direct runoff is called direct runoff hydrograph
(DRH).
• It is also derived with the help of runoff hydrograph of perennial stream by
deducting the base flow contribution.
• Area of DRH is the volume of direct runoff.
• The hydrograph derived from the runoff data of intermittent and ephemeral
streams are the DRH as there is no contribution of base flow in runoff
observations.

Base flow Separation

• In hydrograph analyses the separation of base flow is required to determine
the contribution of direct runoff out of the total runoff against a given rainfall
event occurred in the watershed, presented by the hydrograph of perennial
streams/rivers.
• In other words, for deriving the unit hydrograph from the annual runoff
hydrograph the separation of base flow is done. The annual runoff hydrograph
includes the base flow and direct runoff, both.
• The base flow is the off-season water flow through the stream or river, which
is mainly due to contribution of ground water.
• The ground water contribution to a river or stream makes it to carry the water
flow throughout the year. Such stream or rivers are called perennial
stream/river. And the generated hydrograph is stretched for the year period.

Unit Hydrograph
It is a typical hydrograph of direct runoff generated from unit depth (1cm) of
effective rainfall falling at a uniform rate over the entire drainage basin and is
uniformly distributed during a specific duration.
𝐸𝑅 = 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝐷𝑅𝐻 / 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑒d
3. Run off
Surface runoff is the unconfined flow of water over the ground surface.

Estimation of run off

 Rational formula
Qp = (1/360)𝐶𝐼𝐴
𝐶 = Run off Coefficient
Q =Peak rate of runoff, m 3/sec;
I =Intensity of rainfall, mm/hour (time of concentration)
A =Area of the catchment, ha

Runoff coefficient
𝐶𝑤 = (𝐶1𝐴1+𝐶2𝐴2+𝐶3𝐴3+⋯𝐶𝑛𝐴𝑛) / 𝐴
 Curve Number method
 Use of remote sensing and GIS

Runoff measuring devices

Direct Discharge Methods : Weirs , Orifices , Flumes
Velocity - Area Methods : Float method , Current meter , Tracer method
4. Rainfall

• A fall or shower of rain the amount of water falling as rain, snow, etc. within a
given time and area.
• Usually expressed as a hypothetical depth of coverage.

Measurement of rain fall

The precipitation is collected and measured in a rain gauge. Rain gauge can be
broadly classified into two categories
• Non recording type rain gauge
They are known as non - recording type, because they do not record the rain,
but only collect the rain.
Symon’s type rain gauge
• Recording type rain gauge
Tipping bucket type
Weighing type
Floating type

Site Selection for Rain Gauge

The rain gauge should be installed on a plain surface.
The distance between rain gauge and nearest objective should be at least twice
the height of the objective
The rain gauges should not be provided side and top of the hill.

Advantages of recording type rain fall over none recording type rain
Gauge
Rain fall is recorded automatically and hence no attender is necessary. By using
automatic rain gauge records the intensity of rain fall, where as in the Case of
non automatic rain fall rain gauges, only rain fall depth is measured. Rain fall is
recorded automatically, that’s why it can be placed even inaccessible points
also. Human errors are avoided.
 Disadvantages
It is costly. Fault may be developed in electric &mechanical mechanism for
recording the readings.

Measurement of Rain fall

1. Arithmatic average method.
Pav = (P1+ P2+ P3…… Pn )/n = ΣP/n
2. Thiessen polygon method.

3. Isohyetal method.

5. mm