1

Farmers training programme on

Efficient Water Management for Sustainable Agriculture

From 22-07-09 to 29-07-09

Edited and Compiled by
Manoj Sharma and Rajan Bhatt,
Krishi Vigyan Kendara, Kapurthala

DIRECTORATE OF EXTENSION EDUCATION

PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

LUDHIANA
141001
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Contents:

Sr. Title Author (s)

No.
1 Judicious Use of Water Resources in Rajan Bhatt and Gagandeep Kaur
Agriculture
2 Judicious use of water in rabi crops Satpal Saini and Pritpal Singh
3 Techniques for the judicious use of water Pritpal Singh and Satpal Saini
in agriculture
4. Irrigation management of field crops Raminder Kaur and Gurjeet Singh
5 Tensiometer- A new water saving Gurjeet Singh and Raminder Singh
technique
6 Strategies for Judicious use of water in B.S. Dhillon
horticultural crops
7 Weather forecasting and it’s applicability Kulwinder kaur gill

8 Water quality for live stock
9 Conservation of water in houses
10 Water consumption in animals
11 Judicious water use checklist for houses
12 Irrigation for fruit production
Manoj Sharma, Aparna gupta and
APS Dhaliwal
Avaneet kaur
Manoj Sharma, APS Dhaliwal and
GS Aulakh
Avneet kaur, Sharanbir kaur
Gagandeep kaur and Rajan Bhatt

13 Judicious use of irrigation water in Parminder singh and Rajan Bhatt

vegetable crops
14 Methods for judicious use of water in Rajan Bhatt and Manoj Sharma
agriculture
15 Water resource management for Rajan Bhatt and Parminder singh
sustainable crop production in India

Judicious Use of Water Resources in Agriculture

Rajan Bhatt and Gagandeep kaur,
Krishi Vigyan Kendra
Kapurthala
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Water resources of a country consist of both the surface water and the ground
water resources. The per capita water availability of India is decreasing due to ever
increasing population Agriculture utilizes nearly 70% and 80% of available water
resources in India and Punjab respectively During the last few decades there has
been a spectacular development in agriculture in India especially in Punjab due to
Green Revolution, which enables Punjab to contribute largely in Nation’s food grain
production. The state has developed its water resources by laying irrigation canals.
The ground water resources are also being utilized indiscriminately.

Water is must for all of us and we must think to use it judiciously. But due
some of the existing and forecasted problems of water use in Punjab, the ground
water is declining at a faster rate and thus is a threat to the coming generations. Here
we are going to discuss that some of the faulty practices and their corrective measures
so that we can use the water judiciously.

Existing and forecasted problems of water use in Punjab.

1 Faulty agricultural practices: The primary reason for extraction of ground

water in the Punjab is for agricultural purposes. The rice–wheat rotation has
dramatically boosted the overall grain harvest in Punjab, but at the cost of
ground water resources. Rice is not our traditional crop. In 1960’s only 6%
of the Punjab area is under rice but now around 60% of the Punjab area
under paddy cultivation.
2. Depleted water table: Ground water comes from underground aquifers, which
are fed from water trickling down through the soil. Agriculture with
irrigation is considered sustainable only if the amount of ground water used
is equal to that being replenished. Usually it is extracted much faster than
it’s natural replenishment rate. The state of the World report, 1998 by the
World Watch Institute in USA estimates that the gap between water use and
sustainable yield of the aquifer is so high that the aquifer under Punjab could
be depleted by year 2025
3. Water Pollution: The quality of ground water has become vulnerable in the
number of areas of Punjab due to intensive use of agricultural chemicals and
fertilizers, increased urbanization and industrialization. Use of heavy doses
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of pesticides and fertilizers also plays an important role in polluting the

water.
4. Salinity: Irrigation with brackish water causes salt to accumulate on the soil,
and the process is called salinization. This problem is faced in South-western
parts of Punjab because the ground water quality is poor. This is also the
reason for less extraction of ground water.
5. Loss from canal A large amount of water is lost due to seepage in unlined
canals and even in lined canals .e. g. in Unlined canals (normal soils with
some clay content) = 15 to 20 ha-m/day/million sq. m. of wetted area
Unlined canals (sandy soils with some silt content) = 25 to 30 ha-
m/day/million sq. m. of wetted area lined canals 20% of above values
6. Water logging: Water logging occurs where the water table rises close to the
surface. Where the drainage has been inadequate, seepage from unlined
canals and the over watering of the fields have raised the underlying water
table in several areas in Punjab. Long term data shows that water tables are
rising in 34% of Punjab, mainly in the south-west. Hence the time has really
come that we should start using our water resources rationally, so that we
can save these vital resources for our next generations.

To make the judicious use of water resources we should follow

the following steps:

1. Canal Water Management: The canal irrigation system was scientifically

planned about five decades back keeping in view the then cropping pattern,
cropping intensity and ground water quality and quantity situations. Since
then a sea change has taken place in the cropping pattern, ground water
development, cropping intensity, etc. The low water consuming crops like
pulses and oilseeds have been replaced with high yielding varieties having
greater demand for irrigation such as paddy and wheat. The number of tube
well has increased manifold. So the operational schedule including water
allowance, capacity factors for irrigation channels found at that time are no
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more relevant. It is therefore quite imperative that the canal water

operational schedule must be revised keeping in view the prevailing
irrigation needs, availability of water resources etc. for making an optimal
utilization of water resources. Canals should be lined.
2. On Farm Water Management: It has been experienced that the over all
efficiency of the irrigation systems on the farmer’s field varies from 30 to
40% which can be increased to 60 to 70 % by adopting efficient water
management strategies.
a) land leveling: Unevenness in the soil surface adversely affects the uniform
distribution of water in the fields. Now a day it is possible to do Precision
land leveling on the fields, which seems to be leveled with naked eyes, with
the help of Laser leveler which gives much better results than the earlier
devices. Benefits of Laser leveling are:
i) More level and smooth surface.
ii) Reduction in time and water required to irrigate the field.
iii) More uniform distribution of water in the field.
iv) More uniform moisture environment of the crops.
v) More uniform germination and growth of crops.
vi) Improved field traffic ability.
b) Irrigation scheduling: Proper scheduling of irrigation to crops is an
important component of water saving technologies. A tensiometer is
developed by the Punjab Agricultural Scientists to schedule the irrigation
in the paddy fields. The tensiometer can be used by the farmer himself.
By using this tensiometer we can save upto 30 % of water.
c) Improving the conveyance efficiency: The water lost in the farms
during conveyance from source to the crops can be reduced by adopting
Under Ground Pipe Line system. Water lost by seepage and evaporation
can be reduced. By installing Under Ground Pipe Line system 3-4% of
land can be saved which can be brought under cultivation.
d) Adoption of improved irrigation practices:
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i) Furrow Irrigated Raised Beds: In this system wheat is planted on the

top of the raised beds that are superficially reshaped for sowing of next
crop. Irrigation is applied through furrows between the beds. The main
advantage of bed planting is saving in water. About 30-40% of water
is saved in this method.
ii) Furrow Irrigation method in wide row crops: Crops like maize, cotton,
Sun-flower, Sugar-cane and vegetables should be grown on ridges and
water should be applied through furrows. In furrow irrigation water
loss can be reduced because the wetted area is reduced. Water lost due
to evaporation from soil surface and due to percolation is reduced to
much extent.
e) Micro Irrigation: The conventional methods of water conveyance and
irrigation, being highly inefficient has led not only to wastage of water
but also to several ecological problems like waterlogging, salinization
and soil degradation. It has been recognized that use of modern
irrigation methods viz. drip and sprinkler irrigation is the only
alternative for efficient use of surface as well as ground water
resources. The water use efficiency in these systems is much higher
than the flood method of irrigation. The scheme on Micro irrigation
which aims at increasing the area under efficient methods of irrigation
viz. drip and sprinkler irrigation has been launched. This is a centrally
sponsored scheme under which out of the total cost of the system 40%
will be borne by the Central Government, 10% will be borne by the
state Govt. and the remaining 50% will be borne by the beneficiary.
The Deptt. of Soil and Water Conservation is implementing this
scheme in the state of Punjab.
f) In situ Retention of rain water : In situ retention of rain water can help a
lot in recharging the ground water . Studies have indicated that raising
peripheral bunds to a height of 18-20 cm around the fields could store
nearly 90% of total rainwater in-situ for improved rice production and
reduce the need of irrigation water.
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g) Mulching: Application of straw mulch improves the water use

efficiency. It reduces the evaporation losses from the soil surface.
Mulching keeps the weed down and improves the soil structure and
eventually increases the crop yield. A novel promising approach
recently developed and tested by the Australian and Indian
collaborator is the “ Happy Seeder” which combines the stubble
mulching and seed drilling functions into the one machine. The stubble
is cut and picked up in the front of the sowing tynes (which therefore
engage bare soil) and deposited behind the seed drill as a mulch.
3. Timely Transplanting: It is one of the effective strategies to arrest the falling
water table in the state. The evapo-transpiration losses can be reduced by 25-
30% by delaying of transplanting of paddy beyond 10th of June.
4. Tensiometer: Tensiometer can save up-to 25-30% of the irrigation water
without dectreasing the crop yield.
5. Suitable Varieties: Timely or late sown short duration varieties of crops
should be encouraged over early and long duration varieties to reduce evapo-
transpiration losses.
6. Conjuctive use of water: At present 30% of total canal water available at the
outlet is utilized in the central Punjab comprising about 49%of the total
geographical area of the state. As a result there is excessive withdrawal of
ground water to meet the irrigation demand of the crops. Increased use of
canal water in conjunction with groundwater in this region will help in
arresting the declining trend of water table. On the other hand in the south-
western districts the use of canal water is more because the ground water is
not good. But the use of this ground water in conjunction with canal water in
appropriate proportions helps in checking the rising water table.
6. Renovation of village ponds for irrigation: The village ponds, which once
used to be very useful institutions, have now become a nuisance since they
have become a source of environmental pollution especially during rainy
seasons
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7. Crop diversification: In central Punjab, large scale adoption of rice-wheat

system has been a major factor in over exploitation of ground water.
Therefore, efforts should be made to divert area under paddy to alternate less
water requiring crops.
8. Artificial recharge of Under Ground water: It is a promising strategy to
arrest the declining water table. Various techniques being adopted to recharge
the ground water in Punjab are:
a) Roof Top Water Harvesting: The roof top rain water can be diverted to the
existing open/bore well or the rain water from the roofs and the rain water
available in the open spaces around the building may be recharged into the
ground through the percolation pits, recharge trench or recharge wells
depending on the conditions.
b) Recharge from Village Ponds: Almost all villages of Punjab have ponds,
which have remained neglected over the last many years. So the seepage and
recharge in these ponds over the period have been reduced. If these ponds are
renovated i.e. de-silted, these could be effectively utilized for recharge
purposes.
Apart from these ground water can be recharged through drains and by
increasing the dike heights in paddy field.
9. Policy Issues:
a ) There is need to enact proper ground water legislation to prevent
indiscriminate exploitation of ground water resource.
b) Water being the state subject, the State Water Authority should be set up with
an aim to regulate and control ground water development. Alarmed at the
dangerously worsening ground water situation in many blocks of Sangrur and
Moga districts, the Central Ground Water Board has issued a notification
seeking a ban on hand pumps, tube wells and other ’energized sources of
water abstraction’ in these blocks.
c) The use of flat rates for electricity combined with unreliable supplies
adversely affects the use of ground water. So, there is need to revamp
agricultural power supply and pricing structure.
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10. Organizing farmer awareness camps: Farmer is the ultimate use of water
So he should be made aware of the griming situation of water resources and
the techniques of water conservation should be explained and demonstrated to
him by organizing awareness camps
The faulty cropping pattern along with faulty agricultural practices has
created serious condition regarding the water table depth below the ground
surface. The demand of water is increasing due to increasing population,
while the water resources are being exploited mercilessly without thinking for
the future. Now the time has come when the scientists, researchers, extension
workers and farmers should join hand to save this precious resource.

Judicious Use of Irrigation Water In Rabi Crops

SAT PAL SAINI1 AND PRITPAL-SINGH2

1
Associate Director (T), 2 Assistant Professor (Soils)
Krishi Vigyan Kendra (PAU), Haveli Kalan, Ropar-141 001, Punjab
1
gahuniasp@yahoo.co.in, 2jasppsingh@yahoo.co.in,
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Water is the most precious resource on earth. It is even hard to prognosticate

the existence of life on this planet without water. Its irrational and indiscriminate use
for food production has led to water paucity situation not in our country but all over
the world. The situation of Punjab state is even more serious because of rapid decline
in the depth of the ground water table. Technology has been generated by Punjab
Agricultural University, Ludhiana, by the use of which this precious resource could
be utilized efficiently. The technologies for judicious irrigation water use in
important Rabi crops grown of Punjab are summarized below.

Wheat
Wheat crop should be sown after a heavy pre-sowing irrigation (10 cm) except
when it follows rice. In case wheat sowing is likely to be delayed because of the late
harvesting of rice, the pre-sowing irrigation for wheat can be given to standing rice
crop, 5-10 days (depending up on the type of soil) before its harvest, except where
crop is to be harvested with combine. This practice advances the sowing of wheat by
about a week. For efficient irrigation water use in wheat crop, a plot size of one kanal
(500 m2) should be preferred in heavy textured soils. For making plots of one kanal,
farmers are advised to ensure 8 plots per acre. However, in light textured soils,
farmers are advised to make 16 plots per care.
The first irrigation to the crop should be relatively light and given after three
weeks to October sown crop and after four weeks to the crop sown later. The
subsequent irrigations to wheat crop depend upon the date of sowing. The following
time-table should be observed for wheat sown on sandy loam or heavier soils on
different dates.

Table: Time–table for irrigations to wheat sown on different dates

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Dates of sowing Second Third Fourth

irrigation irrigation irrigation
(7.5 cm) (7.5 cm) (7.5 cm)
Weeks after the first irrigation
Up to 21st November 5-6 5-6 4
nd th
22 November to 20 5-6 3-4 2
December
21st December to 15th 4 3 2
January

The intervals indicated in table can be varied either side by 2 or 3 days. For
the timely sown wheat crop, if irrigation date falls around 15 th march, no further
irrigation is required in medium and heavy textured soils. However, in light textured
soils irrigation may be given. In case unusual conditions arise due to sudden rise in
temperature at grain filling/formation stage, irrigate the crop immediately. For the
crop sown after December 5, continue irrigation up to 10th April.
In medium to heavy-textured soils, the practice wheat sowing on raised beds
helps in saving irrigation water. On equal area basis, depth of irrigation in bed planted
wheat is 5.0 cm as compared to 7.5 cm under conventional (flat) sown wheat.
Winter Maize
Winter maize requires as much as same irrigation water as that of wheat crop
till mid-march, but thereafter, it requires 2-3 additional irrigations. First irrigation to
the crop must be applied immediately after crop germination. Depending up on soil
type, rainfall and temperature subsequent irrigations to winter maize should be
applied at 4-5 week intervals up to mid-march and thereafter at 1-2 week interval. It is
desirable to apply light irrigations, as flooded crop has been observed to suffer from
cold damage. Care should be taken to avoid water stress during flowering and grain
development stage.
Gram
In irrigated areas, crop sown after heavy pre-sowing irrigation ensures deep
rooting for proper utilization of soil moisture. Depending up on the date of sowing
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and rainfall, one more irrigation between mid-December and end-January should be
applied. This irrigation reduces the incidence of wilt disease. In no case, this
irrigation should be given earlier than 4 weeks after sowing. In case early rains are
received, delay the irrigation. Excess of irrigation enhances vegetative growth, and
depresses grain yield. Do not irrigate the crop if it is sown after rice particularly on
heavy textured soils. Irrigation can applied to gram sown after rice on raised beds,
under water stress conditions especially at pod initiation stage.
Field Pea
The crop should be sown after pre-sowing irrigation. However, it can be sown
without irrigation after paddy, if sufficient moisture is available. It requires two more
irrigations, first during pre-flowering around end of December and second at pod
formation stage. In certain areas the crop may need only one irrigation, depending up
on the timing of the rainfall during crop season. The crop can be grown rainfed in
sub-mountainous areas.

Rapeseed and Mustard

Raya and Gobhi sarson should be sown after heavy irrigation of 10-12 cm. To
promote deep rooting for efficient fertilizer use, these crops should be irrigated 3-4
weeks after sowing. In raya, a second irrigation if necessary may be given at
flowering stage. Apply second irrigation to gobhi sarson at the end of December to
the beginning of January. The third and last irrigation to gobhi sarson may be applied
during second fortnight of February.
Toria should be sown after heavy pre-sowing irrigation. If needs arises one
more irrigation can be applied to toria at the time of flower initiation.

Sunflower
Depending upon the soil type, rainfall and prevalent weather, sunflower
generally requires 6-9 irrigations. In case of flat sowing, first irrigation to the crop
should be applied one month after the sowing. Thereafter, irrigations to sunflower
should be applied at an interval of 2 weeks during March. During the hot summer
months of April-May, crop should be irrigated at an interval of 8-10 days. About 12-
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14 days before the crop harvesting, irrigations should be stopped to sunflower. The
crop stages such as 50% flowering, soft and hard dough stages are very critical for
irrigation. The irrigation missed at soft dough stage, 50% flowering as well as hard
dough stages reduces the seed yield by 25 and 21%, respectively. Avoid moisture
stress to the crop at these critical stages.

Summer Moong
Depending up on the climatic conditions and water holding capacity of the
soil, summer moong requires 3-5 irrigations. The last irrigation to the crop should be
stopped about 55 days after sowing for obtaining high yields and synchronous
maturity.
Summer Mash
Summer mash requires 3-4 irrigations. The last irrigation to the crop should be
stopped about 60 days after sowing for high yields and synchronous maturity.

The farmers are advised to ensure the above recommended irrigation schedule
for optimum yield and judicious use of irrigation water.

**********

Technologies For Efficient Water Management In Crops

Pritpal-Singh1 And Sat Pal Saini2
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1
Assistant Professor (Soils), 2 Associate Director (T),
Krishi Vigyan Kendra (PAU), Haveli Kalan, Ropar-141 001, Punjab
2
gahuniasp@yahoo.co.in, 1jasppsingh@yahoo.co.in,

Water is a vital to all living creature, as it makes up 50-97% of plant

and animal, and about 70% of average human body weight, but regrettably it is the
most poorly managed resource in the World. Ground water resources in most
productive areas of World are shrinking at an alarming rate and may not meet the
ever increasing demands from agriculture in future. Estimates reveled that agriculture
sector consumes maximum of the ground water and ~80 per cent of actual water
resources are utilized in agriculture for irrigation purpose. Punjab agriculture is also
facing the problems of water paucity. The over-exploitation of ground water over the
years has led to rapid fall of ground water table in the state. In order to maintain
sustainable productivity, it has become necessary to make efficient use of irrigation
water. Many technologies for efficient irrigation water management have been
generated by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana that ensures more economical
use of irrigation water. Some of the important technologies for enhanced irrigation
water use efficiency in crops are described below.
Laser Land Leveling
Laser leveling is a laser guided precision leveling technique used for
achieving very fine leveling with desired grade on the agricultural field. Laser
leveling maintains the grade by automatically performing the cutting and filling
operations. Both level grade and slope grade can be achieved with the help of this
precision equipment. Laser land leveler, levels the field uniformly and precisely. The
technology ensures uniform water distribution in the field and facilitates light
irrigation to the crops, if needed. The technology helps in saving of irrigation water
by 20-30 per cent and ensures better crop stand due to even application of fertilizers
and other inputs and hence results in the improvements in crop yield by 5-10 per cent.
Puddling in Rice Fields
Most of the irrigation water in rice fields goes waste because of its fast
percolation into the fields, particularly those with light textures soils. For coarse and
medium textured soils two puddling operations followed by planking are adequate,
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whereas in fine textured soils, one puddling operation followed by planking is

sufficient. Puddling of the soil results in decreased percolation losses and helps
ponding water in the fields for longer periods.
Timely Transplanting of Rice
The evapo-transpiration losses of water in rice fields depend on the
temperature and relative humidity in the atmosphere. Since the months of May and
June experience hot and dry climatic conditions, the evapo-transpiration losses are
expected to be the highest. Therefore, the rice transplanted during the month of May
or first fortnight of June, may consume higher volume of irrigation water due to
increased evapo-transpiration losses. The Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
recommends that rice should be transplanted in the second fortnight of June. Rice
variety PAU-201, can be transplanted even up to 5th of July.
Intermittent Irrigation in Rice
Punjab Agricultural University recommends that the standing water in rice
may be maintained only for the first 15 days after transplanting. Thereafter, the
irrigation water may be applied 2 days after the complete disappearance of ponded
water from the fields. The depth of standing water should not exceed 10 cm. This
practice not only reduces the amount of irrigation water used, but also curtails the
expenses incurred on electricity and diesel.
Tensiometer Based Irrigation in Rice
This technique of scheduling irrigation to rice is based on soil metric tension.
The water in the ceramic cup of the Tensiometer equilibrates with that in the
surrounding soil. With the result, water level in the inner tube of the Tensiometer falls
or rises with decrease or increase in soil water content. The irrigation to rice is
recommended when the water level in the inner tube crosses the green zone and just
entered the yellow zone. This technology works in all soil textural classes for
scheduling irrigation to rice. This technology helps to save irrigation water to the
extent of 25-30 per cent more than that consumed with intermittenent irrigation at an
interval of 2 days.
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Use of Straw Mulch

According to recent estimates approximately 220 lakh tons of Paddy straw is
produced in the state per annum of which nearly 80 per cent is burnt in the fields.
Burning of straw causes environmental pollution, besides loss of many essential plant
nutrients entrapped in straw. Research revealed that the application of straw as mulch
during early growth period of various crops like maize, sugarcane, soghum etc. could
save much irrigation water. Use of straw as surface mulch also modifies hydrothermal
regime of soil and suppresses weed growth, leading to better plant growth and crop
yield as a consequence of higher water use efficiency. Furthermore, the
decomposition of added straw enriches the soils with organic matter and plant
essential nutrients.
Bed Planting
To overcome the problem of aeration in wheat due to excessive irrigation of
heavy rains in less permeable fine textured soils and to improve the efficiency of
applied water, it has been recommended to grow wheat on raised beds. The practice
of bed planting in timely sown wheat under medium to heavy textured soils, having
good soil moisture has shown a great promise to realize this objective with
comparable to better (3-4%) wheat yield and facilitating efficient use of water. On an
equal area basis, depth of irrigation required in bed planted wheat is 5.0 cm as
compared to 7.5 cm under conventional (flat) sown wheat. In heavy textured soils.
Bed transplanting of paddy has also been recommended. Bed transplanting of
paddy helps in saving of 25 per cent of irrigation water without any loss of crop yield.
Raised bed planting is also convenient for crops like sunflower, chilli, potato and
chickpea etc. for economic use of irrigation water.
Furrow Irrigation
Furrow or alternate irrigation method in wide spaced crops like cotton, maize,
sunflower potato etc. is more economical than the conventional flood irrigation
method. This technology helps in saving of 25-40 per cent of irrigation water over flat
irrigation, without any loss of crop yield. The technique is very beneficial in fine
textured soils where water stagnation in the root zone causes aeration stress.
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Irrigation Management Of Field Crops

Raminder Kaur Hundal and Gurjit Singh Matharu
KVK, Amritsar

Water is a finite resource, is indispensable for human, animal and plant life. In
India agriculture is the single largest use of water that accounts for as much as 85 %
of the total amount withdrawals. At present about 70-80 % of the value of agricultural
production in our country may depend on groundwater irrigation. Rainfall is the
cheapest source of natural water-supply for crop plants. In India, however, rainfall is
notoriously capricious, causing floods and droughts alternately. Its frequency
distribution and amount are not in accordance with the needs of the crops. Artificial
water-supply through irrigation on one occasion, and removal of excess water through
drainage on another occasion, therefore, become imperative, if the crops are to be
raised successfully. Irrigated agriculture yields two or three times as much as rainfed
lands. As population grows, water needs for agriculture will further increases. Easy
and cheap availability of water to the agricultural sector lead to encourage high its
excessive use leading its wastage. India has adopted National water policy in the year
1987. The policy laid down that in Planning and operating system, water allocation
should be in the following order (1) Drinking water (2) irrigation (3) hydro power (4)
navigation and (5)industrial and other uses. These priorities might be modified if
necessity in particular region with reference to area specific consideration. The policy
stipulated that adequate drinking water facility should be provided to the entire
population both in urban and rural areas. In April, 2002, the Govt of India has
announced new water policy. In this policy water allocation priority has been
redefined drinking water irrigation, hydro power, ecology, agro industry and non
agricultural industry, navigation and other uses. The biggest challenge in irrigation
management is to improve the efficiency and productivity of water use in existing
systems. Common challenges in irrigation systems are inefficient operations and
maintenance, inadequate service delivery that is supply rather than demand-driven,
low water productivity, poor cost recovery, degradation of soil and water through
 18

water logging and salinity, and lost opportunities for sustainable conjunctive surface
and groundwater use. Actions will be needed to modernize existing schemes to
promote efficiency in farmers’ use of water; make small- and medium-scale irrigation
more profitable; and ensure more sustainable development of groundwater irrigation.

