AMBO UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL AND BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING
COURSE OUTLINE

Course title Irrigation Engineering

Course code ABPE 3181
ECTS 5
Prerequisite ABPE 2081 (Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics)
Target group 5th year Regular students
Semester II
Academic year 2018/19
Instructors Geremew Fekadu(MSc)
Mode of delivery Lecture and Exercise

Course Objective: To acquaint students with basic concepts of the assessment of the feasibility
of irrigation schemes, principles of irrigation design, selection of irrigation systems,
determination of the quantity and quality of water for irrigation.

Outcomes: At the end of the course the students will able to choose the appropriate irrigation
scheme, determine crop-water requirement and design various types of irrigation schemes and
drainage facilities.

1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………….. (Week 1, 2)
1.1. Definition and scope of irrigation
1.2. Benefits and ill effects of irrigation
1.3. Irrigation Development in Ethiopia
1.4. Standards of irrigation water
1.5. Procedures for feasibility studies of irrigation projects
2. SOIL-PLANT-WATER RELATIONSHIP………………………………………………..(Week 3,4, 5,6)
2.1. Introduction to soil
2.2. Soil-water potential
2.3. Moisture stress of plants, soil moisture and plant growth
3. CROP WATER REQUIREMENT……………………………………………..……………(Week 7,8,9)
3.1. Reference Evapotranspiration
3.2. Crop water requirement (consumptive use)
3.3. Irrigation efficiency and frequency
4. FIELD APPLICATION METHODS ………………..(Week 10,11, 12)
4.1. Basin and Check-basin irrigation
4.2. Border irrigation
4.3. Furrow irrigation
4.4. Sprinkler Irrigation
4.5. Drip Irrigation
Assessments
1. Continuous Assessment (%): 60 (Quizzes, Assignments, Test)
2. Final Exam (%): 40
Requirement and course policy
 At least 85% of the classes should be attended.
 Copying the work of others is forbidden
 Teamwork is encouraged

Reference:
1. K.R. Arora. Irrigation, Water Power and Water Resources Engineering. 4th edition. Reprint of
2011.
2. D.K. Majumelar. Irrigation Water Management: Principles and Practice. 2000. New Delhi
3. S.K. Mazumder. Irrigation Engineering. 2007. Galgotia pub. New Delhi
4. S.K.Garg. Irrigation Engineering and Hydraulic Structures. Khanna Pub. New Delhi
5. A.M. Michael. Irrigation Theory and Practice. 2nd Ed. 2008. Vicas pub. New Delhi
6. Laycock A. Irrigation System: Design, Planning and Construction. 2007. Oxford University
Press
7. Robinson, A. Farm Irrigation Structures. Water Management Synthesis Project.(1983). University
of Colorado and Utah state University
8. Sawa, A. and Frenken, K. Surface Irrigation Systems, planning, Design, operation and
Maintenance. Water Resources Development and Management Officers. 2002. FAO Sub-Regional
Office for East and Southern Africa

Note: The first five references are available in Library

Approved by:
Instructor: Geremew F.

Sign ____________ _____________ ____________

Head of Dept.: Alemayehu Mengistu

Sign _______________

Quality Assurance: Lami.

Sign _______________
 AMBO UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING
COURSE OUTLINE

Course title Irrigation Engineering-II

Course code AGEN 4132
ECTS 5
Prerequisite AGEN-3181
Target group 4th year Agricultural Engineering students
Semester I
Academic year 2019/20
Instructors Geremew Fekadu(MSc)
Mode of delivery Lecture and Exercise

Course Objective: The objective of this course is to impart basic knowledge of the design
criteria of surface irrigation methods and pressurized irrigation systems under limited
and excess water supply conditions.

Outcomes: Successfully completing this course, students will be able to design and
install in the field a complete irrigation system (pressurized and non-pressurized) by
following the design criteria learned. They will also be able to evaluate the design and
performance of different types of surface and pressurized irrigation systems.

1. FIELD PREPARATION ………………………………………………………………(Week 1)

1.1. Land grading, Survey and Design
2. Irrigation System Design……………………………………………………………..... (Week 2, 3, 4)
2.1. Design of furrow irrigation system
2.2. Design of border irrigation system
2.3. Design of basin irrigation system
2.4. Design of sprinkler Irrigation system
2.5. Design of drip Irrigation system
3. Design of irrigation canals……………………………….…...…………………….(Week 5,6,7,8)
3.1. Design of lined canals
3.2. Design of unlined canal
4. Canal Irrigation Structures…………………………………………………………..(Week 9,10)
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Conveyance structures for canal flows
3.3. Regulating structures for canal flows
3.4. Distribution structures
3.5. Measurement structures for canal flows
5. DAM CONSTRUCTION …………………………………………………………… (Week 14,15,16)

5.1. Type and uses of dam

5.2. Design of earthen dam and farm pond

Assessments
 1. Continuous Assessment (%): 60 (Quizzes, Assignments, Test)
2. Final Exam (%): 40
Requirement and course policy
 At least 85% of the classes should be attended.
 Copying the work of others is forbidden
 Teamwork is encouraged

Reference:
1. K.R. Arora. Irrigation, Water Power and Water Resources Engineering. 4th edition. Reprint of
2011.
2. D.K. Majumelar. Irrigation Water Management: Principles and Practice. 2000. New Delhi
3. S.K. Mazumder. Irrigation Engineering. 2007. Galgotia pub. New Delhi
4. S.K.Garg. Irrigation Engineering and Hydraulic Structures. Khanna Pub. New Delhi
5. A.M. Michael. Irrigation Theory and Practice. 2nd Ed. 2008. Vicas pub. New Delhi
6. Laycock A. Irrigation System: Design, Planning and Construction. 2007. Oxford University
Press
7. Robinson, A. Farm Irrigation Structures. Water Management Synthesis Project.(1983). University
of Colorado and Utah state University
8. Sawa, A. and Frenken, K. Surface Irrigation Systems, planning, Design, operation and
Maintenance. Water Resources Development and Management Officers. 2002. FAO Sub-Regional
Office for East and Southern Africa

Approved by:
Instructor: Geremew F.

Sign ____________ _____________ ____________

Head of Dept.: Alemayehu Mengistu Debela

Sign _______________

Quality Assurance: Lami.

Sign _______________
 IRRIGATION ENGINEERING

AMBO UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

March 2023
I
Irrigation Engineering for AGEN students Lecture Note 2022/2023

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. General introduction

Water is the life resource for every living thing, especially for humankind as it helps not only for
survival but also for making life comfortable and luxurious. Beyond other various uses, water is
nowadays being widely used for irrigation purpose to improve the agricultural productivity of
lands arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Irrigation is an agricultural practice of artificially
applying water to soil in order to meet the water requirement of the planted crop. It is a science
of planning and designing a water supply system for agricultural land to safeguard crops from
water stress under low or no rainfall condition.

The practice of irrigation is older than civilization. Irrigation was started in semi-arid and arid
regions where periodic river overflow usually occurs near the great rivers like Nile River. Nile
River starts form Ethiopian highlands (Blue Nile) and the equatorial plateaus of Burundi,
Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zaire and Uganda (White Nile). The two source areas correspond to
humid regions where mean annual rainfall is over 1000 mm. The heavy rainfall during the
summer season (June, July, and August), results in heavy flood and hence overflow in the delta
countries like Egypt and Northern part of Sudan. The ancient people of these regions learned to
guide this overflow to their fields using rough dikes and constructing canals and become
gradually independent of rain to produce crops. In almost all countries bordering the
Mediterranean Sea, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China, irrigation was practiced
during the early age of human civilization.