SOURCES OF WATER
The main source of water is rain, snow and recharge water in the soil. More
than half the world’s people rely on water originating in mountains for drinking,
growing food, producing electricity and sustaining industries.
SNOW: About 77.2 percent of the fresh water is in the solid form (snow, ice and
permafrost). On melting, it gives pure water. This high reaches water gushes out in
the mountains and is used for power generation at many places when flows through
big tributaries in the catchments area. Its quantity increases as it is coupled or
supplemented with rains.
RAIN WATER: It is the cheapest source but user has no control over it. Rainfall in
excess of storage capacity of the soil and utilization by the crop and evaporation to
the atmosphere is lost as run-off or deep percolation beyond the root zone. While
utilizable rainfall is denoted with effective rainfall, which depends on the intensity of
rainfall, the mean monthly rainfall the mean monthly consumptive use, the water
storage capacity of the soil in the root zone depths, the soil infiltration rate and the
type of crop. Generally 70 percent of the mean seasonal rainfall is taken as effective
rainfall. The surface water flowing from a catchment area is directly diverted into
canal or stored in a reservoir.
GROUND WATER: Part of the rain water percolates into the ground and this is
known as ground water, which is the expensive resource. The user has full control
over its usage if availability is in adequate quantity. As a source to supplement
rainfall and surface water (canal water), it provides flexibility in irrigation
management.
HARVESTING OF WATER: Average rainfall in India is 1170 mm but it is not
fully exploited and as it is confined to a few months only and is very unevenly
distributed. There are wet and dry season. During the wet season, irrigation is
 19

required for ensuring a supplementation of water and during dry season, top provide
irrigation. It is, therefore, necessary to store rainfall and used it when required and is
called water shed management approach. The whole area is divided into two parts,
one catchment area which contribute water and other area which receive water is
command area. In- situ rainwater harvesting can pay a very high dividend as water
save for applying one or two live saving irrigation can enhance crop yield and
magnitude of increase varied from 25 to more than 100 percent.
SOIL WATER SYSTEM

Available water for crop plants. Soil is a heterogeneous mass and consists of three
phases, viz. The solid phase, the liquid phase and the gaseous phase. Mineral matter,
consisting of sand, silt and clay and organic matter, forms the solid phase which
serves as a framework (matrix) with numerous pores of irregular shapes and different
sizes holding air and water in various proportions. Soil is a porous medium, and
serves as a water reservoir or bank. Water is deposited in this bank as rain or
irrigation, and plants withdraw it during their growth. Water is retained by a soil
particle in the form of a thin film around it, and in the numerous small pores of the
soil matrix with forces, such as surface tension capillarity, cohesion and adhesion.
The salts present in soil water further add to these forces by way of osmotic pressure.
Plants, therefore, need to exert at least an equal amount of force for extracting water
from the soil mass for their growth. Immediately after rain or irrigation, water
infiltrates into the soil and continues to move in the soil mass to deeper layers
because of the gravitational force. The downward movement of water practically
ceases after a certain time (normally after 48 to 72 hours). The water retained in the
soil under this situation is termed 'field capacity' which forms the upper limit of the
available soil moisture for crop plant. In other words, any further addition of water
will not be retained by the soil, but will be lost through deep percolation beyond the
roots of a crop, thus making it unavailable for the growth of its plants. After the
wetting of the soil, as evaporation and transpiration continue, the soil water goes on
diminishing till a point is reached when plants are unable to extract it. The moisture
content at this stage is termed 'permanent wilting-point' and this sets the lower limit
 20

of the availability of soil water. In other words, any moisture below this point will not
support plant growth. The range of soil water between the field capacity and the
permanent wilting-point is termed 'available soil water for crop growth'. The values of
the available water-holding capacity of different major soil groups are shown in Table
1. The available soil water-holding capacity increases mainly with the fineness of
texture and the content of organic matter.

Table 1. Available water-holding capacity of different soil types

Available water (mm) per
Soil Field Permanent wilting-Bulk densitymetre depth of soil profile
texture capacity (FC) point% (PWP) g/cc (BD) d=FC-PWP/100 x BD x soil
depth
Sandy 5 to 10 2 to 6 1.5 to 1.8 50 to 100
Sandy
10 to 18 4 to 10 1.4 to 1.6 90 to 160
loam
Loam 18 to 25 8 to 14 1.3 to 1.5 140 to 220
Clay
24 to 32 11 to 16 1.3 to 1.4 170 to 250
loam
Clay 32 to 40 15 to 22 1.2 to 1.4 200 to 280

BASIC PRINCIPLES IN IRRIGATION

The term water requirement includes the amount of water for meeting the needs of
evaporation, transpiration and metabolic activities (all together known as
consumptive use), losses during the application of irrigation water and water needed
for special operations, such as land preparation, transplanting, the leaching of excess
water, etc.

Water Consumptive Application Special

= + +
requirement use of water losses needs
 21

The consumptive use depends upon the factors of weather, the type of crop
canopy, the soil moisture status and the stage of the crop. The application losses,
depends upon the type of the irrigation system, the soil texture and structure, and
management practices. Special needs, depends upon such factors as the soil
moisture status of the soil as well as water, and the nature of the crop species
grown.

The efficiency of field irrigation can be determined by measuring the quantity of

irrigation water applied and stored in the root-zone. If it is not possible to measure
the efficiency, the following broad values are suggested as a guide for surface-
irrigation methods.

Irrigation efficiency
Soil class
(%)
Sandy 60
Sandy loam 65
SandyLoam 70
Clay loam 75
Heavy clay 80

WHEN TO IRRIGATE
A crop should be irrigated before it receives a setback in its growth and
development. There are several devices and methods, such as the use of blocks of
Plaster of Paris, tensiometers, neutron moisture meter, soil-sampling, etc. for
scheduling irrigation. But these devices and methods are either laborious and
costly and are suitable only for experiments. Besides this irrigation may be given
on the different growth stages of the crop which can be calculated in terms of
days after the date of sowing.
Severe water stress at any developmental stage of crops will usually
result in some growth and yield reduction. However, certain stages of growth are
sensitive to even slight water stresses. Knowledge of these
CROP MOISTURE SENSITIVE PERIODS
Maize tasseling, silking and early grain formation
 22

Rice panicle initiation, heading and flowering

Groundnut rapid flowering peg penetration and early pod
development
Soybean flowering and seed formation
Cotton flowering and boll formation
Sugarcane formative phase particularly during tillering
Sunflower flower-bud initiation, head initiation, flowering and milky
stage
Toria flowering
Wheat crown root initiation ,tillering and heading
Barley late tillering, heading
Rapeseed flowering
and Mustard
Potato tuber initiation to tuber maturity

particularly sensitive growth stages during these growth periods can be helpful
when deciding whether to irrigate or delay for a few days in anticipation of
rainfall.

Water deficits may also affect crop management and production other than the direct
effect on plant growth. The efficacy of many herbicides and other pesticides depends
on soil moisture. Plants under moisture stress may not respond to foliar applied
chemicals, or in some cases, may be damaged by chemical burns. Nutrient utilization
and fertilization practices are influenced by the moisture status of the crop plants.
Application of pesticides must be scheduled according to irrigation applications or to
moisture stress in the crop.

HOW MUCH TO IRRIGATE

Measurement of irrigation water. The application of precise quantities of

irrigation water not only ensures a high efficiency of water use by the crops, but also
reduces nutrient losses through leaching and results in better aeration of the soil.
Irrigation water is measured under two conditions, viz. at rest and in motion. The
units commonly used for expressing the volume of water at rest are litres, cubic
metres, hectare metres, etc. The rate of flow is expressed in terms of units of volume
 23

per unit of time, e.g. litres per second, cubic metres per minute, hectare metres per
day, etc. Commonly equipments used for measuring irrigation water on a farm are
orifices, weirs and flumes of various

Depth of irrigation. The quantity of water needed for net irrigation different soil
types per metre depth of soil profile at 50 per cent of soil-moisture availability is as
follows :

Soil type Irrigation depth (mm)

Sandy 25 to 50

Sandy loam 45 to 80

Sandy loam 70 to 110

Clay loam 80 to 120

Heavy clay 100 to 140

SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF IRRIGATION

The design, the equipment and the technique of replenishing the soil-water deficit by
applying irrigation water is referred to as "irrigation system". The system adopted for
irrigation must ensure a uniform distribution of water in the root-zone of a crop and
high efficiency of water application i.e. the ratio of water stored in the root-zone to
that delivered to the field, should be the maximum. There should be the minimum or
no wastage of waste either through surface run-off or through deep percolation below
 24

the root-zone of a crop. The method used should be inexpensive and economically
justifiable.

Several systems of irrigation are in vogue to suit different types of crops, topography,
soil types, water resources, climatic conditions and costs. These systems are: surface-
irrigation system, sprinkler irrigation system, subsoil-irrigation system, and drip-
irrigation system.

SURFACE IRRIGATION METHODS

The most common surface irrigation methods are flooding, checkbasin, basin, border
strip and furrow methods
Flooding
Flood method of irrigation is exclusive for lowland rice though it is used for some
other crops also. Water is allowed from the channel into the entire field. Since
standing water is present at least to a small depth, spreading of water is easy. Labor
requirement for irrigation is minimum in this method
Border strip irrigation
This is the most common method of irrigation in Indo-Gangetic plains where
irrigation water supply system is highly assured and spread on an extensive area. In
this system strips are in rectangular in shape and length and breadth is directly linked
with discharge available. The number of border strips per acre length (60 meters) of
graded borders in non rice-wheat systems and rice-wheat system have been worked
out for different soil types, field slope and stream size( discharge capacities). The
light soil with 0.1 per cent slope and field length of an acre (60 m approx.), the
number of border strips per acre width (60m) is 19-20 for 7.5 litre sec -1discharge.
Likewise, in medium and heavy textured soils the size of the border strips are
declined which can be known from the irrigation experts by explaining the situation.
Studies conducted at farmer’s fields show that the field irrigation application
efficiency under border strip system is quite low (about 30-40 per cent) against
attainable efficiency of 60-70 per cent)
 25

FURROW IRRIGATION
It is generally used to irrigate row crops and vegetables and is suited
to soils in which the infiltration rates are between 0.5 and 2.5cmh-1. This method not
only helps in protecting the crops from excess water damage during the rainy season
but also saves 30 to 40 per cent of irrigation water. Many of the field crops in which
water is applied through border strip can be easily adapted for furrow irrigation.
Almost 30 per cent saving in irrigation water can be accrued without sacrificing any
yield loss. In areas, where water is scarce, the practice of alternate or skip furrow
irrigation can save considerable quantity of water. In areas requiring surface drainage,
furrows are more effective. This technique has proved highly useful for vegetable
cultivation particularly cucurbits, tomato, Brinjal, potato, radish, sugar beet etc. It
creates most congenial atmosphere for the growth and development of root crops
because soil remains loose and moist. Even the growing of crops on beds and
application of water in furrow has proved highly useful for in-put use efficiency in
wheat.
SURGE FLOW IRRIGATION
Excessive water intake and deep percolation losses are major
limitation for irrigation applications through border strip and furrow methods. Surge
flow irrigation , the intermittent application of water is a series of on and off modes of
constant or variable time spans has the potential of reducing intake and percolation
losses, increasing the irrigation efficiencies and conserving irrigation water. This
method results in faster water front advance and reduces the volume of water required
to complete the advance phase. It proved to be more appropriate than the continuous
flow, for uniform efficient light irrigation.
CHECK BASIN
This method is commonly used in orchards where main focus is
given to supply moisture to the rhizosphere of each plant and the entire field is not
irrigated. Different lay-outs are available to apply irrigation through check basin and
irrigation for each tree is ensured individually. The minimum area put under the
channels and only rhizosphere gets the water enabling high water use efficiency.
 26

SPRINKLER SYSTEM
Water is applied over the soil/cropped area in the form of spay
resembling rainfall. In this system, water is applied at the rates less than infiltration
rate of the soil. This helps in total elimination of runoff losses. The depth of irrigation
can be precisely controlled and this eliminates the deep percolation losses, so
common in border system. In sprinkler system, the water is supplied through pipes
consisting of the main, sub main, and laterals. This system not enables to save land
under channels and bunds but also eliminate losses in conveyance through leakage.
The irrigation efficiency of sprinkle system varies from 70-80 per cent . This system
is highly suitable for undulated topography , porous sandy soil, clayey or shallow
soils where application through border strip or furrow is difficult. This system when
integrated with furrow irrigation proves useful for raising high value crops on ridges.
The hybrid seeds which are costly enough and when sown on beds and sprinkler sets
are run in the morning or evening for keeping the seed zone moist and loose result in
cent per cent germination. It should be continued till the crop attain the height of one
feet and later on irrigation may be applied in furrow to maintain the waster
availability for the plants. Irrigation through this system should be given either in the
morning or in evening to avoid losses due to high wind velocity( more than 16 kmhr -1.
The cost of sprinkler system depends upon the total area to be irrigated frequency and
depth of irrigation , nature of crop, shape of the field boundaries, source of water and
location, topography, soil and climatic factors. Depending upon the above said
feature, the cost estimates for this system is varies from 20000 to rs. 25000 per
hectare(exclusive pumping unit)
DRIP IRRIGATION

Drip-irrigation, also termed 'trickle irrigation', involves the slow application of

water, drop by drop, as the name signifies, to the root-zone of a crop. The method was
initiated in Israel and is now being tried in other countries. In this method, water is
used very economically, since losses due to deep percolation and surface evaporation
are reduced to the minimum. This method is, therefore, very much suited to arid
regions and is being followed for irrigating orchard crops at present. The successful
 27

growing of orchards even on saline soils has been made possible by the drip system
irrigation. The system can also be used for applying fertilizers in solution.

The equipment consists of a pumping-unit to create a pressure of about 2.5 kg per

square cm, pipe-lines which may be of PVC tubing with drip type of nozzles or
emitters, and a filter unit to remove the suspended impurities in the water. The
amount of water dripping from the nozzles can be regulated, as desired, by varying
the pressure at the nozzles, and the size of the orifice of the nozzles. Work is in
progress in India to design, and adapt drip irrigation to conditions in this country. The
initial high cost of the equipment and its maintenance are the major limitations of this
system. it may, however, work out to be cheaper than the sprinkler system, especially
for orchards and other widely spaced crops.

So the this precious water should be used judiciously by following the

proper irrigation schedule and irrigation methods for ensuring the food security.

References:

1. Gill MS, Brar SPS (2006). Water management in field crops. Advances in
Agricutural technology, PAMETI. Pp-32-40
2. Reddy Y.T. and Reddi GH Sankara(1992).Irrigation . Principles of
Agronomy. Pp.241-299.
3. www.krishiworld.com/htm/water-crop-production

Tensiometer-A New Water Saving Technique

*Gurjit Singh Matharu and **Raminder Kaur Hundal
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Amritsar
 28

Of all the planet’s renewable resources water has a unique place.

It is essential for sustaining all forms of life, food production,
economic development and for general well being. Although water is a
renewable source its availability in appropriate quality and quantity is under severe
stress due to increasing demand from various sectors. Water resources consists
of both surface water and ground water resources. The main source of
all the water resources is the precipitation in the form of snow and
rainfall. The surface water available in the form of canal water is
tapped by constructing dam and reservoirs across the river at suitable
locations. The surface and ground water resources of the country plays
a major role in agriculture, hydropower generation, livestock
production, industrial activities, forestry, fisheries, navigation,
recreational activities, etc. Agriculture sector is the largest user of water which
consumes more than 80 per cent of the country’s exploitable water resources. The
over all development of agricultural sector and the intended growth rate is largely
dependent on judicious use of available water resources. Punjab is one of the
states where the ground water development is maximum. Punjab is one
of the smallest states of India with total Geographical area of 5.036
million hectare. During the last few decades there has been a
spectacular development in agriculture in Punjab. Nearly 80% of the
water resources of Punjab are used by agriculture sector.

It is quite evident from the figures :

· Cropped area = 86%
· Area under forests = 6%
· Other = 8%
· Cropping Intensity = 189 %
· Irrigated area = 97% of cropped
area
· Area irrigated by canals = 27%
· Area irrigated by tube wells = 72%
 29

Table 1 Punjab’s Share in World and India

S. Particulars World’s ( % ) India ( % )
No.
1 Punjab’s Land area 0.33 1.6
2 Punjab’s Rice contribution 1 42
3 Punjab’s wheat contribution 2 55

Scenario of irrigation resources in Punjab

Green Revolution has changed the overall scenario of
Agriculture in Punjab. As a result of all this the state‘s contribution in
rice and wheat production both nationally and internationally is
remarkable as shown in the table 1.With the advent of Green
Revolution the state has developed its water resources effectively and a
mesh of irrigation canals has been laid all over. The number of tube
wells has increased to 11.68 lakhs in 2004-2005 from 1.28 lakhs in
1970-71.
Almost 100 % of irrigated area in central districts is irrigated by
groundwater. This has led to overexploitation of ground water resulting in decline
of water table in the fresh water zone of the state. Out of the total 138 blocks in the
state, 84 blocks were categorized as dark (withdrawal more than 85%), 16 as gray
(withdrawal 65-85 %), and 38 as white blocks (withdrawal less than 65 %). Whole of
the central Punjab blocks are in dark zone. During 1997-2003 and 2005-06 the
average fall in water table in central Punjab was 0.53 and 0.74 cm/year respectively.
Due to decline in water table, water is to be pumped from lower depths that
have greater energy requirements. The decline in water table increased the energy
requirement by 20 % in 2005 compared to that in 2001 and it is estimated to undergo
an extra increase of 20% by 2023. Due to declining water table centrifugal pumps
need to be replaced by submersible pumps to lift water from deep soil layers which
can cause an extra expenditure of Rs. 5000 crores to Punjab farmers and can cause
indebtedness.
 30

To make the judicious use of water resources we should follow the

following steps:

1. On Farm Water Management: It has been experienced that the

over all efficiency of the irrigation systems on the farmer’s field varies
from 30 to 40% which can be increased to 60 to 70 % by adopting
efficient water management strategies.
a) Precision land leveling: Benefits of Laser leveling are
i) More level and smooth surface.
ii) Reduction in time and water required to irrigate the field.
iii) More uniform distribution of water in the field.
iv) More uniform moisture environment of the crops.
v) More uniform germination and growth of crops.
vi) Improved field traffic ability.
b) Irrigation scheduling: Irrigation scheduling of crops is an important
component of water saving technologies.
c) Improving the conveyance efficiency: By installing Under
Ground Pipe Line system 3-4% of land can be saved which can
be brought under cultivation.
d) Improved irrigation methods
i) Furrow Irrigated Raised Beds: Irrigation is applied
through furrows between the beds. About 30-40% of water
is saved in this method.
ii)Furrow Irrigation method in wide row crops: Crops like
maize, cotton, Sun-flower, Sugar-cane and vegetables
should be grown on ridges and water should be applied
through furrows.
e) Micro Irrigation: Drip and sprinkler irrigation systems can
be used to save water.
f) Mulching: Application of straw mulch improves the water
use efficiency. It reduces the evaporation losses from the soil surface.
 31

Mulching keeps the weeds down and improves the soil structure and
eventually increases the crop yield.

2. Timely Transplanting: Proper time of transplanting rice is the month of

June. It is worth mentioning that early transplanting of rice results in wastage of water
equivalent to 10 irrigations beside loss of 37 % energy in terms of electric
consumption (440 KWH/ha)

3. Suitable Varieties: Timely or late sown short duration varieties of

crops should be encouraged over early and long duration varieties to
reduce evapo-transpiration losses.

4. Conjunctive use of water: At present 30% of total canal water

available at the outlet is utilized in the central Punjab comprising
about 49%of the total geographical area of the state. As a result there
is excessive withdrawal of ground water to meet the irrigation demand
of the crops.

5.Crop diversification: Replacing one million hectare area under rice with
pulses can save 0.2 million hectare meter of water.

6.Artificial recharge of Under Ground water: Various techniques

being adopted to recharge the ground water in Punjab are:
a) Roof Top Water Harvesting
b) Recharge from Village Ponds
c) Recharge in Kandi Area

Rice- The Major culprit

Rice is grown both under lowland and upland conditions and throughout the year in
some parts of the country. Under lowland conditions the rice crop is generally
 32

transplanted in the puddled soil. Puddling disperses the soil and reduces percolation
losses. For lowland rice practice of keeping the soil saturated or upto shallow
submergence of 5 cm throughout the growing period has been found to be most
beneficial practice for obtaining maximum yields. Shallow submergence is possible
only if adequate care is taken while leveling the field. When water resources are
limited land should be submerged at least during critical stages of growth i.e. tillering
and flowering and maintained only saturated at other stages thus economizing the use
of water without decreasing the yields. During kharif season when weather is humid
and evapo-transpiration rates are low then even maintaining the soil moisture near
saturation is adequate while when weather is hot and arid, the practice of submerging
the land is found to be advantageous.
The major portion of water applied to rice crop amounting to 50-75 per cent is
lost through deep percolation, which varies with texture of the soil during
submergence of land. Great economy in water use can be achieved in rice culture if
suitable measures are adopted to reduce the losses through percolation. The selection
of heavy soils, growing of rice in large and compact area instead of small and
scattered area, providing of impermeable layer below the root zone helps to minimize
deep percolation losses in rice fields.

Judicious use of irrigation water to Rice

I. Avoid excessive irrigation to rice: The table 2 shows that only 16 irrigations are
adequate to get good yield as with 24 irrigations to rice crop hence saving of eight
irrigations.

Table 2.Optimum irrigation requirements of Rice

Treatment No. of Mean Paddy grain Mean

irrigations irrigation yield, t/ha *IWUE,
water, cm kg/ha/cm
 33

Continuous 24 190 5.51 29

flooding
1-day drainage 18 145 5.44 38
2-day drainage 16 125 5.53 44
3-day drainage 14 113 5.11 45
*IWUE-Irrigation water use efficiency

II. Timely transplanting of rice: Shifting the planting/transplanting time of crops

from high to low evaporative demand periods reduce withdrawal of irrigation water
increasing water use efficiency. For example ET demand of June 1 transplanted rice
is 620 mm against 520mm for June 21 transplanted rice (Table 3)

Table 3. Effect of transplanting date of Rice on water balance components

Transplanting Water gain Water loss
Irrigation ET D S
date
+rain
June 1 (PAN- 2062 620 1384 +58
E= 621 mm)
June 21 (PAN- 1834 520 1263 +51
E= 525 mm)

III. Irrigation scheduling: Irrigation scheduling is a process to determine

when to irrigate and how much water to apply. Researchers have employed demand
based (meteorological) and supply based (soil water content) approaches for
scheduling irrigation to field crops. Prihar et al. (1974) suggested a simple
meteorological approach to schedule irrigation to crops based on the ratio between
fixed depth (75mm) of irrigation water and net cumulative pan evaporation since
previous irrigation. In Rice it has been demonstrated that higher yields can be
maintained by irrigating crop at 2 days drainage interval after soaking in of previous
irrigation (after 2 week of continuous ponding following transplanting). This helps in
saving eight irrigations to rice (Sandhu et al. 1980). Hira et al. 2002 used soil water
tension as a criterion for scheduling irrigation to rice and reported higher water use
efficiency with irrigations at soil water tension value of 1600+_200mm.
 34

Tensiometer for measuring matric potential

Tensiometer
A tensiometer measures soil moisture. It is an instrument designed to measure
the tension or suction that plants’ roots must exert to extract water from the soil. This
tension is a direct measure of the availability of water to a plant. Tensiometers are
most useful when a crop’s water requirements are high and when any stress due to
water shortage is likely to damage crop potential. Tensiometers may be used in any
irrigated crop.