Perennial irrigation was practiced in the Mesopotamian plain by coaxing water through a matrix
of small channels formed in the field. Ancient Egyptians practiced Basin irrigation using the
overflow of the Nile to inundate land plots which had been surrounded by dykes. The ancient
Persian irrigation method called Qanats, which was practiced about 800 BC, is among the oldest
irrigation technology and is still in use today. Terrace irrigation is evidenced in pre-Colombian,
early Syrian, Indian and Chinese practice. The early writing discoveries also show irrigation
canals as part of the feature of Mexico and some other South American countries. Remains of
ancient irrigation works have also been discovered in the southwestern part of the US especially
in Arizona and New Mexico. Spanish missionaries constructed irrigation works in the Rio
Grande Valley, and this brought the beginning of modern irrigation.
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In general, the first attempt of irrigation practice was primitive in characteristic and consisted
principally with nature assisting in moving water to the lower land during flood period. The next
step was diverting the water from streams and conducting it through roughly constructed canal to
the land. The canals were simple furrow for turning the water to the low lying land. The
diversion system was temporary dams of bags filled with sand and put across the stream. The
engineering advices were not available for fixing grades and other purposes were all used to be
done just roughly by eye measurement.

1.2. Water Resources and Irrigation in Ethiopia

Ethiopian has huge amount of water resources both surface and subsurface. There are 12 river
basins. They are Abay basin, Awash basin, Rift valley basin, Omo Gibe basin, Baro akobo basin,
Genale Dawa basin, Tekeze basin, Wabi shebelle basin, Mereb gash basin, Denakil basin, Aysha
basin and Ogaden basin (Figure 1). These resources are available for fisheries and aquatic
resources development, livestock resources, irrigation, power generation etc. On average, the
surface water potential amounts to over 124 billion cubic meters per annum out of which only
about 3% remains in the country in the form fresh water (Awulachew et al., 2007). Ethiopia due
to this, known as the ‘water tower’ of north-eastern Africa, is faced with the fact that all its large
rivers (except Awash) flow into neighboring lowland countries Sudan, Egypt, Somalia and
Kenya. The irrigation potential of Ethiopia is estimated to be about four million hectares of
which only about 5% is developed. The salient feature of water resource and irrigation potential
of these basins has been depicted in Table 1 below. It is a science of planning and designing a
water supply system for agricultural land to safeguard crops from water stress under low or no
rainfall condition.

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Figure 1: River basins of Ethiopia

Ethiopia has also ground water resources even if it is not as abundant as the surface water
resources. But quantity of ground water that Ethiopia has been endowed with is sufficiently
exploitable when compared to the availability of the resource in other countries. Some surveys
show that there is over 2.6 billion cubic meters of annually rechargeable ground water in
Ethiopia (Awulachew et al., 2007). The country has 11 fresh and 9 saline lakes, 4 crater lakes
and over 12 major swamps or wetlands. Majority of the lakes are found in the Rift Valley Basin.
Despite the immense water resource available the extent to which it is exploited for different
uses especially for agricultural production; which needs priority to ensure the food security of the
drastically growing population of the country is still less.

Table 1: Water Resource and irrigation potential of Ethiopian River Basins (Awulachew et al. 2007)

Potential
Runoff potential Ground water
River Basin Area (km2) Irrigable Land
(BCM) potential (BCM)
(ha)
Abay 199,812 54.8 1.80 815,581
Awash 112,696 4.9 0.14 134,121
Rift valley 52,739 5.6 0.10 139,300
Baro-Akobo 75,912 23.6 0.28 1,019,523
Omo-Gibe 79,000 16.6 0.42 67,928

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Genale-Dawa 171,042 5.88 0.14 1,074,720

Tekeze 82,350 8.2 0.20 83,368
Wabe-Shebelle 202,697 3.16 0.07 237,905
Meresh Gash 5,900 0.65 0.05 67,560
Aysha 2,223 - -
Ogaden 77,121 - -
Denakil 74,002 0.86 - 158,776
Total 1,135,494 124.25 2.86 3,798,782
With these water resources, the irrigation potential of the country is estimated to be over 3.7
million hectares. Baro-Akobo basin has relatively higher irrigation potential with 23.6 BCM of
annual surface water, 0.28 BCM of rechargeable annual ground water and about 1.02 million
hectares of irrigable land. Abay basin is the largest basin in terms of both surface and ground
water. However, the geographical setup of the basin allows irrigation of only 4.1 % of the total
area of the basin.

1.3. Components of irrigation

Irrigation requires all components fulfilled for its operation. Therefore the scope of irrigation
engineering is all about designing, supervising and analyzing the components of irrigation
system. The main components of an irrigation system are discussed below.

1.3.1. Water supply/source

Irrigation water can be supplied from different sources. These may be streams, lakes, ground
water, and/or surface runoff. One has to be careful in selection of the source of irrigation water
considering different factors. The most prominent factors that have to be considered are cost of
water delivery and water quality.

The source of irrigation water may be perennial streams where only diversion of the water to the
field is required. In some cases however, runoff water during monsoon can be collected in dug
ponds, and used for irrigation during the dry period. The location of the source of irrigation water
matters the delivery of the water to the field. If the source of the water is at lower elevation than
the command area, then the water needs to be lifted using pump or manually. Otherwise a mere
gravity effect can be used to deliver the water to the field. The ground water abstraction is quite
costly that it needs pumping in most cases. However, based on the size of the projects the use of

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the ground water for irrigation may be decided. Large farm commercial farms and farmer
associations may be profitable to use ground water for irrigation.

Quality of irrigation water is an important consideration that has to be made during irrigation
system planning and design. Poor quality irrigation water has a paramount effect on the overall
performance of the system. Poor quality water causes soil salinity, which affects the growth of
the plant. Moreover, pressurized irrigation systems need quality irrigation water so as not to
affect the system by clogging.

1.3.2. Intake structures

Abstraction/diversion of water from source for irrigation purpose is often challenging and costly
depending on the scale of the scheme. The intake structures are those structures constructed on
the source of the water to divert the water from the source to the conveyance system. Intake
structures may be different for different situations. For example, when the stream is at higher
elevation than the irrigable field, then the water can be simply diverted without complex
diversion system. In some situations however, it may be needed to construct weir or barrage
(Figure 2 below) to raise the level of the water in the source. Pump can also be used for
delivering the water to the conveyance system. In such case, construction of the diversion
structures may not be necessary. Ground water is lifted using different kinds of pumps like wind
pump, electrical pumps or engine driven pumps. Pumping station is constructed in such
condition.

1.3.3. Conveyance and distribution systems

The conveyance and distribution systems consist of canals transporting the water through the
whole irrigation system form the source (see figure 2). Canal structures are also required for the
control and measurement of the water flow. The canals may have rectangular, triangular,
trapezoidal, semicircular, or parabolic in shape. However, trapezoidal shaped canals are
commonly used in irrigation and drainage system. As far as the construction material is
concerned, canals may be earthen or lined type. The side and longitudinal slopes of the canal has
to be designed such that it results non-scouring, and non-silting flow velocity.

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1.3.4. Field application system

There are many ways of applying water to crops in field. The simplest way is using bucket to
water the crops. When advanced irrigation is considered, the field application system can be
pipes as in case of pressurized irrigation system, or furrow as in furrow irrigation system, or
flooded border as in border and basin irrigation systems.

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Figure 2: Components of irrigation system

In irrigation system design, the starting point is the infield water use system as this provides
information on the surface irrigation method to use, the amount of water to be applied to the field
and how often it has to be applied. With this information, we can then work backwards or
upstream to designing the field canal, distribution, storage, conveyance system and ultimately the
intake facilities, and we can work forwards or downstream to determine the capacity of the
drainage facilities.

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1.3.5. Drainage system

Field water application may not be efficient to apply exactly the amount that is required by
crops. On the other hand, rainfall is also uncontrollable phenomena, which may lead to flooding
of the field. Therefore, drainage system is also very equally needed as other irrigation system
components. Drainage system is the system that removes excess water from the irrigated lands.
The water level in the drains should be below the field level and hence field drains should be
constructed at the lower end of each field. These field or tertiary drains would then be connected
to secondary drains and then the main drain, from where excess water is removed from the
irrigation scheme (figure 2).