Some facts
• Tensiometers continuously monitor soil water status, which is useful for practical
irrigation scheduling, and are extensively used on high-value cash crops where low
water tension is desirable.
• Tensiometers are ideal for sandy loam or light-textured soils.
• Tensiometers may be used in clay soils for crops that need low soil water tension for
maximum yield or high crop quality. Tensiometers are soil water measuring devices
that are sensitive to soil water change and useful for irrigation scheduling.

Time travel of Tensiometer

The earliest account of a tensiometer or a tensiometer-like device was reported

by Livingston (1908). It uses all the elements of a modern tensiometer to
automatically control soil water status of potted plants (Fig. 1a) . A liquid-filled
porous cup was brought into contact with the soil. The measurement capability of a
similar device was demonstrated by Pulling and Livingston (1915) who used an
osmometer with a collodion osmotic membrane backed by sugar cane solution (as
depicted in Fig. 1b) to measure the "water supplying power of the soil."
 35

Fig. 1. (a) Livingston's (1908) auto-irrigator for maintaining constant matric potential
in
Potted plant root zone.
(b) Tensiometer designed by Pulling and Livingston (1915) to measure the
"water
supplying power of the soil."

Fig. 2. A hanging column for measuring soil capillary potential (Lynde and Dupre,
1913)
 36

Fg. 3. (a) Richards' (1928) tensiometer design.

(b) Haines' (1927) tensiometer design
 37

Fig 4. Modern Tensiometer design

Parts of Tensiometer

Reservoir and cork: It consists of two acrylic transparent tubes of specific

dimensions. The inner tube is fitted with the narrow mouth of a ceramic cup of
diameter equivalent to that of the outer tube. The upper end of the outer tube is fitted
with a silicon cork. The cork on the reservoir must provide an airtight seal for the
tensiometer. The body tube works as a reservoir, and the cork directly seals the
system.
Ceramic cups: The ceramic cup is porous, but the openings are so small that when
saturated with water, air cannot pass through within the range of soil water tensions to
be measured. Water moving out through the porous cup causes the reading to change
indicating the suction, or tension, at which the water is being pulled by the
surrounding soil. Both the tubes and the ceramic cup are filled with distilled de
aerated water. Before filing the whole tensiometer with water the cup is saturated
overnight with water.

Coloured Strips: The upper portion of the outer tube is marked with three colored
strips which coincide with the different levels of soil matric potential, based on the
water level inside the inner tube. The irrigation to rice crop is recommended when the
water level inside the inner tube just crosses the green strip and enters the yellow
strip.

Working of Tensiometer
Principle
The water in the inner tube of the tensiometer equilibrates with the surrounding soil
through the ceramic cup and its level indicates the soil matric tension and hence the
water status of the soil. The colored strips guide the farmers for scheduling irrigation
to rice crop. When buried in the soil the ceramic cup of the tensiometer allows water
 38

to move freely in or out of the tube. As the soil dries out, water is sucked out through
the porous ceramic cup, creating a partial vacuum inside the tensiometer which
causes the water to move down. Soil tension increases as the soil dries out, the
vacuum increases in the tensiometer and the water level falls down. When the soil is
wetted by sufficient rainfall or irrigation, water flows back into the tensiometer, the
vacuum decreases and the water level starts rising.
Tensiometers measure how tightly water is held to the soil particles and not
how much water is left in the soil. A sandy soil will reach a high tension sooner than
a clay loam because sandy soils cannot supply as much water to the plant and it is
used up more quickly. Tensiometers do not operate in dry soil because the pores in
the ceramic tip drain and air is sucked in through them breaking the vacuum seal
between the soil and the gauge on top of the tensiometer.

Installation of Tensiometer
Depth selection. The number of tensiometer installation sites required will
depend on the crops grown and field conditions. Fewer sites of tensiometers are
needed when a single crop is grown in large blocks of uniform soil. If the soils are
varied or different crops are to be grown, more sites are necessary. Sites need to be
selected to represent an area, and care should be taken not to cause excessive
compaction or destruction of plants around during installation, which may alter the
condition.

Site selection. Location of the tensiometers in the field generally depends on

the type of irrigation system used. If the tensiometers are installed in a flood-irrigated
field, locations should be at the top and bottom of the first and last sets. Each location
should be far enough from the top or bottom of the field so that it is not affected by
initial wetting effects or by ponding of water. Placement should be in a crop row to
avoid traffic. Ceramic cups of the tensiometers must be kept wet until installed. A
 39

brightly painted wooden stake or a metal rod with a colored flag attached are good
markers.

• Remove the silicon cork from tensiometer body and keep the tensiometer cup
in a container filled with distilled water and let it remain as such overnight till
the water level inside the tube is same as that of water outside in the container.
Fill the inner tube of tensiometer with distilled and de aerated water and keep
it as such over night.
• Next day fill both inner and outer tubes of tensiometer with distilled water.
Make a hole in the field with steel iron tube of similar diameter to the depth of
20 cm. The diameter of the hole should be slightly bigger than that of ceramic
cup of tensiometer.
• Put the tensiometer into the hole and make slurry of soil and water in the ratio
of 1:2 and put this into the hole around tensiometer cup. The remaining
portion of the hole can be filled with soil taken out of the hole.
• Fit the silicon cork tightly. Tensiometer reading should be taken in morning
hours around 8..00 a.m. or so.
• When the water level in the inner tube is within the green portion, there is no
need to irrigate the rice field and once it enters the yellow zone, rice field
should be irrigated. Don’t let the water level enter the red zone as it may cause
stress to crop.
• When the field is re irrigated the water level in the inner tube will rise. If the
water level in tensiometer tube is less than 3 cm after irrigation, remove the
cork and refill the inner tube of tensiometer.

Irrigation timing with tensiometers

Tensiometers placed at about the mid-point of the main fibrous root system are
used to determine when to irrigate. This is particularly important during the period
when the water requirement of the crop is highest and yields are most sensitive to
water shortage. During this period tensiometers should be read daily. Sufficient
amount of water should be applied to re-wet the root zone. Following irrigation the
 40

reading on the tensiometer will be reduced. Daily readings should continue to

determine when irrigation is required again.
When to irrigate will be determined largely by the amount of water applied and
stored in the root zone at the last irrigation. If only a light irrigation was applied, or a
small section of the root zone wetted, then the soil will dry faster and a high
tensiometer reading reached sooner than if a heavy irrigation was applied and all of
the root zone wetted. Climatic conditions and the leaf development of the crop will
also affect the rate of soil drying.

Conclusion
The use of soil auguring to feel the soil moisture and evaporation readings will
increase the accuracy of tensiometer irrigation scheduling. Pan evaporation readings
are particularly important as they are closely linked to the rate at which soil moisture
will be used. The combination of evaporation and tensiometer readings gives the
irrigation measurements of both climatic conditions and soil moisture, therefore
enabling accurate determination of irrigating timing and amounts.

Priority areas

• In situ and ex situ conservation of rain water and its efficient recycling
• Multiple use of water for increasing water productivity.
• Conjunctive use of rain, surface and ground water for maintaining sustainable
hydrologic regime.
• Increasing water use efficiency through efficient utilization of available
irrigation water in dry areas through promoting micro irrigating techniques.
• Ground water recharge and management
• Conjunctive use of poor and good quality waters.

Sources

Hira GS, Rachhpal Singh and SS Kukal (2002) Soil matric suction: a criterion for
 41

scheduling irrigation to rice. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 72:236-

37.

Hira GS, SK Jalota and VK Arora (2004) Efficient management of water resources
for
sustainable cropping in Punjab. Research Bulletin : Department of Soils,
PAU, Ludhiana.

Prihar SS, PR Gajri and RS Narang (1974) Scheduling irrigation to wheat using pan
evaporation. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 44:567-71.

Sandhu BS, KL Khera, SS Prihar and Baldev Singh (1980) Irrigation needs and yield
of
rice on a sandy loam soil as affected by continuous and intermittent
submergence. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 50:492-96.

Strategies For Judicious Use Of Water In Horticultural

Crops
Dr B S Dhillon
Deputy Director (Trig.), KVK Amritsar

Water is one of the most important inputs essential for the production
of crops. Plants need it continuously during their life and huge quantities. It profoundly
influences photosynthesis, respiration, absorption, translocation and utilization of
mineral nutrients and cell division beside some other processes. Both the shortage and
excess affect the growth and development of plant and consequently its yield and
quality.

The total water reserve, irrespective of quality in this earth cover an

area of 1400 million cubic kilometers of which 97% is saline water, 2.31% is ice
keeping, only 0.69% of total as usable sweet water that measure 9.66 million cubic
kilometers.
 42

Table 1: Different fractional resources of usable water

Underground 0.56 %
Lakes & reservoirs 0.01 %
River water 0.003 %
Usable moisture 0.001 %
Bound water in organic & inorganic forms 0.116 %
Source: Water & Related statistics, Central Water Commission

Table 2:Annual Requirement of Fresh water

(Unit cubic Km)

Sr Different uses of water 2000 AD 2025 AD 2050 AD

No
1 Irrigation 541 910 1072
2 Domestic 42 73 102
3 Industries 8 22 63
4 Thermal power 2 15 130
5 Other uses 41 42 80
Total 634 1092 1447
Source: Water & Related Statistics, Central Water Commission

The following points should be kept in mind while making strategies for
judicious use of water in the production of horticultural crops :

1. Source of water : The source of irrigation primarily classified into two groups
 43

a) Natural: The natural source provide moisture to the fruit plants mainly in
the form of rainfall & other forms are atmospheric humidity and
precipitation of snow on top and become available to the fruit plants when
liquidified as water.
b) Artificial resources through irrigation: They may be reservoir,
underground aquifers, rivers, canals, tube wells & well etc.

2. Quality of water: The quality of water determine to which fruit crop is grown
with tolerable limits. The some citrus species are very sensitive to water
quality. So, they can be irrigated with mixing good quality canal water.

3. Regular supply of water: Regular availability of irrigation water while exposing

the source of water in the orchard, a steady & dependable source should be
identified for long term operations.

4. Frequency & dose of irrigation: The irrigation water to be supplied in term of

frequency & dose depend upon a number of factors:

a) Type of fruit crop: On the basis of their ability to withstand water stress the
fruit plants are classified into different groups

Higher tolerant to stress Moderately tolerant Sensitive

Ber, Bel, Aonala, Karonda, Mango, Jamun, Grape Banana, Orange, Plum,
Datepalm, Phalsa, Cashew nut, fruits, Guava, Tamarind, Apple,Papaya, Pineapple,
Pomegranate, Custard apple Grapes (some cultivars) Sapota, Litchi, Coconut,
etc. etc. Avocado etc.
 44

- All plants in their active period of growth (fruit set to maturity), needed
steady & adequate supply of irrigation.

- Pineapple, papaya are quick growing & having shallow root system favour
frequent irrigation.
- Banana needs 10 cm irrigation every fortnight during drier months.
- Nuts fruits, the irrigation during flowering determines the size of nuts.
- Mango, cashew nut requires adequate supply of moisture through out the year,
improves vegetative growth & emergence of new shoots well in time for
production & maturation of fruits trends in appropriate season.
- The fruit production in guava may be regulated by withholding irrigation
during appropriate time in expectation of quality fruit production.
- June drop in citrus may be minimized by promoting adequate water to fruit
plants during drier period.
- In litchi, there is no need of irrigation from October to January for better
flowering but at ripening time, poor irrigation causes fruit drop, sun burning
and cracking of fruits.
- Mulching with different resources also reduced irrigation needs & better
quality in pomegranate and some other fruits.

b) Agro ecological situation: These comprising of underground water

table, temperature, sunlight, rainfall, atmospheric humidity, wind velocity,
physical and chemical properties of soil, type root system etc. The water
requirement of a particular fruit plant varies with agro ecological condition
where they are growing. The water requirement may also vary due to stage
of growth of the plant in similar agro ecological conditions. The water
holding capacity of the soil depends upon the type of the soil. Loamy
types of the soils are better for fruit plant growth. The shallow rooted
trees required frequent irrigation (pine apple , papaya etc.) as compared to
deep rooted (mango walnut, jamun, bael etc.)
 45

5. Method of irrigation: The scientific utilization of water resources for fruit

production involves the consideration if the suitability of water for irrigatio9n
and their planning of water management practices. The water application
method may be broadly classified into following groups:-

I. Conventional Methods: It is very common method and also known as surface

irrigation in which water applied is distributed by means of open surface flow.

a. Flood irrigation: It is very common method and done where water is

abundant. It is generally done where deep rooted crops are grown to have a
greater circulation of water to the root zones.

b. Basin Irrigation: It is used to cover a smaller area with irrigation an orchard

with comparatively smaller quantity of water. The cost if preparation of basin
and other channel is high. In fruits like citrus, apple, pear, plum walnut, basin
irrigation is advantageous.

c. Furrow Method: The making furrow at a close distance or across, the

direction serve the same purpose evenly wetted the root zone. Furrow system is
one of the most common and popular method to irrigate the grape wine, pine
apple, banana, coconut orchard established on gradual elevation.

d. Spot irrigation: It is one of the most economical method for irrigating the
individual plant, It provide irrigation directly on the soil from deep root zone
either by flexible pipe or bucket depending upon the nature and distance of
source of water. Irrigation water is not misused but labour cost is high,. This
method is used while transplanting plants in the field.

II. Modern Methods: Drip, sprinkler and micro sprinkler method of irrigation in
India are vogue as an efficient irrigation technologies having capability to raise
application efficiency even upto 90 per cent (depending upon the type of
technology and crop) Provide better control resulting in saving of inputs such as
water, energy, labour and fertilizers.
 46

a. Over head or sprinkler irrigation: This method is applied to make

condition identical to that of natural precipitation of rainfall. It is used in that
crop where high humidity is required. The water is blown through pipe under
high pressure which forces the water to sprinkle on a large area of land making
an even moisterisation of the entire orchard soil.

b. Drip Irrigation: It was originally developed in Israel in 1959. The water is

applied to the root zone with the help of conducting pipe line inside or outside
the soil. The water oozes in drops from nozzles. This system much expensive
and needed more care while handling and operating. Precise amount of water is
applied to replenished the depleted soil moisture at frequent interval for
optimum plant growth. The system enables the application of water and
fertilizer at an optimum rate, to the plant root system. The lost of water due to
evaporation and soil erosion are nil and restricting the weed population.

III. Other low cost drip irrigations

1. Bucket kits: Consists of a simple bucket to a pale at shoulder height which

supplies a dub line with 26 micro tubes each of which water four plants.

2. The drum kit: uses 200 litres drum and fine lateral tubes to irrigate a 125 sq.
meters plot at a very low cost.

3. LEPA type micro sprinkler ( Low energy precision application) :Reducing

the energy requirement in irrigation practices with greater degree of
precision. LEPA irrigation system was developed by A & M Texas, USA by
replacing the sprinkler nozzles through “drop tubes” making it suitable to
operate at low pressure (3 to 12 mm of water column.). The LEPA nozzles are
positioned to the ground, usually not more than 18 inches above the furrows.
The LEPA concept modified and named LESA (Low Elevation Spray
Application) and MESA (Medium Elevation Spray Application) by
incorporating changes in LEPA nozzles and its mode of applying water.
 47

4. LEWA (Low Energy Water Application) : Drawing lessons from LEPA

irrigation system, ICAR - Patna Institute developed a low cost water and
energy efficient water application devise which is more suitable for small
farm conditions. It reduces the cost of LEPA nozzles by using the HDPE and
fix PVC Pipe network.

Table 3: Water requirement, water saving and yield increase of various grown
under drip irrigation as compared to conventional methods.

Crops Peak water requirement of Water Yield increase

Sr
mature tree under drip saving (%) (%)
No
irrigation (Litre
/day/plant )

1 Mango 160-304 50-66 72-94

2 Litchi 132-195 42-62 -

3 Citrus 48-76 52-68 32-60

4 Grapes 16-27 65-70 30

5 Pomegranate 45-89 50-55 30-89

6 Guava 42-82 55-60 25

7 Papaya 2-5 68 77
 48

8 Banana 6-10 77 46

9 Coconut 96-148 65 12

Source: Dr S N Shukla (2002) : National Conference on Micro Irrigation at G. B.

Pant University, Pantnagar.

Micro irrigations are the best structured for judicious use of water in the production
of horticultural crops but due to high initial input cost of installation and other
handling problems causes hinder its adoption at large scale. The depletion of water
resources may provide opportunity to use micro irrigation methods in near future.

Sources:

• A text Book on Pomology by T K Chattapodhyay.

 Manual of “Recent Advances in Horticulture for Development

Watershed” Winter School from Nov 28 to Dec 18, 2007 at
Ranchi
 49

Weather Forecasting and Its Applicability in Agriculture

Kulwinder Kaur Gill
Assistant Agrometeorologist,
Department of Agricultural Meteorology
Punjab Agricultural University
Ludhiana – 141004

Agriculture in India is still governed by the vagaries of weather despite the

impressive advancement in agriculture technology over the last few decades. Crop
production is affected directly or indirectly by weather conditions, causing
fluctuations on year-to-year basis. The benefits of monsoon abundance are certainly
tampered by the risks of farming in such a volatile area, although forecast techniques
currently being developed in the country are helping to mitigate the impacts of poor
monsoon performance. For sustainable agriculture it is essential that the precious
water resources are managed and used properly, judiciously and efficiently.

Meteorology is an inter-disciplinary science which studies the atmospheric

environment and applies the information for the analysis and the prediction of weather
events that affect our daily life. Therefore, weather forecasts are prepared and issued to
save human lives, property and crops. The forecast would alert the farmers to harvest
their crops before they are damaged by heavy rainfall. It is the responsibility of the
weather forecaster to predict weather accurately so that people engaged in different
professions could complete their jobs efficiently.
Weather forecast is the synopsis of the present and future state of the atmosphere.
Whenever our daily routine is abruptly disturbed by any natural phenomenon, we
think of a weather forecast. The ravaging trials of destruction caused by natural
phenomenon in different parts of the world have enhanced the importance of the
meteorological science in every field of the society. The use of weather forecast in
agriculture is increasing day by day. It is a significant fact that weather forecast is
needed not only by the agriculturists but by the general public also who are engaged in
different professions, which are directly or indirectly affected by weather conditions.
 50

The erroneous forecast can mislead many people, one may become the target of jokes.
Since weather forecasting is not an exact science, thus the predictions may occasionally
be incorrect.
Weather man does not make predictions for the pleasure of winning. In fact, they
get little credit when they are right and are often criticized when weather lets them
down. Are our weather services capable to meet this new challenge? Weather
forecasting services are being improved to a great extent by modern technology. The
weather forecasters should be more precise and more accurate to meet the demands of
the users. The users should be educated about the abnormalities in weather parameters
so that they can utilise the weather forecasts more scientifically to decrease the
magnitude of losses due to adverse weather conditions.
The primary goal of meteorology is to give accurate prediction of weather. In
order to forecast weather, one needs to know the state of the atmosphere at some given
time and the physical laws which governs the changes of the state. In practice, however,
great difficulties are encountered in both these aspects. However, despite these
fundamental difficulties, attempts are made to forecast the weather. Weather forecasts
are in general demand and are required by different sections of society. Accurate
weather forecast is required for agriculture, aviation, navigation, satellite launching and
for various other tasks which are of national importance. The requirement varies from
detailed forecasts of daily weather in time scales of a few hours to a few days to more
general indication of weather pattern of succeeding months or seasons.
The weather forecasts are broadly classified into four categories:
1. Nowcasting: validity up to few hours.
2. Short Range Forecasting: validity for less than 3 days
3. Medium Range Forecasting: validity for 3 to 10 days
4. Long range Forecasting: validity beyond 10 days to a few weeks or a month or a
season or even beyond

In Medium range weather forecasting the accuracy is approximately 60-70 percent.

Its applications are
 51

- To determine depth of the seed to be sown

- To determine whether or not to sow a crop
- To take account of expected rainfall to plan irrigation
- To decide whether or not to harvest
- To ensure maximum efficiency of spray programme
- To prepare in time for protection of crops against frost
- To the management of labour and equipment
- To animal feed requirements

The current skill in weather prediction, though imperfect, offers considerable

opportunities to managers in reducing risks to climate related hazards and to reap
benefits from a good weather by end user. Weather advisory, effectively
communicated and applied, should lead to a change in decision that generates
improved outcomes in the system of interest. This involves the following elements:
(i) The message to be communicated-weather prediction and interpretation into
local climate outlook;
(ii) The communication of the message-translation, message construction and
dissemination;
(iii) The receipt of and response to the message and a feedback mechanism-
examining the various aspects of the system with a view to improve its performance.
 52

Flow chart showing working of Agroadvisory system at district level

Agro-climate leve
agro-met
The agromet advisory service in India is based on medium range weatherdata
forecasting. Initially started as Agromet Advisory Services (AAS) under the
National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), the whole
structure and services system underwent an overhaul in 2007 to become Integrated
Agromet Advisory Services (IAAS) under the control of India Meteorology
Department (IMD). The agromet advisory bulletin (AAB) consists of:
5
(a) District wise quantitative weather information in a tabular form for next 5
days
PREPARATI ON OF
(b) Impact of anticipated weather on local agriculture
DI STRI
(c) Response options to the farmers matching theCT SPECI
forecasted FI C
weather at agroclimatic
zone level.
AGRO-ADVI SORI ES
The Agro Advisory Bulletin (AAB) is released twice a week: Tuesday
and Friday. Although the AAB FOR is released CONCERNED
twice a week, the weather forecast is

AGRO-CLI MATI C
updated everyday in the website of IMD. The forecasts prepared daily are made
available in the IMD web site (www.imd.ernet.in or www.imd.gov.in). Thus DIST
OF
 53

currently the weather forecasting arrangements provide 5 to 6 days lead time, which
is sufficient for undertaking emergency actions and modifying cropping practices to
minimize agricultural losses but not for changing cropping patterns.
Major portion of agricultural land in India is under rainfed condition relying on
uncertain rains. Punjab state is rich in natural resources and 95% area is irrigated but
these resources and mainly water table is depleting day by day. So need of the hour
is to conserve these natural resources and sustain our agriculture. Under such
conditions proper planning and timely operations play a vital role in achieving the
targeted yields. The advance information of occurrence of rainfall will have greater
advantage for day to day agricultural operation. Hence medium range weather
forecast helps to greater extent in achieving efficient goal. Incorporating the Medium
Range weather forecast, previous one week weather situation in a given area and
crop variety and growth stages, Agromet Advisory service have been started in the
country to enhance crop production at the individual farmer’s level.
The agromet advisories are being prepared at the regional level as well as district
level. Issue of AAS bulletins to the farmers helps to avoid the adverse effects of
weather events like heavy rain, dry spell, high wind speed which influences the
growth of the crops. It is a cumulative effect of services provided to save the inputs
like labour, irrigation, pesticides, fertilizers etc., in anticipating local weather
situations. Literature have indicated that the high benefit has been realized with the
efficient management practices based on the AAS bulletins which contain the
information mainly on weather parameters and not depend on high input application.
The realization of additional income in adopting the AAS created a sort of
awareness benefited by adopting the AAS is a main concern to convince the Govt.
agencies to encourage the research in the field of Agromet. Advisory Services
(AAS) in the country. Regular estimation of benefit/loss accrued at the farmer’s
level on adoption of the forecast. Assessment of total economic impact on each crop
accrued at the farmer’s level.
Farmers should aware to adopt the Agromet advisories in their daily activities
and it is required to extend the survey for different crops in that particular
agroclimatic zone.
 54

Strengthening of the extension for outreach

 Agriculture Development Officer at block level may disseminate agro-advisory
through his BDO/Gram Sevak.
 Department of IT is likely to provide Computer with internet at 100000 villages.
Ministry of Earth Sciences should have close linkage with this to implement
agro-advisory service at village level.
 The State Government employee (Teacher/ Post Master/ Shiksha Mitra etc)
working in the village should be involved. Alternative is to engage the
unemployed graduate/ progressive farmers.
 ITC and some other NGO have already put the computer based system at several
villages. AAS may be linked with them. Virtual Academy / Virtual Universities /
NGOs.
 Ministry of Agriculture is already operating "ATMA" project in several districts.
AAS may be linked with them.

After improving, adapting and focusing rural information and education systems,
information and communication technologies (ICTs) could play very important role
in such capacity building and services. AIR, TV radio channels, SMS, Newspaper,
Internet, Kisan call centres, Language of bulletins, frequent interaction are the
options of communication modes. Along with this constant feed back is also an
integral part of the advisory services. It should be valued as important as the delivery
of the advisory. This will point out the deficiencies of the service system. When
taken care, these can be used as opportunities to improve the efficiency of the
system. The end to end feedback is the core one, but involvement of the other actors
in the feedback is ideal.
 55

Water Quality For Livestock

Manoj Sharma, Aparna Gupta and A P S Dhaliwal
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kapurthala, 144620

The water is an important but often over looked nutrient in animal feeding and
animal health. Water constitutes 60 to 70 per cent of an animal’s body. It is necessary
for maintaining body fluid and proper ion balance, to eliminate waste products of
digestion and metabolism, to transport nutrients, hormones and other chemical
messages within the body, to produce milk and saliva and to aid in temperature
regulation affected by evaporation of water from the skin and respiratory tract.
Animals ingest a wide variety of different types of water. However, some salts and
elements, at high levels, may reduce animal growth and production or may cause
illness and death.
Composition of Water
Water quality and quantity may affect feed consumption and animal health.
Low quality water will normally result in reduced water and feed consumption.
Absolutely pure water is not found in nature. Actually, deionised-distilled (pure)
water is un desirable for livestock. Certain salts and gases in solution make water
more palatable if not present in excess.
Substances which may reduce palatability of water include various salts. Salts
may be toxic at high levels. Substances which are toxic without much effect on
palatability include nitrates and fluorine, as well as salts of various heavy metals.
Other materials which may affect palatability or toxicity include pathogenic
microorganisms, hydrocarbons, oily substances, pesticide and many industrial
chemicals which sometimes pollute water supplies.
Cleanliness
All water troughs should be cleaned frequently. Livestock should never be
forced to drink dirty or contaminated water. Stale water can cause reduced water
consumption. Even when clean water is available, animals may continue to consume
dirty water if it is available. Dirty water is a host for disease organisms. Disease can
 56

spread rapidly if animals drink from the same trough, so sick animals should be
isolated and the trough cleaned and disinfected.

Water quality
Water quality is an important issue in dairy cattle production and health. One
should not assume that the cattle are resistant to the spread of bacterial disease
through the drinking of polluted water. Contamination of the water supply from
barnyard drainage and the presence of nitrate, pesticides, algae and certain parasites
such as tapeworms and liver flukes add additional stress to cows. Also, water
palatability and odour as well as high levels of minerals such as iron and sulphur
reduce consumption.
Evaluation of water quality
The five properties most often considered in assessing water quality for both
humans and livestock are organoleptic properties ( odour and taste), physic-chemical
properties ( pH, total dissolved solids, total dissolved oxygen and hardness) along
with the presence of toxic compounds ( heavy metals, toxic minerals,
organophosphates and hydrocarbons), excess minerals or compounds ( nitrates,
sodium sulphate and iron) and bacteria and algae. Waters can be evaluated for these
characteristics at university or commercial laboratories. Microbiological agents
(bacterial, viral and protozoan) can be spread through water and cause disease. These
are not usually evaluated in livestock waters, but samples could be submitted to an
animal disease diagnostic laboratory for culture. Only certain laboratories are
prepared to test for pesticides and organic toxins.
Research on water contaminants and their effect on cattle performance is
sparse. The following discussion attempts to define some common water quality
problems in relation to livestock.
1. Salinity
Salinity refers to salts dissolved in water. The anions (negatively charged
ions) commonly present include: carbonate, bicarbonate, sulphate, nitrate, chloride,
phosphate and fluoride. The cations (positively charged ions) include calcium,
magnesium, sodium and potassium.
 57

Salinity may be measured as Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) or Total Soluble

Salts (TSS) and is expressed as parts per million (ppm) (which is equivalent to mg/l
or ug/ml). Salinity may also be measured by electrical conductivity (EC) and is then
expressed as reciprocal micro ohms per centimetre (umhos/cm) or decisiemens per
meter (dS/m). There is a close correlation of EC and ppm with the values of ppm
being about 3/5 of those for EC (@ 300 ppm, EC = 500 umhos/cm and @ 3,000 ppm,
EC = 5,000 umhos/cm). The effects seem to be the same whether one or several salts
are involved.
An abrupt change from water of low salinity to water of high salinity may
cause animals harm while a gradual change would not. Animals can consume water
of high salinity (TDS) for a few days, without harm, if they are then given water of
low salinity (TDS). Animal tolerance also varies with species, age, water
requirement, season of the year, and physiological condition.
Research has shown that cattle drinking saline water containing TDS as 6,000
ppm had lower weight gains than cattle drinking normal water (TDS as 1,300 ppm),
when the ration's energy content was low and during heat stress. High-energy rations
and cold environmental temperatures negated the detrimental effects of high-saline
water consumption. Likewise, milk production of dairy cows drinking saline water
with TDS at 4,400 ppm was not different from that of cows drinking normal water
during periods of low environmental temperature. But it was significantly lower
during summer months. As the TDS of water increases, intake also increases, except
at very high content where
the animals refuse to drink. Depressed water intake is accompanied by depressed feed
intake.
The ions of magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl) all
contribute to the salinity of water, and they may cause toxic effects because of this
salinity effect or by interference with other elements. But, these four are not usually
considered toxic otherwiseSalinity by itself tells nothing about which elements are
present, but this may be of critical importance. So when the salinity is elevated, the
water should be analyzed for the specific anions and cations. The following tables
give guidelines on potential uses of waters of various salinity:
 58

Table 1. Level of Total Dissolved Solids and animal’s tolerance

Total Dissolved Solids (ppm

Species Excellent Good Fair Poor Limit
Humans 0-800 800-1600 1600-2500 2500-4000 5000*
Horses,Working 0-1000 1000-2000 2000-3000 3000-5000 6000
Horses, Others 0-1000 1000-2000 2000-4000 4000-6000 10000
Cattle 0-1000 1000-2000 2000-4000 4000-6000 10000
Sheep 0-1000 1000-3000 3000-6000 6000- 15000
Chickens and 0-1000 1000-2000 2000-3000 10000 6000
Poultry 3000-5000
Swine Pigs appear
to tolerate
less TDS
than cattle.

Table 2. Guideline for Total Soluble Salts ( TSS) in water for livestock and
poultry.
Total Soluble Salts Suitability to different species of animals
Content
of Water (mg/L or
ppm)
Less than 1,000 ppm These waters should be satisfactory for all classes of
(1670 umhos/cm) livestock
1,000-2,999 ppm and poultry. They may cause temporary and mild sulphate
(1670-5008 umhos/cm) diarrhoea in
livestock not accustomed to them, or watery droppings in
poultry (especially at the higher levels), but should not
 59

affect
their health or performance.
3,000-4,999 ppm These waters should be satisfactory for livestock, although
(5010-8348 umhos/cm) they
may cause temporary sulphate diarrhoea or be refused at
first by animals not accustomed to them. They are poor
waters for poultry,
often causing watery faeces and (at the higher levels of
salinity)
increased mortality and decreased growth, especially in
turkeys.
5,000-6,999 ppm These waters can be used with reasonable safety for dairy
(8350-11688 and
umhos/cm) beef cattle, sheep, swine and horses. Avoid the use of those
approaching the higher levels for pregnant or lactating
animals.
They are not acceptable waters for poultry, almost always
causing some type of problem, especially near the upper
limit,
where reduced growth and production or increased
mortality
will probably occur.
7,000-10,000 ppm These waters are unfit for poultry and probably for swine.
(11,690-16,700 At 7,000-10,000 ppm ,considerable risk may exist in using
umhos/cm) them for pregnant or lactating cows, horses, sheep, the
young of these species, or for any animals subjected to
heavy heat stress or water loss. In general, their use should
be avoided, although older ruminants, horses, and even
poultry and swine may subsist on them for long periods of
time under
conditions of low stress
 60

More than 10,000 The risks with these highly saline waters are so great that
ppm they
(16,700 umhos/cm) cannot be recommended for use under any conditions.
35,000 ppm Brine
(58,450 umhos/cm)

2. Hardness
Hardness is expressed as the sum of calcium and magnesium reported in
equivalent amounts of calcium carbonate. It is called "hard" because it is hard to
make such water lather with soap. The free calcium and magnesium react with soap
to form an insoluble curd-like material and if they are removed, the water will lather
easily. Water "hardness" is not necessarily correlated with salinity. Saline waters can
be very soft if they contain low levels of calcium and magnesium. Other cations in
water, such as zinc, iron, strontium, aluminium and manganese, can contribute to
hardness but usually are very low in concentration compared with calcium and
magnesium. Water hardness has no effect on animal performance or water intake.
Calcium and magnesium are usually present at less than 1,000 ppm in water.
Table 3. Calcium carbonate content of water of various hardness.

Water Hardness Calcium Carbonate (mg/l )

Soft 0-60
Moderate 61-120
Hard 121-180
Very Hard >180

Hardness does not cause urinary calculi. Softening the water through
exchange of calcium
and magnesium with sodium may cause problems if the water is already high in
salinity.

3. PH
 61

The pH is a measure of acidity or alkalinity. A pH of 7 is neutral, under 7 is

acidic and over 7 is alkaline. Little is known about the specific pH's effect on water
intake, animal health and production or the microbial environment in the rumen. The
preferred pH is 6.0 to 8.0 for dairy animals and from 5.5 to 8.3 for other livestock.
Highly alkaline waters may cause digestive upsets, diarrhoea, poor feed conversion
and reduced water and feed intake.

4. Sulphate
Sulphate guidelines for water are not well-defined, but general
recommendations are less than 500 ppm for calves and less than 1,000 ppm for adult
cattle. When Sulphate exceeds 500 ppm, the specific salt form of sulphate or sulphur
should be identified, since the form of sulphur is an important determinant of toxicity.
Hydrogen sulphide is the most toxic form and concentration as low as 0.1 milligrams
per litre can reduce water intake. Common forms of sulphate in water are calcium,
iron, magnesium and sodium salts. All are laxative, but sodium sulphate is the most
potent. Cattle consuming water high in sulphates (2,000-2,500 ppm) show diarrhoea
initially, but appear to become resistant to the laxative effect. Iron sulphate has been
reported to be the most potent depressor of water intake as compared to other sulphate
forms.
Sulphate imparts a bitter taste to the water, but animals can acclimate to it.
Consider diluting high sulphate water for weanling pigs and for animals who are not
accustomed to it. The maximum recommended levels are given in Table 4.
Table 4. Maximum levels of sulphate in water.
Animals ppm Sulphate (SO4) ppm Sulphate as Sulphur (SO4-
S
Calves < 500 < 167
Adult Cattle < 1,000 < 333

Magnesium sulphate (Epsom salt) and sodium sulphate (Glauber salt) tend to
make water taste objectionable. Sulphate levels up to 1500 ppm produce slight effects
on livestock and levels of 1500 to 2500 produce temporary sulphate diarrhoea. When
the sulphate level reaches 3500 ppm, it is unfit for sows. Water with levels above
 62

4500 ppm should not be used.

5.. Nitrate
Nitrate can be used in the rumen as a source of nitrogen for synthesis of
bacterial protein. The bacteria present in the digestive tract of ruminants and
herbivores can readily convert nitrate to nitrite. The nitrate ion (NO3-) itself is not
toxic, whereas nitrite (NO2-) is readily absorbed and is quite toxic (10 times more
than nitrate). When absorbed into the body, nitrite reduces the oxygen-carrying
capacity of blood and in severe cases results in asphyxiation. Symptoms of nitrate or
nitrite poisoning are laboured breathing, rapid pulse rate, frothing at the mouth,
convulsion, blue muzzle and bluish tint around eyes, and chocolate brown blood.
More moderate levels of nitrate poisoning have been linked to poor growth, infertility
problems, abortions, vitamin A deficiencies, reduced milk production and general un-
healthiness. The general safe concentration of nitrate in water is less than 44 ppm and
less than 10 ppm of nitrate-nitrogen (Table 5). In evaluating potential nitrate
problems, feed also should be analyzed for nitrate because the effects of feed and
water are additive. If animals show signs of nitrate poisoning or a problem is
suspected, a veterinarian should be consulted to determine if nitrate is the problem,
and administer an antidote if needed.
The values given in Table 5 can be used as a guide for nitrate in water, but
must be considered along with the forage level.

Table 5. Nitrate content in water and forages.

Source Nitrate-N Nitrate Potassium Interpretation
(NO3-N ) (NO3) Nitrate
(KNO3)
 63

Water 0-100 0-440 0-720 Considered safe.

(ppm/l) 100-300 440-1300 720-2100 Exercise caution.
Consider additive effect of
nitrate in feed.
Over 300 Over 1300 Over 2100 Potentially toxic.
0-0.15% 0-0.65% 0-1.0% Considered safe
Forages 0.65-2.0%
( %) 0.15-0.45% 1-3% Exercise caution. May need to
Over 2.0% dilute or limit feed forages .
Over 0 .45% Over 3% Potentially toxic

Other Several other elements can contaminate water under special

elements circumstances.
These will require special tests and are usually not performed unless
there
are indications of a problem.

6. Microbiological population
Analysis of water for coliform bacteria and other microorganisms is
necessary to determine sanitary quality . Since some coliform bacteria are soil borne
or non faecal, a faecal coliform test may be used to determine if the source of total
coliform is at least in part from faeces. A faecal streptococci test may be run on fresh
samples to determine if the contamination is from animal or human sources. If faecal
coliforms exceed faecal streptococci, human sources of pollution may be suspect. If
faecal streptococci exceed faecal coliform, animal sources of pollution are indicated.
For animal consumption, especially young calves, total and faecal coliform counts
should be less than 1 per 100 millilitres. For adult animals, total and faecal coliform
counts should be under 15 and 10 per 100 millilitres, respectively. It is recommended
that faecal streptococci counts not exceed 3 or 30 per 100 millilitres for calves and
adult cattle, respectively.
Total bacteria count measures virtually all pathogenic as well as non
 64

infectious bacteria that use organic nutrients for growth. Total bacteria counts in
excess of 500 per 100 millilitres may indicate water quality problems. Water sources
with total bacteria counts in excess of 1 million per 100 millilitres should be avoided
for all livestock classes.
Table 6: Maximum concentrations for selected chemicals and micro-organisms in
livestock drinking water.

Chemical Name Guideline Units Application

Alkalinity levels above 500 mg/L can have a
Alkalinity (as
500 mg/L laxative effect. Lower levels may have a
CaCO3)
laxative effect if sulphate is present in the water.
Aluminium (Al) 5,000 µg/L Maximum Concentration
Antimony (Sb) 5 mg/L Causes decreased growth and longevity in mice
If arsenic levels in feed are low, up to 5 mg/L
Arsenic (As) 500 µg/L can be tolerated (arsenic is used as feed additive
to enhance growth in poultry and pigs)
No definite guidelines for presence of microbes
Counts
in livestock drinking water sources. Suggestions
Bacteria per 100
are that Total bacteria <10,000, total coliform
mL
<1, faecal coliform <1-10, faecal strep.<3-30.
Barium (Ba) 300 mg/L Depressed weight gain in chickens
Beryllium (Be) 100 µg/L Guideline
Boron (B) 5,000 µg/L Safe concentrations may be as high as 40 mg/L
Cadmium (Cd) 20 µg/L Guideline
Calcium Ions 700 mg/L Guideline value when magnesium is present
(Ca) 1,000 mg/L Guideline value when magnesium is absent
Reduced growth in immature chickens, but
Chloride (Cl) 15,000 mg/L
effect largely overcome by adding Na and K
Chromium (Cr) 1,000 µg/L Guideline
Cobalt is an essential trace element; toxicity
symptoms will likely not become apparent until
Cobalt (Co) 1,000 µg/L
levels an order of magnitude higher than the
recommended level is reached.
 65

Copper is essential to animal health and is often

1,000 µg/L
a feed additive.
Copper (Cu)
500 µg/L Guideline value for sheep
5,000 µg/L Guideline value for pigs and poultry
Cyanide (CN) 103 mg/L Fatal to cows and ducks.
Guideline value, but mottling of teeth may
Fluoride (F) 2 mg/L occur at this level. If fluoride is included in
feed, concentration should not exceed 1 mg/L.
Hardness has no effect on water safety, but can
result in the accumulation of scale in water
Hardness (as No delivery pipes. The scale mainly consists of
CaCO3) guideline magnesium, manganese, iron and calcium
carbonates. Water with more than 120 mg/L as
CaCO3 is considered hard
Reduced reproduction in sheep, 2,500 mg/L no
effect on pigs, 625-5,000 mg/L caused reduced
Iodide (I) 50 mg /day
egg production, egg size, and hatchability in
laying hens.
Iron levels as low as 0.1 mg/L can give milk an
oxidized flavour. Iron will present problems
Iron (Fe) 300 µg/L
when water is disinfected and can encourage
bacterial slime growth in water supply lines.
Chronic lead poisoning may occur at levels of
Lead (Pb) 100 µg/L
0.5 to 1.0 mg/L.
Reduced growth and bone mineralization in
immature chickens. An upper limit of 300-400
Magnesium (Mg) 6,000 mg/L
has been suggested for dairy cows. Magnesium
form part of the hardness in water.
No toxicity guideline established. Manganese
together with iron will discolour fixtures.
Manganese (Mn) >0.05 mg/L
Manganese will present problems when the
water is to be disinfected.
 66

Guideline value. Mercury is a health hazard to

Mercury (Hg) 3 µg/L
animals and to human consumers.
Guideline value. An essential element, but it is
toxic (linked to intake of copper sulphate. Cu :
Molybdenum
500 µg/L Mo ratio of 2:1 will prevent poisoning. Sheep,
(Mo)
swine and poultry are more tolerant than cattle
to poisoning.
Maximum Criterion. British Columbia
Molybdenum
50 µg/L maintains a 10 times lower value for
(total)
molybdenum.
Guideline value. A Ni level of 5 mg/L caused
Nickel (Ni) 1 mg/L birth problems in rats after several generations
of exposure
Guideline value. Nitrate may impair the oxygen-
carrying capacity of the blood by reducing
Nitrate (NO3-N) 100 mg/L haemoglobin to met- haemoglobin. At the
guideline level there has been small increases in
met- haemoglobin in pigs.
Guideline value. Nitrite may impair the oxygen-
Nitrite (NO2-N) 10 mg/L carrying capacity of the blood by reduci.ng
haemoglobin to methaemoglobin.
Guideline values. If pH is lower than 5.5,
acidosis and reduced feed intake may occur in
cattle, but is unlikely to have an effect on pigs.
pH 6.5-8.5 pH units Chlorination efficiency is reduced at high pH. A
low pH may cause precipitation of some
antibacterial agents delivered through the water
system (for example sulphonamides).
Guideline value. An essential element, but at
Selenium (Se) 50 µg/L
high levels can be toxic.
Sulphate (SO4) 1,000 mg/L Guideline value. Sulphate interacts with copper
metabolism in most animals. High sulphate
 67

water consumption often requires changes to the

mineral mix that one needs to give to the
animals. This has two components, increasing
the copper, and decreasing some other minerals.
This is not a toxicity guideline, but a taste and
Sulphide (H2S) <1.0 mg/L smell advisory. Levels above 25 mg/L are
required to cause decreased growth in chickens.
This is not a guideline, but this level caused
decreased longevity in mice and rats; fatty
Tin (Sn) 5 mg/L
degeneration of liver, vascular changes in
kidneys.
Titanium (Ti) 5 mg/L Few rats survived to third generation
Trihalomethanes
350 µg/L Guideline
(THM)
Guideline value. Uranium is present in feed and
the guideline is set as part of the overall
Uranium (U) 200 µg/L consumption pattern. Phosphorus supplements
to cattle may provide a considerable amount of
uranium.
Vanadium (V) 100 µg/L Guideline value.
Guideline value. This is an essential element for
livestock, but at high levels it can exert toxicity.
Zinc (Zn) 50 mg/L The lowest recorded effect was at 20 mg/L
where the rumen microbes in cattle were
affected (decreased digestion of cellulose)

Conclusion
Water availability and quality are extremely important for animal health and
productivity. Limiting water availability to cattle will depress production rapidly and
severely. The most common water quality problems affecting livestock production
include high concentrations of minerals (excess salinity), high nitrogen content
 68

(nitrates and nitrites), bacterial contamination, heavy growth of blue-green algae and
accidental contamination by petroleum, pesticides or fertilizer products.
On the basis of the scientific literature, no widespread specific production
problems have been caused by consumption of low quality water. Poor water quality
might cause reduced production or nonspecific diseases and should be one aspect
investigated when there are herd health and production problems. Most elements in
water do not cause problems because they do not occur at high enough levels in
soluble form. Cobalt, copper, iodide, iron, manganese and zinc may be toxic in
excessive concentration but rarely are seen at levels high enough to cause problems.
Factors such as age, diet, condition and kind of animal determine tolerance of
minerals in water. However, it is felt that hardness and pH do not affect water
consumption. Water troughs are also an important source of exposure of cattle to
bacteria including the human food borne pathogens. Califorms, Salmonella and E.
coli 0157 have been isolated from livestock water. For this reason, it is important to
clean and sanitize the water trough regularly.
Remember, water is the most important nutrient for dairy animals. Water
should be always available to your animals in a clean, fresh abundant supply. It is a
good idea to check the water quality for the animals at least twice a year.
 69

Conservation of Water in Houses

Avneet Kaur Ahuja, ASSISTANT PROF. (HOME SCIENCE)
KVK, KAPURTHALA

Punjab the land of five rivers is facing the problem of water scarcity both at farm and
household level. Wastage of water at farm and home, increasing population pressure,
excessive irrigation, and ignorance of people to use efficient water management
practices has resulted in fall of water table. The ground water table is depleting at the
rate of 70-100 cm per year in 108 blocks out of a total of 141 blocks of Punjab.
According to Farmers Commission, the ground water level of about 85% area of
Central Punjab i.e. Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib,
Sangrur, and Patiala districts has depleted more than 100 cm and rate is increasing
every year. In the foothill zone i.e. Kandi area, the status of ground water level in
spite of heavy rains is low because of the run off rain water. If the situation continues
at the same rate, the day is not far, when the Punjab will become a desert and our
future generations will face severe water crisis.
Life will become stand still without water and even ends with water. One
cannot understand the value of until he/she faces scarcity. If homemakers make
judicious use of water in household activities, a good amount of this precious
resource can be saved. There are various activities that require water at household
level viz. cleaning, washing, cooking, bathing etc.
 70

 Bathing and cleaning : 28%

 Laundry and dishes : 16 %

 Drinking and cooking : 4%

 Garden watering : 20 %

 Toilet flushing : 32 %

If used judiciously, a considerable amount of water can be saved at household

level. There are cost effective simple measures to save water, which are quite helpful
in the long run. Some of the water management techniques are discussed below:-

Saving Water in Kitchen:

 The kitchen water drainage should be directed to the kitchen garden/lawn.

 For cleaning utensils, fill big utensil or bucket and wash utnsils instead of
directly under running water.

 Clean utensils with ash or ash mixed with detergent, it requires less water.

 Clean utensils altogether at the end of cooking.

 Do not wash vegetables and fruits directly under the tap, rather wash in the
utensil filled with water.
 71

 Use pressure cooker for cooking the food. If cooking in pans select proper size
pans for cooking. Large pans require more cooking water. Always cover the
pans during cooking to reduce evaporation.

 Soak soiled pots and pans in water instead of letting the water run while you
scrape them clean.

 Keep the ice tray out for some time for having ice cubes instead of using
running water for that.

Saving Water in Cleaning:

 Instead of washing floors, mop them.

 If you want to wash the floor, first clean it with broom and then wash with water
stored in bucket and not with pipe. It will save good amount of water.

 Do not wash household and agricultural machinery i.e. car, scooter, motorcycle,
tractor et. with water pipes everyday instead wipe them clean. A 15 min. Car wash
uses 100 gallons (450 liters) of water. Use a bucket of water and rags instead.

 While washing cars etc. Park them on the grass.

 72

Saving water in Laundry:

 Wait until you have a full load before washing items, or use a lower water
setting.

 Check garments to make sure they need washing. Do not wash clothes more
often than necessary.

 Soapy water from washing machines can be collected and used for cleaning
bathrooms.

 Water from second rinse can be used for cleaning floor and animal shed.

 Soak clothes prior to washing. Use only required amount of detergent, excess
of it needs more water to rinse.

 Take water in buckets for rinsing clothes instead of washing directly under the
tap.

Saving Water in Bathroom and Toilet:

 Take water in bucket for bathing instead of bathing directly under water tap.

Running tap consumes >25 to 30 liters of water.

 73

 Don’t keep water tap running while brushing teeth or washing face. It will
save 4 gallons (18 liters) a min.

Total savings could be 200 gallons (900 liters)/week for a family of four.
 Turn the water off while shampooing your hair and save 50 gallons (225
liters) a week.

 Put food colouring in your toilet tank. If it seeps into toilet bowl, it has a leak.

Can save > 600 gallons (2700 liters)/year.

 Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily.

 Use small toilet flush tank to avoid wastage of water.

 Repair dripping taps.

A tap leaking one drop of water per second wastes more than 25 liters of
water a day!
That’s 9,000 liters a year!

Saving water in lawns:

 Don’t over water your lawn. They only need watering every 5 to 7 days in the
summer and every 10 to 14 days in the winter.

 Water lawns during early morning hours when temperature and wind speed is the
lowest. This reduces losses from evaporation.

 Avoid over fertilizing your lawn. The application increases the need for water.

 Use layer of organic mulch around plants to reduce evaporation and save
hundreds of gallons of water a year.

 Use native and low-water use plants.

Saving Rainwater in Homes:

 74

 During rainy season, direct the rain water from roof towards village pond or
store it in tank. This stored water can be used for different household
purposes.

 If storing in tank, a cemented underground filter tank of 2-3 width and 3-4 feet
depth can be prepared. Tank can be prepared on ground also or readymade
tank can be placed on ground, as shown in photograph.

 The runoff rainwater from the roof is directed towards the tank through
drainage pipes.

 Before the rain comes, clean the roof and tank and put chlorine, bleaching
powder or potassium permanganate to make it germ free.

Rain Barrels:

Rain barrels include:

• Ultraviolet resistant materials that will not rust break-down or corrode.

• Ball valve with garden hose fitting mounted at base.

• Lid with filtering screen to keep barrel free of debris and insects.

• Opaque colour to reduce algae growth.

Benefits of rain barrels:

• Harvesting of rainwater is free.

• Rainwater is better for your lawn and garden because it is not treated with
Chlorine and Fluoride.

• Using rainwater reduces demands on storm water systems.

• Stored rainwater is warmer and will not “shock” plants or lawns.

• No pumping is required, so there are no electricity costs.

 75

• Setup is easy, and little maintenance is required.

Concept of Grey Water:

♦ Grey water is the water used for bathing, washing clothes and utensils, and floor
cleaning. Currently, grey water, which forms 60–70% of our total usage, is drained
into the same sewage system that handles black water, i.e., the used water from
toilets, making it unsuitable for human consumption even after treatment.
♦ It is a known fact that efficiency and effectiveness of our sewage treatments plants
is not within acceptable standards. The treated water might still contain harmful
pathogens when it is released to our water bodies.
♦If grey water and black water are segregated at the source and treated separately, the
former becomes fit for human consumption, though not potable, whereas the latter
can be treated more effectively and supplied for irrigation and industrial uses.

Advantages of Grey water:

• Will keep your plants and lawn thriving in drought conditions.

• Provides lots of organic materials for the plants as well.

• A family of four can create 30-40 thousand gallons (135-180 litres) of water,
if system is used to full potential.

Disadvantages of Grey water:

 Must monitor plants for over fertilization and watering.

 Must be careful about ingredients in laundry soaps and cleaners, some can
harm your plants.

Water Management in India:

What can be done on a macro level?

 76

• When there is concentrated heavy rainfall in a short period of time, floods

happen. These are seasonal and natural. Floods also happen when the
rainwater does not find ways to get drained into soil and nearby water bodies.

• Floods and its aftermaths cannot be controlled, but can be managed to lessen
its effects on people’s lives. If flood management is done in a holistic way, it
will moderate the intensity of floods and take care of the water needs during
the drought season.

• De-silting rivers and canals and clearing choked drains will prevent water
logging and ensure smooth flow of rainwater. Removing illegal structures and
encroachments along riverbanks, preserving catchment areas of rivers, and
maintaining available wetlands and tanks as well as creating more, will enable
absorption of rainwater into the ground.

• In areas with heavy density of buildings, installing rainwater harvesting

(RWH) systems is the best way to ensure adequate recharge of groundwater.

• Using rainwater for garden watering, toilet flushing and washing machines
can save up to 50 % of household water use.

What can be done on a micro level?

• In urban areas, the best way to get individuals involved is the inclusion of
residents’ welfare associations in water management. Welfare associations
can spread awareness about the necessity of water conservation and
management at an individual level.

• Rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling systems can be set up for
apartment complexes or even independent houses. Black water can be piped
out to the sewage system and grey water can be recycled.

These measures might look too simple to make any considerable changes. But as the
saying goes, a unit saved is a unit produced
 77

Try to do one thing each day that will result in saving water. Don’t worry if the
savings are minimal.
• Every drop counts.
• You can make a difference.
 78

Water Consumption in Animals

Manoj Sharma, A P S Dhaliwal and G S Aulakh

Introduction
Water is a very important dietary essential nutrient. Lactating dairy cows need larger
proportions of water relative to body weight (BW) than most of the livestock species because
milk contains about 87% of water. The various factors influencing daily water intake and
requirements include physiological state, milk yield , dry matter intake (DMI), body size, rate
and extent of activity, diet composition (e.g., concentrate, hay, silage or fresh forage),
ambient temperature, and other environmental factors like humidity and wind velocity. Other
factors affecting water intake by animals are salinity, and sulphate and chloride contents,
dietary sodium content, temperature of water, frequency and periodicity of watering, social or
behavioural interactions of animals and other water quality parameters such as pH and toxic
substances. It is worth to mention that a loss of about 1/5 of body water is fatal for the
animal.

Importance and functions of water

Water is chemically neutral therefore, ionization of most substances occurs more
freely in water than other media. Water is necessary for maintaining osmotic balance within
the body. It helps in the processes of digestion , absorption, metabolism, milk production,
sweat secretion and elimination of waste products like urine and faeces from the body.
Further, it provides a medium for transport of nutrients, metabolites, hormones, and gases and
is a lubricant and support for various organ systems and the foetus. Due to its high thermal
conductivity it plays a very crucial role in heat exchange and maintenance of heat balance.
Similarly, high latent heat of vaporization allows animals to transfer significant heat from
their bodies to the environment with only a small loss of water volume. The water balance in
the animals is affected by total intake of water and losses arising from urine, faeces, milk,
saliva, sweating, and vaporization from respiratory tissues. Without an adequate supply of
water, animals are unable to fully utilize their feed because many physiological functions in
the animal are dependent on water.

Water intake
A lactating dairy cow has one of the largest requirements for water. This is because
56 to 81 percent of her body weight is water and she needs to replace the major loss of water
 79

occurred through milk production. So it is very essential that dairy cattle drink adequate
quantities of water daily to meet their requirements. Drinking water is the primary source in
order to meet daily water requirements. However, the water present in feed makes a small
contribution towards the daily requirement. It has been known that drinking patterns of cows
remain consistent both in the summer and winter. In general, water intake is more around mid
day and is maximum soon after evening milking. Moreover, up to 50% of the total daily
water intake may be drank in three consecutive hours. Hence , dairy farmers must consider
this short peak of drinking activity and make sure that adequate water supply is available after
milking in the evening. Cows tend to drink all the time but are found reluctant to walk more
than 250 meters in order to find water to drink. Therefore, sick animals should be isolated and
be provided with water and feed.

Symptoms of inadequate water intake

Under the situation when there is reduced water supply and animals could not
consume required water quantity, following symptoms can be observed at the dairy farm.
  F irm, constipated manure
Decrease in urine output
Infrequent drinking activity
Decreased feed intake
Decrease in milk production
Dehydration
Loss of body weight

Points to remember

• Cows only spend about 12 to 15 minutes per day drinking water. The highest water
intake periods are immediately following milking and during feed consumption.
• Cows consume water to meet their requirement. Limiting water intake by restricting
access to or reducing consumption because of poor quality will decrease milk
production. However, milk production and feed intake can't be stimulated by offering
good quality water and enhancing water consumption above the required amount..
• The mineral constituents in water which affect animal performance are: total
dissolved solids (TDS), sodium chloride, sulfur (sulfate), and nitrate. Iron and
manganese have been indicted in many water quality problems, but research directly
 80

linking iron and manganese to reduced water consumption and lowered milk
production is lacking.
• Calcium, magnesium and water hardness are not believed to affect water intake or
performance of animals.

Water absorption and excretion

Water contained within the cells is considered intracellular fluid, that outside the cells
extracellular fluid, which consists of blood plasma, that within the walls of vascular system,
and interstitial fluid. Water in the erythrocytes is intracellular. The intracellular fluid accounts
for about 50 per cent of body weight, interstitial fluid about 15 per cent and blood plasma 5
per cent. Water is being lost from the body constantly in the respired air and evaporation
from the skin and periodically through the faeces and urine. Water molecules easily move
through cell membranes to maintain osmotic and hydrostatic equilibrium in relation to
transfer of mineral elements, nutrients and waste products. Water absorbed from the intestinal
tract enters the extracellular fluid in the blood, the volume of which is largely regulated by
the body sodium. Variations in water intake and excretion largely control osmoconcentration.
Water gradually moves from the extracellular fluid compartments into the intracellular fluid
to maintain osmoequilibrium.
Water losses are related to body size and are highly variable according to the diet,
nature of metabolic end products, and other factors. The losses through the gut vary with the
nature of diet. They increase with the level of roughage intake and with the intakes of other
feeds which have laxative qualities. In general, the larger the proportion of undigested
material, the greater the loss. In cattle the faecal material contains about 80 per cent of water.
The faeces are much drier in case of sheep on the same ration, illustrating the fact that there
are species differences in water loss through the gut. In all species, a very large amount of
water is secreted into the tract in digestive juices. Normally, almost all the water thus secreted
is reabsorbed. In diarrhoea large losses occur, resulting in dehydration and serious
consequences.
The amount of water excreted in the urine is highly variable, depending upon many
factors. The kidneys regulate the volume and composition of body fluids, excreting more or
less water depending upon intake, outgo through other channels and amount of catabolic
products, namely minerals and urea, for which water must serve as a solvent. There are large
 81

differences in animals in ability to conserve urinary water losses as is evident from the
following comparison showing much higher concentration of electrolytes in the urine of the
camel and kangaroo rat than for humans.
Species Urinary concentration
Urea (mM/litre) Electrolytes ( mEq/litre) Osmotic ( osm/litre)
Human 792 460 1.43
Camel 229 1068 2.8
Kangaroo rat 3840 1200 5.5

There are marked species difference in water excretion according to the nature of the
nitrogenous end products. In mammals the principal end product of protein catabolism is
urea, which is soluble in water and toxic to tissues in concentrated solution. Thus more water
is required to dilute and remove it from the tissues and excrete it . Uric acid, the principal
nitrogenous end product in birds is excreted in nearly solid form with minimum loss of water.
Further, the breakdown of protein to uric acid provides more metabolic water than does its
catabolism to urea. Thus, other conditions being equal, birds have a lower water requirements
than mammals and are much less sensitive to the temporary deprivation of it . Mammals will
live longer without food than without water, and the consumption of food, especially protein
food, without water hasten death due to accumulation of toxic end products. Birds, snakes
and insects survive much longer under these conditions. They excrete uric acid and thus the
small amount of water obtained as a component of their food, plus their metabolic water
suffices.

Factors affecting water intake

Water intake in the field depends on many factors but the experimental evidence
suggests that in the case of most ruminants there is a direct relationship between climate
stress and water intake. Water intake is subject to both diurnal and seasonal variations. In
temperate conditions, differences between water intake in summer and winter are not large,
whereas in very hot environmental conditions the water intake of cattle is increased by 72 per
cent. Sheep consumes as much as 12 times more water in summer than in winter. Ambient
temperature has a different effect on the water intake of different breeds of cattle. The
acclimatized animals require less water than unacclimatized ones when managed at a high
ambient temperature. Bos indicus apparently requires less free water than Bos taurus breeds
when managed in same environment.

Moisture content of diet

 82

Davis et al. (1983) investigating feeding value of wet brewers grains, showed that
total water consumed (drinking water intake plus that derived from the ration) decreased
about 26 per cent as total ration moisture content increased from 30.7 to 53.6 per cent.
Drinking water intake, per se, declined 37 per cent over this range of ration moisture
contents. However, this effect may have been more a function of actual DMI, because as total
ration moisture content increased from 30.7 to 53.6 per cent , actual DMI declined 24 per cent
. Substantial influence of DMI on drinking water intake was evident.

Metabolic water
When organic compounds are oxidized by animals, hydrogen molecules go towards
formation of metabolic water. During metabolic oxidation, water yields (ml/g tissue) are 1.07
from fat, 0.40 from protein, and 0.50 from carbohydrate. This can account for as much as 15
per cent of total water intake , which is substantially more than from consumption of an air-
dry ration. Although oxidation (e.g., protein catabolism) contributes metabolic water, there
also are increased demands for water for respiration, heat dissipation and urine excretion
associated with oxidative processes. Thus, generation of metabolic water is not adequate to
cover other demands associated with oxidation. Therefore, additional sources of water are
required for metabolic oxidation.

Drinking behaviour
Pattern of water consumption is associated with feeding pattern .When four first
lactation cows were fed one, two, four or eight times daily, peak hourly water intake was
associated with peak times of DMI. Cows would alternate the intake of feed and water. Given
the opportunity, peaks of drinking can be associated with milking. Typically, greater
consumption is observed immediately after milking. Therefore, it seems essential to provide
abundant water to cows immediately after milking. Water temperatures between 60 and 80°F
appear most acceptable to dairy cattle. In addition to above, submissive cows consumed 7 per
cent less water and ate 9 per cent less hay than dominant cows and that’s why milk fat per
cent and FCM yield were found to be lower in submissive cows. On a practical basis, it
seems obvious that a fresh, clean, abundant, easily accessible supply of drinking water must
be available at all times to dairy cattle.

Water quality
Five criteria can be considered when evaluating drinking water quality: organoleptic,
physio-chemical, substances present in excess, toxic compounds, and microorganisms
(primarily bacteria). Organoleptic factors (e.g., odour and taste) may be readily detectable by
 83

the animal, but are of little direct consequence to health or productivity unless water
consumption is affected dramatically. Physio-chemical properties, i.e. pH, total dissolved
solids, hardness, and total dissolved oxygen are used to classify broadly water sources and
generally do not present direct health risks but may indicate certain problems.

Water quality is also important to consider as it can have an impact on the volume of
water consumed. Foul odour or tastes, for example, may discourage animals from drinking.
Depending on the cause, poor water quality can affect herd health, possibly leading to animal
death and economic loss to the producer. Assess water quality at both the point of use and the
source. The tolerance to minerals (total salts) in water supplies varies by animal species, with
poultry being most sensitive, hogs moderately sensitive and ruminant animals least sensitive.
In general, a total soluble salt content of less than 1,000 mg/L is considered a low level of
salinity suitable for all types of livestock. Salt contents between 1,000 mg/L and 3,000 mg/L
are satisfactory for all types of livestock but may cause watery droppings in poultry or
diarrhea in livestock not accustomed to this salt level. Salt levels above 3,000 mg/L are not
recommended for poultry and are more likely to result in cases of livestock refusal. Salt
levels above 5,000 mg/L are not recommended for lactating animals. Avoid levels above
7,000 mg / L for all livestock.

The daily water requirement of livestock varies significantly among animal species.
The animal's size and growth stage will have a strong influence on daily water intake.
Consumption rates can be affected by environmental and management factors. Air
temperature, relative humidity and the level of animal exertion or production level are
examples of these factors. The quality of the water, which includes temperature, salinity and
impurities affecting taste and odour, will also have an effect. The water content of the
animal's diet will influence its drinking habits. Feed with a relatively high moisture content
decreases the quantity of drinking water required.

Water needs during heat stress

Water is the most important nutrient for lactating dairy cows in heat-stressing
environments as we know that water is the primary medium for dissipation of excess body
heat through lungs and skin in addition to that required in milk. It has been shown that the
total water loss from the body increased by 58 per cent in non-lactating cows maintained at
86°F compared with 68°F. Much of the increase was due to increased (176%) secretion of
 84

water through skin as sweat. Concomitantly, loss of water in faeces decreased 25 per cent ,
but increased 54 per cent and 26 per cent via respiratory and urinary routes at 86°F
compared with 68°F. Marked increases in water intake were observed starting at 81 to 86°F
with lactating cows. Cows also consume less water in high humidity than lower humidity
environments, probably because of reduced DMI and dampened ability to employ
evaporative heat loss mechanisms.
Surprisingly little is known about actual requirements for water during heat stress.
Numerous factors, such as rate of feed intake and physical form of the diet, physiological
state, breed of animal, and quality, accessibility and temperature of water, likely affect intake
during heat stress (NRC, 1981). Studies in climate chambers suggested that water needs
under heat stress are 1.2- to 2-fold higher than required of cows producing in the thermal
comfort zone. Using the prediction equation of Murphy et al. (1983), intake of drinking water
increased 1.25-fold in August compared with February for the same milk yield by DMI by
Na intake category.

Dairy cattle
The water requirements of lactating cows are closely related to milk production,
moisture content in the feed and environmental factors such as air temperature and humidity.
The cow's peak water intake generally occurs during the hours of greatest feed intake.

Table 1. Water consumption in dairy cattle

Water
Milk Production Average Water Use
Type of Animal Requirement
(kg/day) (L/day)
(L/day)
Calves (1-4 months) - 4.9-13.2 9
Heifers (5-24
- 14.4-36.3 25
months)
Milking cows 13.6 68-83 115
22.7 87-102 115
36.3 114-136 115
45.5 132-155 115
Dry cows - 34-49 41

Swine
 85

The housing method, growth stage and feeding method used affect the drinking water
requirements of pigs.

Table 2. Water consumption in Swine

Weight Water Requirement Average Water Use

Swine Type
(kg) (L/day) (L/day)
Weaner 7-22 1.0-3.2 2.0
Feeder pig 23-36 3.2-4.5 4.5
36-70 4.5-7.3 4.5
70-110 7.3-10 9
Gestating sow/boar - 13.6-17.2 15
Lactating sow - 18.1-22.7 20

Sheep

Table 3. Water consumed in Sheep

Weight Range Water Requirement Average

Animal Type
kg) (L/day) Water Use(L/day)
Lamb 27-50 3.6-5.2 4.4
Gestating meat
80 4.0-6.5 5.25
ewe/ram
Lactating meat ewe
plus un weaned 80+ 9.0-10.5 10
offspring
Gestating dairy
90 4.4-7.1 5.75
ewe/ram
Lactating dairy ewe 90 9.4-11.4 10.4

Chickens

The feed requirements of growing poultry are directly related to bird weight and
water requirements are related to feed consumption and to the air temperature. Over half of
the water intake of poultry is obtained from the feed. Automatic watering equipment ensures
poultry have free access to water at all times. Once air temperatures exceed 30°C or (87°F),
the expected water consumption can increase by 50 per cent above normal consumption rates.
Poultry are unable to sweat as a means of regulating body temperature. Their method of heat
 86

control involves increasing the respiratory rate (panting) to expel surplus heat, which results
in the release of large amounts of moisture from the bird that must be replaced or the bird will
become dehydrated.

Table 4. Water consumption in broiler chickens.

Broiler Age Water Requirement (L/1,000 birds/day)

21°C 32°C
1-4 weeks 50-260 50-415
5-8 weeks 345-470 550-770

Egg production level also affects the water consumption of laying hens. It has been
estimated that laying hens will drink about 4 kg of water per dozen eggs produced.

Water Requirement Average Water Use

Chicken Type Weight (kg) (L/1,000 birds/day) (L/1,000 birds/day)

Laying hens 1.6-1.9 180-320 250

Pullets 0.05-1.5 30-180 105
Broiler breeders 3.0-3.5 180-320 250

Rabbits

The most important factor affecting rabbits' water intake is environmental

temperature. They will drink twice as much water during hot summer weather (30°C) as they
will during more temperate seasons (10°C). Rabbits on high-fibre or high-protein diets will
tend to drink more water than rabbits on low-fibre or low-protein rations. The high-fibre diets
require extra water to moisten the feed and to maintain adequate fluid level in the digestive
tract. High-protein rations increase the water requirement, because nitrogen from the excess
protein is excreted in the urine as urea. The kidney has a limited capacity to concentrate
excretory byproducts in the urine, so the more urea excreted by the animal, the more water
there is in the urine.

Conclusion

The requirements of animals for water are met by imbibed water, water in food and
by the water produced by metabolic reactions in the animal's body. Requirements are
influenced particularly by temperature, humidity, the nitrogen, sodium and dry matter (DM)
 87

contents of the feed and milk yield. High nitrogen and sodium intakes have to be excreted in
the urine with the addition of water, hence the voluntary water intake increases to maintain
osmolarity. Feeds of high DM content increase voluntary water consumption, as they require
the addition of more saliva before they can be swallowed. Animals consuming dried rations
such as hay and concentrates, therefore require more water. The water allocation to lactating
cow can be divided into a requirement for maintenance, at 0.09 1 kg-1 body weight and a
requirement for milk production, 2-2.5 1 per Kg. milk produced.

Lactating cows naturally drink four or five times per day and, if water is provided
only at milking time, intake is likely to be restricted. Cows particularly like to consume water
after being milking and after they have eaten, to restore their osmotic balance. Peak intake is
likely to be in the evening, when there is a concentrated feeding period. The water supply
should be clean and unpolluted. Allowing cows access to dirty streams to obtain their water is
likely to spread disease.

Judicious Water Use Checklist for Houses

Avneet Kaur Ahuja Asstt. Prof. (Home Sc.) KVK, Kapurthala
Dr. Sharanbir Kaur Asstt. Prof. (Home Sc.) KVK, Samrala

How much water do you use per day? A gallon (1 gallon=4.5 litres)? Do you
use 25, 50 or even 100 or more gallons? Few people know how much water they use.
Studies show wide variation in the amount of water used by rural and urban
 88

households. Water use ranges from 66 to 118 gallons per person per day, with urban
households using larger amounts.

Imagine one day you turn on the tap and do not get a single drop of water.
People in some parts of the country know this does happen. They are learning how to
conserve water. They know that water is a limited resource. Water shortages are now
a local and regional problem. Some day they may be a national problem. It is wise to
learn now how to conserve water.

Conserving water also conserves other resources—energy and money. It costs

money to pump water and make it available in our homes, for irrigation, and for
business and industrial uses. Energy is required to pump, move and to purify water.

A checklist is designed to help you see how effectively you are using water.
Some actions suggested are more severe than others and would need to be
implemented only in an emergency situation—and are indicated as such. As you read
this list, check the steps you have already taken to conserve water. Note what you still
need to do, to become a better manager of water resources.

Water Conservation Checklist for

Houses
(If you do not do or do not plan to do the task, leave the boxes blank.)

I. Laundry
Have Will
Done Do
 89

Wait until you have a full load before washing items, or use a lower
water level setting.
Check garments to make sure they need washing. Don’t wash
clothes more often than necessary.
Encourage children to change into play-clothes after school so that
school- and play-clothes can be worn several times.
Buy clothing and household items that do not require separate
washing.
Emergency Situations:
Siphon gray water from your washing machine into a laundry tub or
other container for cleaning, to flush the toilet, or water plants. (See
directions for using gray water on plants.) Use the gray water as
soon as possible. Do not store it for more than 24 hours.
II. Bathroom
Have Will
Done Do
Urge family members to take 4 minute showers instead of tub
baths. .
Cut down on the number of showers taken. Replace some of them
with sponge baths using a small amount of water in a basin.
Seek other ways to relax besides staying in the shower for long
periods of time.
Turn off shower water while you apply soap to body, or lather hair
and massage scalp.
Turn off water while you shave, brush teeth, etc.

Emergency Situations:
Close bathtub drain during shower so that the water stays in the tub.
Use this to flush the toilet or water outdoor plants.
III. Plumbing
Have Will
 90

Done Do
Inspect the plumbing system to see that there are no leaks.

Turn off all water if you are going to be away from home on a
vacation or trip. This keeps children from turning on outside faucets
while you are away.
Check all faucets, inside and out, for drips. Make repairs promptly.
These problems get worse—never better.
Teach children to turn water faucets off quickly and tightly after
each use.
A toilet leak can waste lots of water. Put a small amount of food
colouring into the tank. If the colour trickles into the bowl, there is
a leak and repairs are needed.
Adjust the float level of the toilet to reduce the amount of water
necessary to flush the toilet. Do this carefully to avoid damaging
the system. Try only a slight adjustment.
Never use the toilet as a trash basket for facial tissues, etc.

Emergency Situations:
When the toilet needs flushing, use gray water saved from cleaning,
bathing, etc. Put the water in the toilet bowl—not the flush tank. If
the system loses pressure, gray water, if placed in the tank, could
back-siphon into the system and contaminate the drinking water.
IV. Kitchen and Meal Service

Have Will
Done Do
Use a pan of water when peeling and cleaning vegetables and fruits
rather than letting the sink tap run.
To get warm water, turn hot water on first; then add cold water as
needed. You get warm water quicker this way and save water, too.
Use the smallest amount of water necessary to cook foods such as
 91

frozen vegetables and stews. You’ll preserve nutrients as well as save

water.
A tight-fitting lid on a pan saves water from boiling away and also
cooks food faster, thereby using less energy.
Plan for one-dish meals in which vegetables are cooked or baked
without adding water.
Use a tea kettle or covered pan to heat water and avoid loss of water
through evaporation.
Select the proper size pans for cooking. Large pans require more
cooking water.
Use a pressure cooker to save water, energy, and time.

A bottle of drinking water kept cold in your refrigerator saves

running the tap to get cold water.
When washing dishes by hand, use one pan of soapy water for
washing and a second pan of hot water for rinsing. Rinsing in a pan
requires less water than rinsing under a running faucet.
Food Preparation Emergency Situation:
If a water shortage seems likely, store water in clean plastic or glass
jugs with tight-fitting lids. Keep in the refrigerator and use sparingly

V. Indoor Plants
Have Will
Done Do
Use rinse water—gray water—saved from bathing or clothes
washing to water indoor plants. Do not use soapy water on indoor
plants. It could damage them.
Water indoor plants only when needed. Too much water can
damage plants.
 92

VI. Outside the House

Have Will
Done Do
Car washing, if you use the hose down method, can use a lot of
water.
Use a bucket of warm sudsy water to remove soil from the car.
Hose down only as a final rinse.
Take advantage of a soft summer rain to wash your car. Get out
there with soap and sponge. Children will also enjoy this.
Use a broom, not the hose, to sweep the garage, sidewalks, and the
driveway.

VII. Garden
Have Will
Done Do
Plan landscaping and gardening to minimize watering
requirements.
Use native and low water-use plants and turf.

Vegetables requiring more water should be grouped together in the

garden to make efficient use of water applications.
Mulch shrubs and other plants to retain moisture in the soil longer.
Spread leaves, lawn clippings, chopped bark or cobs, or plastic
around the plants. Mulching also controls weeds that compete with
garden plants for water. Mulches should permit water to soak into
the soil.
Try trickle or drip irrigation systems in outdoor gardens. These
methods use 25 to 50 percent less water than hose or sprinkler
 93

methods.
Irrigate with the proper amount and only when necessary.

If you are using a garden hose or sprinkler, water the garden

thoroughly, but less frequently. Don’t let water run down driveway
or street.
Lawns should be watered during hours when the water system
experiences the least demand. Avoid watering when windy or in
heat of day.
Less frequent but heavier lawn watering encourages a deeper root
system to withstand dry weather better.
Collect rain water in a barrel and use it to water your garden (please
note, this is not a legal practice in all areas).
Use porous materials for walkways and patios to keep water in your
yard and prevent wasteful runoff.
Emergency Situations:
If water is rationed or otherwise restricted, lawns should receive the
lowest priority for outside watering. Water trees and shrubs which
die more quickly without it and are more expensive to replace.
Soapy water is generally okay for use on outdoor plants. Do not use
water that contains bleach or borax on plants. It could damage
them. Rinse water from laundry can be used on outdoor or indoor
plants
VIII. Be Water-Conscious While Purchasing

When Selecting New Equipment:

Have Will
Done Do
Install and use low-volume showerheads.

Select a dishwasher and clothes washer based in part on water

requirements and with options for water levels.
 94

Select water-saving toilets.

Smaller than standard bath tubs may meet your needs and save
water.
Select a water heater sized for family needs, and insulated to
prevent heat loss.
Locate water heater near area where hottest water is needed, usually
in the kitchen/laundry area.
If remodeling or building, locate the hot water heater as close as
possible to bathroom, kitchen, and laundry areas. The closer to the
faucet the heater is, the less water has to be run through pipes.
For this reason, it is sometimes better to have two smaller water
heaters: one located in the kitchen area and one in the bathroom
area when the distances between the two areas are great.
Plan landscaping and gardening to minimize watering requirements

Create an awareness of the need for water conservation among your

children. Avoid the purchase of recreational water toys which require a constant
stream of water.
Be aware of and follow all water conservation and water shortage rules and
restrictions which may be in effect in your area. Encourage your employer to promote
water conservation at the workplace.

Report all significant water losses (broken pipes, open hydrants, errant
sprinklers, abandoned free-flowing wells, etc.) to the property owner, local
authorities.
Encourage your school system and local government to help develop and promote a
water conservation ethic among children and adults. Support projects that will lead to
an increased use of reclaimed waste water for irrigation and other uses.
Support efforts and programs to create a concern for water conservation
 95

among tourists and visitors to our state. Make sure your visitors understand the need
for, and benefits of, water conservation.

Encourage your friends and neighbours to be part of a water conscious

community. Promote water conservation in community newsletters, on bulletin
boards and by example.
Conserve water because it is the right thing to do. Don't waste water just because
someone else is footing the bill such as when you are staying at a hotel.

The availability of water, now and in the future, should be a concern for
everyone. In most areas of the country and most of the time, water has been readily
available. The situation is changing. There are constantly new demands on our water
supply. Sometimes that supply may be less than at other times because of climatic
conditions such as a drought, a disaster, or just a breakdown in the water system.

By becoming more aware of your water use habits—both old and new—you
can reduce water use (consumption), eliminate waste, and save energy and money.
 96

Irrigation for Fruit Production

Gagandeep Kaur and Rajan Bhatt
Krishi Vigyan Kendra
Kapurthala

Water is an essential ingredient for growth. If there is no water there is no

growth. Any commercial agricultural enterprise requires water if grown during our
long dry season. This includes both annual vegetable as well as perennial fruit trees,
which rely heavily on irrigation for its sustainable development and viability. The
Punjab state experiences a dry sub tropical environment, where little or no rain falls
for eight months of the year, with conditions becoming drier as one moves down to
south western districts of Punjab. Under such conditions most horticultural crops
require irrigation to minimize plant stress. Irrigation of fruit trees not only provides
some security in protecting a large investment but serves also to increase and stabilize
production. In addition, it has been shown that proper irrigation practices can have a
positive influence on the quality of the harvested produce which strongly affects net
profits in several fruit crops.
Despite the importance of water to production, there has been minimal care
taken to maximise the efficiency of irrigation, and hence, crop yield and quality.
Maximising efficiency need not be simply maximising yield for every litre of water
applied. Minimal use of water for maximum returns should be the aim now days
owing to the limited resources of available .The timing, frequency and quantity of
application can all have a marked effect on crop yield quality and time of harvest.
 97

Also the fruit crops require good quality water for cultivation. Fruit crops are
perennial crops and use of poor quality water has long lasting detrimental effects.
Irrigation practices can be improved if a range of important factors is taken
into account.
These are: crop type, crop water requirements, water quality, method of irrigation.
CROP TYPE
The type of crop grown influences irrigation practice. Annual vegetable crops
are high users of water and irrigation management is extremely critical to their
productivity during their relatively short life span (10-20 weeks). Perennial tree crops
tend to require less water and management, although critical, is not generally as
critical as for annual crops. Some tree crops mango like require little or no water for
their survival during non-flowering and non fruiting growth periods, whereas, fruit
trees (e.g. carambola, mangosteen, jackfruit and banana) from wetter tropical
environments require continuous irrigation throughout the year. Crop type influences
rooting depth which determines how much available soil water the plant is able to tap
into. Effective root depths vary from 15-30 cm for vegetable crops to 80-100 cm for
many tree crops ( e.g. mango, citrus).

CROP WATER REQUIREMENTS

The crop water requirement can be calculated using indirect evaporation based
models, or directly measured using soil moisture monitoring devices. Water
requirement of a crop is the quantity of water needed for normal growth, development
and yield and may be supplied by precipitation or by irrigation or by both. Water is
needed mainly to meet the demands of evaporation (E), transpiration (T) and
metabolic needs of the plants. The water requirement of any crop is dependent upon
crop factors like variety, growth stage, duration, plant population and growing season;
Soil factors like texture, structure, depth; Climatic factors like temperature, relative
humidity and wind velocity. Crop management practices like tillage, fertilization,
weeding etc,

Water requirement of some species is as under :

 98

Crop Water Requirement(mm)

Rice 900 - 2500
Wheat 450 - 650
Sorghum 450 - 650
Maize 500 - 800
Sugarcane 1500 - 2500
Groundnut 500 - 700
Cotton 700 - 1300
Soybean 450 - 700
Tobacco 400 - 600
Tomato 600 - 800
Potato 500 - 700
Onion 350 - 550
Chillies 500
Sunflower 350 - 500
Castor 500
Bean 300-500
Cabbage 380-500
Banana 1200-2200
Citrus 900-1200
Grape 500-1200
Pineapple 700-1000
Guava 600

SOIL TYPE
Soil type influences irrigation management due to the ability of soils to store
varying quantities of water, depending on their texture. Sandy soils hold the least and
clays hold the most. Most soil profiles are made up of various texture classes; hence
the water storage capacity depends on the cumulative storage capacities of the various
layers within the profile. The terms describing soil water holding capacity first need
to be clarified.
• Water Holding Capacity: (WHC) Amount of water held between field capacity
(point at which soil becomes saturated) and completely dry (oven dried).
 99

• Available Water Holding Capacity: (AWHC) Amount of water held between

field capacity and permanent wilting point (when a plant will permanently wilt, soil
suction of -15 bars).
• Readily Available Water Holding Capacity (allowable depletion): Amount of
water held between field capacity and when a plant will begin to show mild signs of
stress. This figure is species specific, however it can be approximately 50% of the
AWHC.

Figure 1 Available water holding capacity for different soil textures

The goal of a well-managed irrigation program is to maintain soil moisture
between field capacity and the point of allowable depletion, or in other words, to
make sure that there is always readily available water.

WATER QUALITY
The quality of irrigation water in the Punjab is generally good. Most serious
water quality related problems are as a result of high salt (sodium chloride) levels in
the water. Important parameter for water quality evaluation are :

Water pH
 100

• pH is the negative logarithm of hydrogen ion concentration. If pH is 7.0, it is

considered as neutral. If the pH is less than 7.0 and H+ concentration exceeds
OH- it is referred as acidic and if pH ranges 7 - 14 it is considered as alkaline.
The pH is a sort of voltage measurement to cover the entire range of 0-14. The
pH is one of the parameters to assess the water whether it is suitable for
irrigation or not based on pH values.
• Main cations present in irrigation water are calcium, magnesium, sodium and
potassium. In effluents and sewage waste waters ammonium and heavy metal
cations are also found. The important anions like chlorides, carbonates and
bicarbonates, sulphates and nitrates are also present in irrigation water.
• For appraisal of irrigation water quality the water samples are mainly
analyzed for total salts (EC) relative proportion of cations, anions and toxic
substances such as excess boron and fluorine. For example, the pH of
bicarbonate (HCO3) waters is usually more than 7.5 and its determination may
reflect the degree of sodicity in the sample.
• Sulphate content will be more in saline water having higher E.C. If boron
content is more than 2.0 mg/1(ppm) in irrigation water, it is harmful to most
of the crops. Fluorine content beyond 10 ppm in irrigation water is harmful
indirectly to animals who feed on plants irrigated with high fluoride waters.
Sodium at higher levels in irrigation water exerts a toxic effect on crop
growth.
• Good irrigation water should not have excessive amounts of any salt or toxic
substances.

Water EC

• Natural water has E.C value of much less than one unit. These values are
reported as milli mhos (EC x 10-3) or micro mhos (EC x 10-6) at 25°C.
Electrical conductivity serves as a guide to know the extent of soluble salts
present in irrigation water. The criteria for judging the quality of irrigation
water is the total salt concentration as measured by electrical conductivity.
The harmful effect increases with increase in total salt concentration.
 101

• Irrigation water may be classified based on EC are,

C1 - Low Salinity Water

• If electrical conductivity is less than 0.25 ds/m, the irrigation water is

classified as low salinity water. It can be used for irrigation on all soils and on
most crops but leaching is required in case of extremely low permeable soil.

C2 - Medium Salinity Water

• It has EC between 0.25 to 0.75 ds/m. This water can be safely used for crops
with moderate salt tolerance. The soil should have moderate level of
permeability and leaching to avoid accumulation of salts.

C3 - High Salinity Water

• Water with EC ranges of 0.75 to 2.25 ds/m is called high salinity water. This
water can not be used on soils with poor drainage. This water can be used for
salt tolerant crops by providing good drainage and also by practicing
management practices for salinity control.

C4 - Very High Salinity Water

• If EC is more than 2.25 ds/m the water is classified as very high salinity
water. It is not suitable for irrigation under ordinary conditions but may be
used occasionally if the soil is permeable by providing adequate drainage.

IRRIGATION METHOD
Method of application of irrigation is an important part of the management
process. A number of irrigation systems like basin, ring, furrow, flood, sprinkler and
drip are employed. Each system has advantages and disadvantages as one system may
be suitable for one set of conditions but unsuitable for another. Therefore, proper
selection of the irrigation method is important for better orchard management
practices. In young orchards, basin, modified basin or ring system should be
 102

employed. Flood irrigation is generally followed in old orchards and where sufficient
amount of water is available. Such system is best suited of grown up mango trees.
Under water scarcity conditions and for otherwise judicious use of water, drip
irrigation method should be used because it is an efficient means of irrigation with 2
to 3 times more economical than conventional system. The drip system supplies water
to meet the daily requirement of fruit crop at low pressure. Thus it maintains an
optimum moisture and nutrient level in the wetted root zone for greater water and
nutrient efficiency. This method of irrigation has great potential in salt affected soils
of arid regions where a small amount of good quality canal water can be stored in
reservoirs and subsequently used for irrigation by using sand filters. Similarly in
kandi region of state where the topography is undulated and water is very scarce, drip
irrigation system can be used successfully. In case drip method of irrigation the
dripper should be kept at safe distance to avoid wetting of the trunks.
TIMING OF IRRIGATION
The timing of irrigation can be a crucial part of managing an orchard. Some
tree species, e.g. mango, respond to a dry period by flowering earlier and more
profusely than would otherwise occur if they were continually irrigated. The
flowering response is also probably influenced by temperature and the effect of
irrigation management may not be as evident in a year when we experience a cool dry
season.Proper timing of water applications during appropriate periods (known as
critical stages) can increase the yield and quality of most horticultural crops. The
critical periods of irrigation are the periods which coincide with rapid growth,
flowering, fruit set and fruit growth. Moisture stress during fruit growth reduces fruit
size.
Water management strategies for various fruit crops grown in Punjab are :
CITRUS:

Irrigation to young plants

• The newly planted young plants must be protected during the initial 3 to 4
years from excessive heat, moisture and cold.
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• In case of pre-bearing orchards, trees are irrigated every third day for the first
6 months, and 4-6 days for the next 6 months.
• Thereafter, till the attainment of bearing age, the interval will be between 6 to
15 days, depending upon the climatic and soils, particularly during the
summer months, light but more frequent irrigations are necessary.
• During summer months timely and frequent irrigation (every week) should be
given. Care should be taken to remove the weeds from the basins and to
mulch the basins with suitable material.
• During rainy season water is not allowed to stagnate around the plant, as it is
injurious to the roots, especially to the graft union.
• Good drainage during rainy season is very essential.
• For protecting the young plants from low temperatures and at times from
frost, their trunks may be wrapped with gunny cloth or any other durable
material. Frequent irrigations during winter also safeguard the plants against
low temperatures or frosts.
• The irrigation water should not stand around the tree trunk.
• Overwatering may be harmful to citrus as it is beneficial to phytophthora
which causes citrus gummosis. The infectious propagules (zoospores) of
phytophthora are carried by water. The irrigation water if comes in contact
with the tree trunk for prolong periods and keeps the trunk wet for more than
18 hours the zoospores of phytophthora can germinate and cause foot rot and
gummosis. Overwatering also leads to saturation of soil and leads to a drop in
oxygen levels in soil which has harmful effects on the citrus roots. Light
irrigations should be applied in citrus.

Irrigation to bearing Orchards

• The critical stage of irrigation is before sprouting in the month of February, after fruit
set in April and in hot weather during the fruit development.
• Lack of adequate soil moisture during blooming, reduces fruit set and causes
shedding of flowers and newly-set fruits.
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• During fruit development and maturity, insufficient soil moisture causes fruit
shedding and reduces the fruit size, juice content and quality of the fruit.
• Frequent irrigations render the fruits insipid but juicy, while delay reduces the yields.
• Since the field capacity varies with the soil, the approximate interval has to be
worked out for each location. Citrus orchards usually receive 20-30 irrigations in a
year.
• In recent years, drip or trickle irrigation has gained in, popularity with citrus growers.
About 50% of water saving has been recorded in this system.
• Here, it is possible to maintain a constant moisture level at the root-zone which
results in uniform growth and about 50% higher yields. The estimated cost is about
Rs. 20,000/ha
• In kinnow, drip irrigation has also been standardized and the amount of water
(litre/day/plant) to be applied through drip irrigation is given below.
Month Age of plants (years)
0-2 3-5 5-6 7-8 9.>9
April 13 25 39 52 65
May 16 32 48 64 80
June 17 34 51 68 85
July 13 26 39 52 65
August 12 24 36 48 60

Quality of Irrigation Water

Citrus trees are very sensitive to the presence of salts in soil as well as in the
irrigation water. Therefore, quality of irrigation water assumes importance in the
citriculture. Source of irrigation water may come from canals or underground water.
As such they are liable to contain salts, though in variable quantities. Water
containing 2000 ppm salts and above causes injury to citrus roots and even lower
concentration may prove dangerous, unless drained away by rain or liberal irrigation.
Amounts of 1000-1500ppm salts are tolerated if the soil is well supplied with organic
matter and rains are frequent enough to reduce the concentration through drainage.
The presence of sodium salts is most harmful to citrus. Chlorides are said to be more
injurious than sulphates, while carbonates are reputed to be the most injurious of all
the salts. High moisture content and high water table, especially in the presence of
high proportion of calcium may cause chlorotic symptoms in plants. Where better
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quality water is not available, the toxic effects of salts can be minimized by following
certain management practices. The soil should not be allowed to dry, where irrigation
water is high in salts to avoid root injury. If there is any sign of salt accumulation in
the soil an irrigation of at least 15 cm is recommended. When the natural salt content
of the soil or the irrigation water is high, water should be applied in excess of the
needs of the trees in order to reduce soluble salts in the root zone.

MANGO:

There are some other specific characteristics of mango and these characteristics
should be taken into consideration to judge the irrigation requirements of mango.

1. The deep and well spread root system of mango plant.

2. Fruit-bud differentiation takes place in terminal shoots of eight to ten months.
3. During fruit-bud differentiation and vegetative phase requirements are antagonistic.
4. The fruit quality depends upon moisture content in soil during fruit
development and maturity.
5. The irrigation requirements of young and non-bearing orchards differ
from the bearing orchards.

Irrigation in Young and Non-Bearing Orchards

The principal object of irrigation of young and non-bearing orchards is to

boost fast and vigorous growth of the plants. In initial stage the root spread of the
plants is limited. Light irrigation at frequent intervals is required to wet the soil. The
non-bearing trees 4-5 years of age are irrigated at weekly interval. The interval of
irrigation depends upon tree age, soil and climate. For the first six months after
planting, interval should be 2 to 6 days, for 6 to 12 months old plant at weekly interval
and 7 to 20 days till the plants attain bearing age. In light soil irrigation frequency is
more than in heavy soils. During winter, the irrigation is specially required for
protection against frost. In heavy soils, frequent irrigation causes damage to root
system and stem so it should be avoided. But the interval should not be too long so that
plant faces moisture stress and the growth and spread is checked.
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Irrigation in Bearing Orchards

• One irrigation should be given at the time of addition of fertilizers in the

month of February.

• The irrigation of bearing orchards at regular intervals (10 to 15 days) is prime

necessity during fruit set and for full fruit development from April to end June.

• It is helpful in attaining full fruit size and reducing fruit drop.

• But to obtain good flowering, the irrigation during winter months (2-3
months) flower bud differentiation should be stopped.

• Irrigation during this period promotes vegetative growth, which will be

detrimental to flowering.

• In North India 3-5 irrigations are required starting from February (at panicle
emergence stage) to May (at full fruit size) at 15 days interval.

• In light soils, the interval of irrigation would be high during hot, dry and
windy weather than in cold and calm atmosphere.

• The annual precipitation in most of mango growing regions varies from 100 to
250 cm.

• The most of these regions require little irrigation.

GUAVA
In young plants, irrigation at weekly intervals is sufficient during the summer
months depending upon the climate and soil. Young plants of guava need irrigation in
winter to avoid frost damage and proper establishment. Whereas in bearing plants
there should not be water stress as irrigation is essential to induce growth for
flowering of winter season crop. For summer crop, irrigation at an interval of 2-3
weeks from March to April is sufficient for flowering and better fruit set. Irrigation
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should be applied at 1-2 weeks intervals in summer and at 2-3 weeks interval from
August to September.

PEAR
The critical periods for this fruit are early fruit set, during flower formation,
and during final fruit swell. Irrigation should be applied at 5-7 days intervals in
summer and at 15 days interval from August to September.

PEACH
Fruit set takes place in March and the fruit development continues during
April to June till the attainment of maturity depending upon the variety. This is the
critical period of irrigation for peach. Peach trees should not suffer from any moisture
stress particularly 25-30 days before maturity of fruit as the fruit gains maximum size
and weight during this stage. In early maturing varieties like Partap, Flordaprince,
Early Grande and Shan-e-Punjab irrigation should be given at weekly intervals during
the first3-4 weeks after fruit set in March. Latter, from the second weeks of April to
the start of harvesting the trees may be irrigated at 3-4 days interval. The critical
period of irrigation vary with the variety due to the variation in fruit development
stages. The critical period of irrigation for peach varieties is given below :
Variety Critical period
Partap, Flordaprince End March to third week of April
Shan-e-Punjab, Earli Grande Mid April to first week of May
Khurmani May to first fortnight of June
Sharbati End May to end June

GRAPES
One irrigation should be given in the first week of March. Once fruit set has
taken place in April irrigation should be done at 10 days intervals till first week of
May. During the first week of May till harvest irrigations should be given at 3-4 days
interval. For varieties growing in Punjab (sub tropical) conditions following irrigation
schedule should be followed
Time Number
After pruning first fortnight of February One irrigation
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First week of march One irrigation

After fruit set in April till last week of After 10 days interval
May
During rest of May Weekly interval
June 3 or 4 days interval
July to October Irrigate when prolonged dry spell or rainfall is
insufficient
November to January One irrigation if soil gets extremely dry

BER
Ber is a xerophytic plant and gives good yields under rainfed conditions. Ber
is dormant during summer and irrigation is not required during this period. The
growth starts after the rains in the rainy season which is followed by flowering.
During rainy season, one or two irrigations may be given if dry spell of more than 15
days occur. In September and October the trees come into flowering, at this time no
irrigation should be applied otherwise flower will drop and lead to huge economic
loss to the growers. The fruit-setting in ber is completed during second fortnight of
October and first fortnight of November. Thus, the ber trees need irrigation during the
period from November to February when fruit is developing. Trees will continue to
bear even if no irrigation is applied during fruit development period, but the fruit size
remain small and there is heavy fruit drip. Irrigation during this period may be given
at intervals of 3 or 4 weeks depending upon the weather. The fruit becomes large,
quality improved and fruit shedding is minimized. Irrigation should be stopped in
second fortnight of March as fruits on the branches lying on the ground get damaged
and their ripening is delayed. Ber is essentially a fruit of dry areas and hence, it does
not need too frequent irrigations. Only 2-3 irrigations may suffice during water
months (December to February).

Conclusion
As we look ahead, we believe freshwater will be the major natural resource
issue of the coming years. It is also our belief that there will be large economic and
social pressures to reduce irrigation water use while greatly increasing water
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productivity to feed and clothe the world. Irrigation management in fruit trees aims at
maintaining adequate water supplies at all times by appropriate scheduling that avoids
tree water deficits. With the less ideal conditions with respect to available ground
water and poor water quality, need for accurate scheduling has increased
substantially. In addition, irrigation enterprises of the future will most likely be
subjected to ever more rigorous environmental requirements. This is a major shift
from the current emphasis on maximizing yield per unit area, and it will require a
significant re-thinking of how and why irrigation is done. Hopefully, this
compendium on judicious use of water will lend some insight and, perhaps, some
impetus to improving water management on fruit tree and other crops.

Judicious use of irrigation water in vegetable crops

 110

Parminder Singh Rajan Bhatt

DES Vegetable Crops –cum-SM Assistant Professor (Soil Science)
FASS, Kapurthala Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kapurthala

Intensive agriculture spear-headed by the green revolution led to serious

environmental problems viz., excessive and untimely use of irrigation water,
replacement of a rich diversity of traditional crops with few high yielding crop
varieties (HYV) and rather high use of fertilizers and pesticides. Amongst them,
water is of the prime importance, because it determines the output of other production
factors. Realizing the crucial role of water in enhancing the agricultural production,
large scale development programmes were undertaken to augment irrigation
resources in many countries. As a result of these concerted efforts about 18 percent of
the world’s arable land has been brought under irrigation by canal, tube-wells and
other sources, accounting for 40 per cent crops production. In India, enhanced
demand of irrigation water particularly since the introduction of HYVs of rice and
wheat led to wanton and increased ground water exploitation which in turn set in a
sharp decline of under ground water table at an alarming rate; putting an additional
burden on farmers in terms of investment, equipment and energy bills.

Over the years, the main emphasis for improving the water use efficiency has
been mostly mechanical adhoc engineering measures; holistic consideration with
crops and cropping systems and their agronomic management in the pivotal position
for improving the water productivity. India with only 2.3 per cent land area, 4 per
cent fresh water and one per cent forest cover has to support about 17 percent world’s
human population (over 1 billion) and 15 per cent world’s livestock (453 million);
therefore improving the water productivity and water use efficiency is imperative.
Keeping in view the food security, availability of resources and socio-economic
aspects of farming community, to improve water use efficiency in vegetable crops in
Punjab which is constituent of Indus-Basin with the main focus on improving the
water productivity, as out of 138 community development blocks, about 66 per cent
 111

have been declared as dark whereas draft exceeds the recharge and water table is
declining at alarming rate.
Present per capita water availability of 1000 m3 in India is far below the
international norms of 1700 m3 and is expected to decline further to about 800 m3 by
2050 due to demographic growth. The access to water is further confounded since 70-
80 cent of the rainfall in four months (June to September) and inter country basin
availability ranges from less than 300 to more than 2700 m3 (9 fold variation).
Agriculture consuming about 80 percent of the total utilizable contributes around 20
per cent of the India’s gross domestic product. Therefore, efficiency of energy and
water is a high priority of the agrarian economy of India. Ground water accounting
for more than 80 percent of the total irrigation in the Indus-basin is declining at an
excessive rate and enhanced water productivity is called upon to meet livelihood and
environmental challenges. In some of thee vegetable crops, the critical stages of crop
growth have been standardized at which they should not face the stress.

A vegetable are classified into following type on the basis of water requirement
(i) High : Palak, Amaranthus, Lettuce, Sweet pepper, cabbge,
Cauliflower, Radish, Turnip and green onion
(ii) Moderate : onion, cucumber, chilli, brinjal, tomato
(iii) Low : Pea , bean Asparagus
(iv) Very Low : Water melon, Muskmelon, Pumpkin, Wax gourd
Irrigation water requirement also depends on the growth stage. Initially plants require
less water but need moist soil (at field capacity) as root system is week and not well
developed. During peak stage or at maturity plants requires more water due to more
transpiration. The critical stages of the some of vegetables are as follows:
Critical stages for irrigation in some vegetable crops
Crop Growth stage
Tomato Flowering development, fruit set and after each harvest
Brinjal Flowering development, fruit set and after each harvest
Chilli 10th leaf to flower, fruit at after periodical harvest
Potato Stolen formation, tuberization and tuber enlargement
Cabbage Head formation and enlargement
Cauliflower Throughout the whole vegetation period
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Cucurbits Flower bud development and early fruit development

Onion Bulb formation and enlargement
Garlic Bulbing
Peas Beginning of flower bud development and pod filling
Root crop Constant water supply during the whole vegetation periods
Pea Beginning of water development and pod filling
Sweet potato 40-45 days after planting at tuber formation
Okra After fruit set
Leafy During the whole vegetation periods
vegetable
Source: Hazra and Som (1999)

Rooting depth and configuration knowledge are important for scheduling irrigation to
the vegetable crops. Shallow rooted like onion remove irrigation from top layer of the
soil. So, shallow rooted vegetables crops require frequent irrigations and vice –versa.
The vegetable can classified into following five groups on the basis of there rooting
depth.
(i) Very Shallow Rooted (15-30 cm) : Onion, lettuce and small radish
(ii) Shallow Rooted (30-60 cm) : Cole crop, Garlic, Potato , Palak,
Spinach
(iii) Moderate deep rooted (60-90cm) :Carrot, Cucumber, Brinjal,
Muskmelon
(iv) Deep Rooted(90-120 cm) : Pea, Chilli, Tinda
(v) Very deep rooted (120 cm -180 cm):Tomato, Pumpkin, Watermelon
Usually farmers apply irrigations to vegetables as flat method. But the bed
planting has shown the saving of irrigation water by 20 to 30 per cent. The
sprinkler and drip irrigation methods saves irrigation water but the initial cost is
more. The sprinkler and drip irrigation systems involve the advanced technology
of irrigation and discussed one by one.
Sprinkler irrigation system : Cost reduction and the very low precipitation rate are
convincing more and more farmers to switch to permanent and semi-permanent
irrigation systems. In addition to the clear labor-saving advantages and convenience,
solid set irrigation has two more advantages:
 113

• Flexibility in irrigation design and management

• Improved fertigation and water distribution uniformity.

The overhead micro-irrigation system achieves three main principles, which

contribute to optimum production conditions, and consequently, maximum profits:

• High water distribution uniformity of up to 93% CU with a low precipitation

rate (3-4 mm/h)
• Accurate fertilizer delivery through the sprinklers (fertigation) to any required
location.
• Light pipes and sprinklers, which are easy to handle, quick to lay and retrieve,
and cost effective.

Agro technical, Economic and Environmental Advantages:

• Eliminates runoff: Runoff and soil erosion is eliminated due to the low
precipitation rate and fine droplets.
• Minimizes pollution: Accurate control of the soil wetting depth minimizes
water leakage and mineral wash off, eliminating pollution of aquifers.
• Perfect germination: Fine droplets prevent crust formation on the soil surface.
The optimal moisture for germination in the soil’s upper layer can be
maintained by several daily irrigation cycles.
• Incremental sowing and planting: Accurate control of each lateral enables
incremental sowing and planting in the same plot.
• Accelerated crop growth and development: Balanced air-water ratio results in
healthy, fast growing plants.
• Wind resistance: Strong water jet irrigates complete blocks, instead of single
rows, considerably reducing wind factor.
• Economic advantages: Flow rate is 60-70% lower than that of conventional
sprinklers. The initial investment cost of the pump, pipes, valves and other
equipment is lower. The new sprinkler system operates reliably with no leaks
or pipe bursts. The equipment is durable.
 114

• Ecological advantages: The system uses water efficiently, prevents pollution

of underground water resources, saves energy and allows long term use of
plastic components.
• Water saving: Field tests and calculation analyses show a potential 25 - 30%
saving in water compared to conventional portable sprinkler systems. The
objectives for incorporating micro-sprinklers in overhead irrigation have been
met with great success. The new system is very practical and enables growers
to easily adopt the new irrigation concept. First applied in irrigation of lettuce
and cabbages use of the system has expanded to other crops such as potatoes,
peanuts, carrots, and flowers. Over 10,000 ha. in Israel are irrigated by the
micro-sprinkler system. Small as well as large growers benefit from the
concept, which is an optimal solution for a variety of markets.

Drip irrigation system

Microirrigation and fertigation refer to applying irrigation water (and) fertilizer

nutrients through small emitters placed on or in the soil near the plants. Drip or trickle
irrigation is a type of microirrigation where the water and nutrients are dispensed to
the crop via small plastic tubes with drip-type emitters that are placed near a row of
plants. Drip irrigation is an important irrigation method in many crop production
areas of the world, particularly in arid areas or regions which have a high competition
for available water resources. Currently, approximately 40% of Florida's vegetable
crops produced with polyethylene mulch culture are irrigated with drip irrigation
(Figure 1). Vegetable crops throughout Florida grown with drip irrigation include
strawberries, tomatoes, watermelons, muskmelons, cucumbers, squash, eggplants, and
peppers.

Benefits

Drip irrigation has many benefits, some of which are becoming more important in
today's environmentally conscious world. One of the major benefits of drip irrigation
is the capability to conserve water and fertilizer compared to overhead sprinklers and
 115

subirrigation with conventional fertilization systems. Research has shown that water
savings with drip irrigation can amount to as much as 80% compared to subirrigation
and 50% compared to overhead sprinkler irrigation ( Locascio et al., 1985). This
benefit of drip irrigation is extremely important for vegetable producers trying to
grow vegetables in urbanizing areas of the state, such as the Tampa Bay area and the
lower east coast, and in areas with inadequate water supplies for subirrigation or
sprinkler irrigation.

Drip irrigation also helps reduce foliar disease incidence compared to overhead
sprinkler systems. Water is not applied to plant foliage, maintaining drier plants and
reducing susceptibility to disease outbreak with an associated reduction in the need
for fungicides. Fruit quality of tomatoes may be improved when N and K are applied
by drip irrigation as compared to applying all fertilizer preplant (Dangler and
Locascio, 1990).

Drip irrigation provides for precise timing and application of fertilizer nutrients in
vegetable production. Fertilizer can be prescription-applied during the season in
amounts that the crop needs and at particular times when those nutrients are needed.
This capability of drip helps growers increase the efficiency of fertilizer application
and should result in reduced fertilizer applications for vegetable production. The
improved fertilizer application efficiency results from small, controlled amounts of
fertilizers that are applied throughout the season in contrast to large amounts of
fertilizer placed within or on the bed under the plastic mulch at the beginning of the
season (Locascio and Smajstrla, 1989). Small, controlled applications not only save
fertilizer but they can also reduce the potential for groundwater pollution due to
fertilizer leaching from heavy rainstorms or periods of excess irrigation.

Placing small amounts of fertilizer in the production bed only at times when the crop
requires them results in reduced potential for soluble salt injury to crops. This benefit
of drip irrigation can improve plant stands and overall crop uniformity and yield and
is particularly important when using water sources that are high (greater than 1500
parts per million) in soluble salts. Extra salt levels imposed on the production system
 116

by high levels of dry fertilizer in the bed can thus be reduced if the bulk of the
fertilizer is applied in small amounts through the drip irrigation system.

Drip irrigation can be better than subirrigation in production systems which must use
low quality water with high soluble salt contents for irrigation purposes. This is
because the water applied by drip irrigation moves the salts away from the dripper,
rather than moving the salts up and concentrating them near the plant as subirrigation
does.

It can be concluded that as Isreal has achieved modernization of irrigation

techniques and has increased irrigation efficiency as well as water use efficiency by
introducing drip systems and computerized automatic water control, can be
successfully employed under the conditions of water scarcity.

References:

Dangler, J. M., and S. J. Locascio. 1990. External and internal blotchy ripening and
fruit elemental content of trickle-irrigated tomatoes as affected by N and K
application time. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci 115:547-549.

Hazra P and Som MG (1999) Technology for vegetable production and improvement.
Naya Prokash, Calcutta.

Locascio, S. J., S. M. Olson, F. M. Rhoads, C. D. Stanley, and A. A. Csizinszky.

1985. Water and fertilizer timing for trickle-irrigated tomatoes. Proc. Fla.
State Hort. Soc. 98:237-239.

Locascio, S. J., and A. G. Smajstrla. 1989. Drip-irrigated tomato as affected by water

quantity and N and K application timing. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 102:307-
309.

Methods for judicious use of water in agriculture.

Rajan Bhatt and Manoj Sharma
Krishi Vigyan Kendra,
Kapurthala
 117

Water is one of the most valuable resources. The agriculture sector is the
largest consumer of water resources in the developing countries. Assured supply of
water is necessary for sustainable agriculture. But, farmers of our country are
making irrational use of water and, the level of utilization of water at the farmer’s
field is poor. Though water is a precious and scarce resource, its application and
use-efficiencies have been quite low. Most of irrigation projects operate at a low
efficiency in the range 30–40%, thereby losing 60–70% of irrigation water during
conveyance and application. Also, intensive agriculture and rice–wheat cropping
pattern are prevalent in most areas of Punjab, India. Lack of awareness among the
farmers about the consequences of inefficient water application, and lack of
appropriate tools and instruments for regulated and uniform application of the
desired quantity of water at the appropriate time are among the major causes of low
water-use efficiency at the field-level. This has ultimately led to a decline of water
resources. Immediate steps should be taken for efficient and judicious use of this
precious resource; else it will be difficult to sustain agricultural productivity.
Farmers’ practices need to be critically observed and modified taking into view the
perceptions, concerns and constraints of the farmers in adopting better tools and
techniques.

Introduction:
Water has been prioritized to be the most crucial resource. Agriculture uses almost
85% of the total water available in the country. Agriculture sector will continue to
hold lion’s share of water resources, however, ever increasing domestic and industrial
demand will eventually cause decreased availability of fresh water for agriculture.
The ancient civilisation had flourished mainly along perennial surface water sources,
i.e. stream and rive. Improper management of water resources had wiped out
civilizations. For human body, water is critical in maintaining uniform body
temperatures. We possess a large volume of water in our bodies, it is about 75%,
without which we would warm up or cool down much more rapidly than we do. An
average man needs 1.4 kg food and 2.25 kg air everyday to survive. To grow one ton
of food-grain requires 1000 tons of water and one ton of rice need 2000 tons of water.
 118

Water is not eternally pure and inexhaustible gift of God. The fresh/potable water,
although renewable, is very limited and vulnerable resource. There is growing
shortage of usable water resources and it is going to be one of the major issues of the
twenty first century. The world Bank has predicted that the wars of next century will
be fought over water and not for oil, lead and politics. With the added dimensions of
quality of water, the scenario of availability of good quality water all over the World.
has become really grim. We need to apprehend that we are heading towards a
catastrophe with no way of turning back. We should overcome this inevitable
catastrophic syndrome by developing a strategy with water security including
management, conservation and channelling from places, where it is plentiful to others
where it is deficient and scarce. Technologies for improving water productivity are
highly location specific as the temporal and spatial distribution of water is very much
complex. Hence, there is a need to develop, test and adopt those technological options
of water management, which assist in improving water productivity in agriculture.

NON JUDICIOUS USAGE OF WATER RESOURCES

INDISCRIMINATE AND EXCESSIVE UTILISATION OF

SURFACE/CANAL WATER:
The land Environmental hazards are water logging and soil salinity/alkalinity
spreading in areas of surface water irrigation projects. In India, the history of water
logging and salinity/alkalinity of fertile lands can be traced mainly to the post -
Independence period of fifties and sixties when the development of surface water
irrigation took place to make our country self reliant in food production. The main
function of successful irrigated agriculture is to develop and maintain soil zone in
which moisture air and salt components are favourable for plants/crop growth. The
plants must have moisture to grow, live and the presence of free air in the interstices
of soil and root zone is as essential as water for plant/crop growth. The fertile land is
seriously affected when water table rises into the root zone of the plant/ crop. An
average and normal man requires 60 litres water, 1.4 kg food and 2.25 kg of air every
 119

day. To grow one ton of food grain requires 1000 tons of water and one ton of rice
needs 2000 tons
of water. The excessive and indiscriminate use of surface/canal water has led to
regional environmental imbalances which caused water logging and soil infertility in
irrigated commands. The water logging means 100 percent saturation of soil profile.
The water in excess adversely affects the production and yield of crops by reducing
soil volume accessible to their roots and excessive soil moisture prevents the
formation of carbon dioxide by plant roots and other organisms and from being
exchanged with the oxygen from the atmosphere a process known as 'aeration'.
Without aeration, the root development and uptake capacity of water and nutrients of
most plants is reduced resulting in decrease of crop yield. The magnitude of water
logging associated with soil salinity/alkalinity has been progressively increasing since
the inception of irrigated agriculture. It has been found a big constraint in achieving
optimum agriculture production. If it is not controlled at present then there is
likelihood of acquiring a situation, which may be beyond our means of combat.
As per FAO (1990), in India salinity effected 11% of total irrigated area, which is 4.7
Mha. The National Commissions for Irrigation (1972) on Agriculture (1976) and
Ministry of Agriculture (1985) have reported water logged area of 4.84, 6.00 and 8.53
Mha respectively showing a progressive increase. According to the Ministry of Water
Resources (1991) an area of 5.8 Mha was suffering due to these problems in the
commands of major/medium Irrigation projects in our country. This hinders the use
of irrigation resource costing around Rs 24,000 crores 1 at Rs 40,000 per ha. During
1998, only Muktsar district of Punjab State suffered loss of Rs 200 crores cotton crop
due to water logging according to Department of Agriculture.

1
 120

It has been computed that water logging and salt infested soils cost 422 million man
 121

days.
1. Surface water as means of transport of chemical wastes and effluents of
industries:

The effect of water on almost everything in our environments is far more

consequential than might be imagined. Water is often called "the Universal Solvent"
because of its extraordinary ability to dissolve a broad range of substances. In fact it
dissolves more substance in greater quantity than any other liquid. The salinity of the
 122

world's oceans is a direct result. An element such as calcium becomes so abundant in

sea water that it precipitates out, forming crystals of the mineral calcite, that a thick
layer of a sedimentary rock called "limestone" forms on the ocean floor. Water has
the highest heat of vaporisation of any liquid e.g. huge amounts of heat energy are
required to evaporate even small quantities of water. The subsequent release of this
energy through condensation during rainstorms provides an important energy source,
which is responsible for generating tornadoes and hurricanes. It comes from the heat
energy acquired by countless water molecules when they evaporate from a water
surface. Within human body, water is critical in maintaining uniform body
temperatures. We have a large volume of water in our bodies (about 75%), without
which we would warm up or cool down much more rapidly than we do. The
industrialisation brings with it the problem of waste disposal. The effluent discharged
from industries like textile mills, distilleries, fertiliser, sugar factories, tanneries,
mineral and metal processing industries etc. introduce into ground water undesirable
colour, odour and taste, organic matter and dissolved salts which include arsenic,
cyanide, cadmium and hexavalent chromium in toxic concentrations. Ground water
derived from mines producing sulphide ores of base metals is generally too acidic for
use and contains appreciable amounts of metals.
High concentrations of Cr+6 to the extent of 12.9, 270.00 & 355.00 mg/litre in
ground water are detrimental to human health due to toxic effects on human skin,
nasal mucous membrane, larynx (a respiratory organisational containing vocal cords)
and lung carcinoma (tumour, cancer). Cyanide maximum between 26 and 63 in
effluents and 1.80 prescribed 2.0 mg/litre for cyanide discharge on land. The high
concentration to the extent of 2 mg/l. in ground water is a health hazard in view of
high toxicity of cyanide ions.
OVER EXPLOITATION OF GROUND WATER RESOURCE:
A major portion (59%) of the irrigated agriculture acreage is fed by ground water
resource which is an assured source of chemically safe water in Unin Territory, Delhi.
Due to more demand of ground water for ever increasing population and irrigation
within a short span of time, the exploitation of this precious resource has become non
judicious and improper in space and time. The increasing extraction of ground water
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has resulted in their water levels decline, especially in the fresh ground water areas. In
Central Punjab State area, the levels have been falling at 0.2 to 0.3 m/year.In NCT
Delhi, the decline was 11.5m between during 1977 and 1995 pre-monsoons in
Ghitorni area (South Delhi) depicting a decline of 0.64 m/year. The demand for
drinking water of NCT of Delhi has been increasing manifold in the last three decades
due to rapid increase in the population. The population of Delhi was 62.2 lakh in
1984 which rose to 94.2 lakh in 1991 indicating a growth rate of 51%. The population
of Delhi is expected to be 122 lakh by the year 2001 and 200 lakh by 2010 AD. The
requirement of drinking water in Delhi during 1995-96 was 3200 mild against which
the total raw water treatment capacity was only 2380 mild resulting in a short fall of
820 mild. Due to this, the stress on exploitation of ground water resource increased in
Delhi during last two decades. However, the ground water availability scenario in
Delhi is not very rosy since a greater part of NCT Delhi is underlain by brackish to
saline ground water at depths of 30 m and below.In early eighties, the depths to water
level varied between 2 and 5 mbgl in various parts of Punjab State but presently it is 3
to 7 mbgl in 10 km belt along the rivers and up to 10 mbgl in other places. The most
notable consequence of the agricultural development strategy has been the depletion
of ground water resource. The water table in the State declining at an rate of 0.5 to 1
m per annum. The severity of such situation can be judged from the fact that 108
blocks (85 % blocks) are classified either dark or gray showing no further or very
little scope exists for further exploitation of this resource especially in the central part
of the State covering Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana districts and part of Amritsar,
Patiala and Sangrur districts. The declining water levels have resulted in failure of
tubewells or deepening of ground water abstraction structures leading to higher cost
of pumping.
2. Loss of water from canal:

A large amount of water is lost due to seepage in unlined canals and even in lined
canals .e. g. in Unlined canals (normal soils with some clay content ) = 15 to 20 ha-
m/day/million sq.m. of wetted areaUnlined canals (sandy soils with some silt
content ) = 25 to 30 ha-m/day/million sq.m. of wetted area.Lined canals 20% of
above values
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3. DESERTIFICATION:
The land is at present intensively cultivated under the green revolution at the expense
of grazing and traditional long fallow periods. As such, there is a problem of land
degradation and water scarcity due to over exploitation and the use of intensive
agricultural practices. This will ultimately lead to the desertification of Punjab

B. MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES:
Conjunctive Use Technique For Surface And Ground Water Resources:
The conjunctive water use is planned and co-ordinated harnessing of surface
and ground waters, so as to achieve their optimal utilisation in a Canal Command
Area and to accrue more benefits rather than individual resource utilisation. In India
(Punjab State) 9.71 lakhs ha was water logged in 1964, it reduced to 1.69 lakhs ha in
1974 after sinking shallow tubewells. According to the World Bank (1991) in
Pakistan, an intensive water logging and salinity problem developed in irrigated
areas, as a result of excessive seepage's from canals and irrigated fields. These
were controlled by Salinity Control and Reclamation Project (SCARP), by installing
25 lakhs shallow tubewells, 6 to 10m deep with low capacity pump, achieving two
objectives, one for maintaining water levels within safe limits and other providing
supplementary source of irrigation. On an average 80,000 ha of the affected land was
brought under production every year by this technique.The results of CGWB
Conjunctive water use in irrigation Project areas namely-IGNP Stage-I, Rajasthan,
Mahikadana, Gujarat (and Sarda Sahayak, Uttar Pradesh were studied. The Ground
Water Flow Model (Modeflow) U.S.G.S. (1984) Package was utilised to simulate
ground water conditions by means of input data fed to the computer. The data was
calibrated to generate scenarios to evolve different strategies of conjunctive use.In
IGNP State-I Rajasthan area, surface and ground water resources were computed as
4215 and 992 MCM per annum respectively. Four Scenarios were developed.
The scenario utilising 18% of canal water releases i.e. 759 MCM ground
water resource have predicted the recharge to be 6982 MCM, in the next 15 years
period and area water logged would be 463, 626 and 785 km2 at the end of 5th, 10th
and 15th years respectively. This strategy was found to be viable and the model was
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run for another 15 years period, which showed that the water logged area would
increase to 1190, 1698 and 2111 km2 at the end of 20th, 25th and 30th years
respectively. It proves that we can only control the pace of spread of water logging
but cannot eliminate it even in next 30 years. The World Commission on
Environment and Development (WCED 1990) rightly quoted that development which
destroys the natural resources on which it is based is not the development. It has been
universally recognised that irrigation has been a very powerful force in fostering
development in many countries. But when and where, it is used injudiciously, it has
been a progenitor of environmental hazards of water logging and salinity/alkalinity.
The conjunctive water use has been found to be an effective remedy for these. It can
be concluded that the vertical drainage of water logged and salt infested areas, can be
made effective by tapping/developing ground water resource by installing shallow
tubewells. It will not only provide assured irrigation but also serve as an inbuilt
insurance against these hazards.
Artificial Recharge Of Ground Water Aquifers:
This technique has become a pragmatic approach to augment depleting ground
water resource. CGWB undertook a pilot project studies in Jawaharlal Nehru
University and Indian Institute of Technology Campuses, New Delhi. Four check
dams were proposed. Till September 1997, two check dams were completed and
studies on first check dam had proved that there was net rise of 5.3 to 11.3 m in the
water table in premonsoon 1996 when compared with premonsoon 1995, after
construction of the check dam. During 1996 monsoon, 46500 cubic meter water was
recharged to ground water aquifers enabling a tubewell run for 24 hours daily during
pre-monsoon 1997. It was working for 4 hours daily before check dam. Moreover,
300 families of four members each could be provided with household water for a
period of one year taking a norm of 100 l/capita/day. The Chinese developed water
management by 'four water concept' and achieved an unparalleled expansion of
irrigated area from 16 Mha in 1950 to 48 Mha in 1986 to feed 1100 million people by
controlling falling water table. It involved aquifer dynamic control by keeping depth
of water 1m and 6m below ground level. At the end of rainy season, the water level is
the lowest, whereas at the end of dry season the drawdown is not allowed to exceed
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rechargeable depth through rainfall and surface water. It avoided occurrence of water
logging and prevented mining of ground water resources. During rainy season, the
main task was to facilitate recharge. At the end of rainy season, water level is not
permitted to fall below the depth which could make pumping cost excessive and
uneconomical. During dry season, the water level is continuously lowered by
pumping for irrigating lands and it is lowered to such a depth that 'storage space'
vacated in the aquifer was enough that it could get filled during next rainy spell. The
techniques of recharge were spreading rain water on flat topographic lands, recently
abandoned gravity irrigation systems and reducing rain water runoff by bundling and
terracing to improve percolation. In Habie province, this concept was applied in seven
irrigation and drainage canals, for 12 km length, piped distribution system 34 km long
with 45 tubewells. Mobile pumps were used to pump water from canals in rainy
season and ground water during dry season. The pumped water was carried and
distributed through pipes. As a consequence the water level which were previously at
a dangerously deep levels were raised and kept within a depth of 2 and 6 mbgl. It has
resulted in substantial savings and increased crop yields.
The Central Groundwater Board, Ministry of Water Resources (1996) in their
National Perspective Plan for harnessing surplus monsoon run off and to recharge it
to Ground water repositories, recommended saturation of vadose zone down to 3
mbgl which will create subsurface storage potential of 49 Mha-m. Out of this, 44
Mha-m is retrievable. Based on the availability of monsoon run off and storage
potential of vadose zone, the feasible ground water storage was estimated at 21 Mha-
m, out of which 16 Mha-m will be utilised. This additional subsurface storage will
bring substantial area under irrigation. It will raise water levels by 1.5 to 3 m.
Consequent upon rise of water levels due to additional ground water recharge, there
will be reduction in the pumping lifts of ground water resulting in saving of energy. It
was calculated that there will be annual saving in consumption of diesel about 319
million litres; considering the price of diesel at Rs 9 per litre, the saving comes to Rs
287 crores. The saving of electrical energy would be to the tune of 810 million KWh;
taking Rs 5 per KWh, the annual financial saving totals to Rs 405 crores. The benefits
of subsurface storage are that it would be free from environmental hazards and
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interstate controversies, equitable distribution of water resources in water scarce

areas, ensuring sustainability of existing ground water abstraction system for major
part of year due to extended recharge period of 3 to 4 months mitigating drinking
water scarcity and controlling hazards of flash floods, soil erosion and silting of major
reservoirs and their channels, thereby increasing life of reservoirs and navigability of
river channels.
1. Canal water management:
The canal irrigation system was scientifically planned about five decades back
keeping in view the then cropping pattern, cropping intensity and ground water
quality and quantity situations. Since then a sea change has taken place in the
cropping pattern, ground water development, cropping intensity, etc. The low water
consuming crops like pulses and oilseeds have been replaced with high yielding
varieties having greater demand for irrigation such as paddy and wheat. The number
of tube well has increased manifold. So the operational schedule including water
allowance, capacity factors for irrigation channels found at that time are no more
relevant. It is therefore quite imperative that the canal water operational schedule
must be revised keeping in view the prevailing irrigation needs, availability of water
resources etc. for making an optimal utilization of water resources. Canals should be
lined.

2. On farm water management:

It has been experienced that the over all efficiency of the irrigation systems on the
farmer’s field varies from 30 to 40% which can be increased to 60 to 70 % by
adopting efficient water management strategies.
a) Precision land leveling: Unevenness in the soil surface adversely affects the
uniform distribution of water in the fields. Now a day it is possible to do Precision
land leveling on the fields, which seems to be leveled with naked eyes, with the help
of Laser leveler which gives much better results than the earlier devices. Benefits of
Laser leveling are:
i) More level and smooth surface.
ii) Reduction in time and water required to irrigate the field.
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iii) More uniform distribution of water in the field.

iv) More uniform moisture environment of the crops.
v) More uniform germination and growth of crops.
vi) Improved field traffic ability.
b) Irrigation scheduling: Proper scheduling of irrigation to crops is an important
component of water saving technologies. A tensiometer is developed by the Punjab
Agricultural Scientists to schedule the irrigation in the paddy fields. The tensiometer
can be used by the farmer himself. By using this tensiometer we can save upto 30 %
of water.
c) Improving the conveyance efficiency: The water lost in the farms during
conveyance from source to the crops can be reduced by adopting Under Ground Pipe
Line system. Water lost by seepage and evaporation can be reduced. By installing
Under Ground Pipe Line system 3-4% of land can be saved which can be brought
under cultivation.

d) Adoption of improved irrigation methods:

i) Furrow Irrigated Raised Beds: In this system wheat is planted on the top of the
raised beds that are superficially reshaped for sowing of next crop. Irrigation
is applied through furrows between the beds. The main advantage of bed
planting is saving in water. About 30-40% of water is saved in this method.

ii)Furrow Irrigation method in wide row crops: Crops like maize, cotton, Sun-flower,
Sugar-cane and vegetables should be grown on ridges and water should be applied
through furrows. In furrow irrigation water loss can be reduced because the wetted
area is reduced. Water lost due to evaporation from soil surface and due to
percolation is reduced to much extent.
e) Micro Irrigation: The conventional methods of water conveyance and irrigation
being highly inefficient have led not only to wastage of water but also to several
ecological problems like waterlogging, salinization and soil degradation. It has been
recognized that use of modern irrigation methods viz. drip and sprinkler irrigation is
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the only alternative for efficient use of surface as well as ground water resources. The
water use efficiency in these systems is much higher than the flood method of
irrigation.

3. Conservation measures suggested:

World is heading for a major water supply crunch Uncontrolled exploitation of
ground water and uncontrolled pollution have brought in serious problem of water
management. About 44 million people in India have been effected by water quality.
Many million household do not have adequate quantity of water. In many rural areas,
people have to walk long distances to fetch water. The rich, ultra rich and the poor get
water at highly subsidised rates, at some places water is supplied even free of cost.
USA has enacted law to restrict toilet flushes to a maximum of 7 litre per flush,
instead of conventional toilets 12 litres per flush. It is estimated that a US family of
four can save about 85,000 litres of water in one year by this measure. A Golf course
use about 3000 cubic meters of water per day. It is computed that this quantity of
water is sufficient to met the needs of 15,000 people per day. When large proportions
of population do not get even drinking water and we are wasting this precious
commodity in golf courses. If we save this water for about 100 days in a year, we will
have 3 lakh cubic metres to fed 15 lakh additional people per annum. These points
indicate that ground water legislation is the need of our time, to control exploitation
and proper use of ground water resources. These simple measures to control wasteful
water resource can save and make available a copious quantity of potable and fresh
water.
Conclusions:
The faulty cropping pattern along with faulty agricultural practices has created a
hydrological imbalance in Punjab. The demand of water is increasing due to
increasing population, while the water resources are being exploited mercilessly
without thinking for the future. Strategies for the rational use of water have been
discussed which are not difficult to adopt. Now the time has come when the scientists,
researchers, extension workers and farmers should join hand to save this precious
resource.
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Water resource management for sustainable crop

production in India
Rajan Bhatt* and Parminder Singh**
Assistant Professor (Soil Scinece)* District Extension specialist (SM)
Krishi Vigyan Kendra,Kapurthala Farm advisory service scheme
rajanbhatt79@rediffmail.com Kapurthala.

The life of mankind and almost all the flora and fauna on the earth depends on the
availability of fresh water resources. Water is used by every one every day. The three
major users of the water are domestic water supply, industry including power
generation and agriculture. About 2/3rd of water withdrawn world wide from rivers
and ground water is used for irrigated agriculture. It is a renewable natural resource
but total volume in hydrological cycle in the globe is constant and very small. Of the
earth’s total water volume of about 1400 Mkm3, about 97% is saline ocean water that
is unsuitable for human as well as for plant use. About 30 Mkm3 of remaining fresh
water exists in the ice caps and glaciers and 4-6 Mkm3 of the ground water remains
essentially inaccessible. Thus only the resources consisting of one percent of the
earth’s water is cycled in the hydrological cycle. Nations of the world particularly the
developing countries have made huge investments for developing their water
resources to increase their agricultural production. But there is an upper limit to the
availability of water resources in each country.
We have entered the third millennium in the history of man kind. The population of
the world which was 2.5 billon 50 years ago has become 6 billons and is likely to
cross the 8 billon mark in the next quarter of the century. In India, it has almost
crossed 1 billon mark and is expected to reach 1.4 billion in the next 25 years.
Because of the increasing population and consequently the requirement for food grain
and other agricultural commodities, it is feared that in future water may become the
major limiting factor for producing enough food, fiber and fuel for the projected
population.
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The sources of all water is precipitation and we are concerned with that part of
it which falls on the surface of the earth and becomes useable. Water reaching the
earth’s ssurface partially infiltrates into it and partly moves as surface runoff. The
infiltrated water is partly retained in the upper surface of the earth constituting the rot
zone of the vegetation and partly lost as deep seepage which adds to the ground
water. Soil stored water is lost through direct evaporation or evapo-transpiration.
Efficient management of water envisages that the maximum portion of water be used
by vegetation and minimum lost as runoff and deep seepage.
As water is becoming scarce, it is becoming increasingly important to
conserve the available water. A number off-farm and on-farm measures need to be
imposed to use the water more efficiently. As water cannot be stretched further for
agriculture, it is faced with challenges to use water more beneficially and efficiently.
Questions are being asked whether the available water resources will be able to
sustain the future population. Can we achieve the sustainable use of water through
improved management?
Need for sustainability:
India has achieved spectacular increase in the agricultural production during the past
few decades. The success of the green revolution is largely attributed to the expansion
of irrigation net work that existed in the country. Canals in the initial stages and tube
wells immediately thereafter have played a crucial role in the quantum jump in
production. This development of irrigation has been a mixed blessing. While it has
helped increase production, It has caused water logging and salinization in many
areas. Similarly over-exploitation of ground water has resulted in declining water
levels in some area. Soil erosion and siltation in reservoirs and flood damage are the
result of the management of rain water. All these effects are threatening the
sustainability of the system and call for special efforts to achieve sustainable use of
water.
According to food and agricultural organization (Pereira et al, 1996).
Sustainable development is the management and conservation of natural resource
base and the technological change to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction
of the human needs for present and future generations. Such sustainable development
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including Agriculture, forestry and fisheries conserves genetic resources and is

environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable and
socially acceptable.
Therefore the objectives of sustainability in the present context is to use water
resources to achieve increased production to meet the needs of ever increasing
population and aspiration of the people without compromising the productivity of
land and water.

Major problems and issues related to sustainable water development:

Agricultural production can only be sustained on a large scale basis, if the land,
water and forests on which it is based are not degraded. Many interrelated issues and
problems can be identified in this regard:
• Inefficient use of water at farm level.
• Depletion of ground water.
• Salinity and water logging
• Erosion and sediment ion
• Deforestation
• Inadequate control of agro chemicals
• Improper attention to health considerations.

The problem and issue differ from country to country and often from one project
another project within the same country. The most wide spread and perhaps most
serious environment problem that contributes to unsustainable water resources
development in agriculture is caused by water logging, salinization and sodification.
It is reported that out of 270 m ha of presently irrigated area worldwide, 60-80 m ha
are affected to some extent by water logging ,salinity and 20- 30 m ha are severely
affected (UNEP, 1989).Improving irrigation efficiency will not only reduce the
hazards of water logging and salinization , but also provide additional water for
irrigating more land.
Deforestation, erosion and sedimentation problems are often related to the
water development projects. FAO (1989) reported that current rate of deforestation
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unsustainable. Deforestation can cause soil erosion rates10 to 100 times greater than
the natural levels. Ground water management is causing serious concern in many arid
and semi arid countries. The rate of pumping withdrawal exceeds the rate of recharge
of aquifer resulting in decline of the ground water level. Irrigated agriculture with its
associated intensive cultural practices, such as high levels of fertilizers and
agrochemicals use and deep percolation of water contributes to water pollution
.Nitrate contamination of ground water is likely to be of importance where rural water
supplies are concerned.

Requisite of sustainable resource management

Before initiating steps for sustainable management of a resource, it is essential to
know the availability of the resources. Availability of water resources is not static. It
varies in the time and space. The water interacts with the soil in as much as it is first
stored in the soil and then utilized by the plants. Only that part of it is used as evapo-
transportation (ET) which is retained in the root zone. The management of water for
sustainable use would require

1. A fair assessment of the availability of the resources, its distribution in time

and space together with land characters with which it interacts.
2. Conservation of the resources to increase its availability for the useful
purposes.
3. Efficient manage for optimizing returns from the source and avoid any
adverse effect on environment in general and quality of the resources in
particular.

Assessment of water resources

Precipitation is the main sources of the water resources. It is partitioned into surface
runoff, deep seepage and soil water. The runoff stored in reservoirs and transported
through canal net work comprises the surface water resources. The seepage water
joining the groundwater table becomes the ground water resource. The water retained
in the soil is used by vegetation and is called effective rainfall.
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Currently water resources are reported as potential surface and developed

surface water and potential and developed ground water. While the surface water can
be measured as flow or surface storage, the ground water is usually estimated from
fluctuations of the ground water level and specific yield from aquifers Only limited
data for specific yield is available. Similarly precise data on water table fluctuations
and also not available. Information on available water resources in India is collected
and reported by Ministry of Water Resources. The country receives on annual
average rainfall of 1200 mm which when multiplied by the geographical area works
out to be 400 M ha m. It is estimated that 188 M ha m of this water constitutes runoff.
Because of the nature of terrain and distribution of rainfall, it is estimated that 69 M
ha m runoff can be harnessed for irrigation. One hundred and seventy five M ha m
water enters the soil of which 130 M ha m is retained in the soil and 45 M ha m is
estimated to be added to the ground water every year. The water retention in the soil
is available for the use of vegetation. It must be conserved against loss by direct
evaporation and use by unwanted vegetation. Unfortunately this has not received
adequate attention of planners.
Irrigation potential development and utilization
The ultimate irrigation potential of the country has been estimated to be 113.2 M ha.
It comprises 58.3 M ha from major and medium irrigation schemes; 15.3 M ha from
surface minor irrigation schemes and 39.6 M ha from ground water development.
Out of an average surface runoff flow of 188 M ha m, a live storage of 16.55
M ha m has been developed so far. Dams to create additional live storage of 7.67 M
ha m are under construction. and 13.10 M ha m are under consideration. Thus it
appears that total live storage capacity as per the present programmed will be around
37 M ha m while the utilizable surface water is estimated as 69 M ha m. The total
replenishable ground water resources are 45.3 M ha m. Assuming 6.83 M ha m
required for drinking, industrial and other uses, the ground water resumes and
irrigation are 38.5 M ha m. The net draft so far is estimated as 11.57 M ha m which is
about 30 percent of the potential available for irrigation. However ground water
development varies from states to states. For example, ground water development in
Punjab stands at 98.2% while in Orrisa it is about 7.13% only.
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Management of water resources

Water is the most precious commodity and its rational development, conservation,
distribution, use and management need special consideration for improving
productivity of land, better efficiency and economic return, and preserving the
ecological balance. Some important management issues for better available water
resources are:
1. Exploitation of water resources
2. Crop planning in relation to water availability
3. Increasing water use efficiency.
4. Safe use of saline/sodic ground water for agriculture.
Exploitation of water resources:
During the post independence era, much efforts has been made by the state and central
government to harness the maximum amount of potential water resources in the country.
However, due to a number of factors, including high cost, the gap in potential, planed and
realized water resources have been increasing. Various commissions and committees
have indicated the need for reducing this gap through command area development
approach for optimizing benefits from the investments made in the irrigation projects.
There is strong evidence indicating higher productivity and efficiency of ground water.
However, ground water is liable to over exploitation thereby failing to sustain the long
term growth process and also creating inequity as resource poor farmers will be at a
disadvantage. Ground water resource development should receive the highest priority in
our water resource development planning but to avoid over exploitation and to ensure
equitable distribution of water on a watershed basis, a legal framework should be
provided.

Crop planning in relation to water availability

The command area water management includes crop planning on the basis of availability
of water at different times of the season. In practice, crop plans are prepared by the
farmers themselves on the basis of their preference for certain crops, social and economic
considerations and availability of water. Since the issue involved in crop planning are
complex, the cropping pattern for the year should be fixed by the project authorities in
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consultation with the agricultural university, credit agencies, irrigation engineers,

organization dealing with supply of inputs, and farmers representatives. The evaluation of
cropping pattern should be a gradual process of adjustment of the factors responsible for
deciding the cropping plan in a command area.
Canal irrigation in India was mostly designed for stabilizing agriculture and for extensive
rather intensive/productive agriculture. Our major and medium irrigation project can
hardly meet the needs of the changing scenario of high yielding varieties and new
cropping systems that are more exacting and demand time supply of irrigation water at
critical stages of the growth. In the wheat belt of Punjab and Haryana, the dwarf high
yielding varieties of wheat requires irrigation at crown root initiation stage or in the first
three weeks after sowing, whereas the previously grown tall varieties could withstand
water stress in the first two months after sowing. The introduction of the new varieties
necessitated changes in the irrigation at the most critical stages of crop growth. Thanks to
water management research over the last 2 to 3 decades, specific information has been
available for increasing the efficiency of water use as enhancing returns to the irrigation.
Of late, irrigation schedule can be calculated with computer model based on formation on
climate, soil, crop and management factors.

Increasing water use efficiency

The ultimate aim in the area of water management is to use water more efficiently by
keeping productivity at a high level. Water-use efficiency being a ratio is influenced by
changes in both the numerator (dry matter production) and denominator (evaporation).
Water use efficiency can be increased by genetic and environment manipulations of the
crop. It can also be increased by decreasing the evapotraspiration and other losses of
water. Crop yields can be increased without significant increase in water used by
selecting suitable crop varieties adopted to climatic conditions of the locality and through
agronomic management, such as using good quality seed, sowing at appropriate time and
depth, placing balanced fertilizers in the soil in adequate quantity and at right time, as
well as protecting crops from infestation from weeds, insect pest and diseases. The use of
anti-transpirants, growth retardants, mulches, shelterbelts, etc. have been reported to
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increase the water use efficiency to various extant through reduction in evapo-
transpiration losses.

Increasing irrigation efficiency and improving drainage

Irrigation water is subject to three kind of loses, viz, conveyance, application and
distribution/deep percolation. In the chain of delivery system it has been proved that as
much as 70% of water is lost in these three kinds of ways. No doubt some of the
progressive states have taken up the work of lining the canals and distributaries but lining
of field channels with good quality material is equally important.
Experimental evidence is available that deep percolation losses of water which ranges
from 60-70%, or even more in case of rice, can be reduced considerably with a change in
the concept of keeping standing water to scheduling irrigation at the point of
disappearance of tillage operation. It has been proved beyond doubt that furrow irrigation
in wide-spread crops is the best, followed by border method of irrigation whereas check
basin irrigation has proved to be the best most efficient method of irrigation in term of
water economy. However, a lot of extension effort is required to educate the farmers to
adopt the right method and schedule of irrigation in relation to type of crop sown, volume
of discharge, and soil type. In water deficit areas adaptation of efficient irrigation
methods like drip irrigation

Thus, the most important fact is that water is a limiting resources which is
depleting day by day to fulfill our daily residential, commercial and agricultural
requirements thus it’s judicious use is a must by adopting new, improved and proven
technologies in different areas so that our future generations can also sustain their lives
otherwise it will be difficult to live for them on this planet.