1.4. Objectives of Irrigation

For crops to grow fully and in a better manner and hence production and productivity to increase,
adequate quantity and good quality water is required in the root zone of the plant. However, in
actual condition during the whole growing period of plant, there exists shortage of water to full
fill the crop water requirements. Irrigation technology is thus brought in to effect centering the
following objectives:

 To supplement the inadequate rainfall to meet the crop water requirement during the
growing period
 To ensure uniform access to water for crops under varying (unevenly distributed) rainfall
 To enable perennial crop production during dry seasons
 To develop cultivation culture in desert areas where rainfall is totally absent
 To combat drought incidences etc.
1.5. Types of irrigation

Based the quantity of water supply irrigation is classified in to three. They are:

 Full irrigation: the irrigation is made to meet the total crop water requirement. Under
full irrigation scheme, no rainfall is expected to reduce the amount to irrigate. The crop is
not supposed to tolerate water deficiency during the growing period.

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 Supplementary irrigation: the water is applied to supplement the rainfall. i.e., some part
of the crop water requirement is met by rainfall while the balance is supplied by
irrigation.
 Deficit irrigation: the irrigation is made to at least keep the crop from total wilting. The
quantity of water applied is decided by the irrigator. Only specified percent of the full
irrigation application depth is applied to the crops. In deficit irrigation the relationship
between water deficit and yield is reference for the feasibility of the irrigation. Such kind
of irrigation is practiced in areas where there is water available in limited amount.

Based on the point where water is applied irrigation is broadly classified as:

 Surface irrigation: is the most common type of irrigation in which water is applied to
the crop outside the soil. Surface irrigation can be classified in to two based on the
source of the irrigation water.
 Flow irrigation: the water is at higher level than the field, and is delivered to the
field by the aid of gravity. Such irrigation can be done by diverting permanently
flowing streams (perennial irrigation) or by diverting direct runoff to the field to
inundate the field so that the water is stored in the soil, which is later used by the
crop (flooding or spate irrigation)
 Lift irrigation: the water is at lower elevation than the field, or the source is
ground water, and therefore it has to be lifted by some means be it by pump or
manually.
 Sub-surface irrigation: This is the type of irrigation in which underground water
nourishes the plant by capillary rise. It has two divisions.
 Natural sub-surface irrigation: the water flowing in channels seeps down. This
water may irrigate crops planted nearby the channel by leakage, or the seepage
from the channels raises watertable, which in turn irrigates the crops by capillary
effect.
 Artificial sub-surface irrigation: In such case open jointed drains are buried in
the soil to irrigate the field by capillary action. This kind of irrigation is costly
and hence it is applied usually on very small scale.

The broader classification of irrigation has been depicted in Figure 3 below.

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Figure 3: Flow chart showing categories of irrigation

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2. SOIL-PLANT-WATER RELATIONSHIP
2.1. Introduction to soil
2.1.1. Composition of soil

When dry soil is crushed in the hand, it can be seen that it is composed of all kinds of particles of
different sizes. Soil is therefore a weathered or fragmented earth material having particle size
less than about 2mm. Most of these particles originate from the degradation of rocks and these
particles of rock origin are called mineral particles. Some of the soil particles originate from
residues of plants or animals (rotting leaves, pieces of bone, etc.) and these are called organic
particles or organic matters. When it is roughly observed, soil particles seem to touch each other,
but in reality have spaces in between. These spaces are called pores or void space. When the soil
is "dry", the pores are mainly filled with air. After irrigation or rainfall, the pores are mainly
filled with water.

Figure 4: Soil composition

Soil also contains different living things. These living things include roots, insects, worms,
beetles, larvae etc. While soil is house for these organisms, the availability of them helps in

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mixing of the soil and hence good aeration. In general, soil functions as a storehouse for plant
nutrients, as habitat for soil organisms and plant roots and as a reservoir for water to meet the
evapotranspiration demands of plants. It contains and supplies water, oxygen, nutrients and
mechanical support for plant growth.

2.1.2. Soil properties

Physical properties

Depth/profile

When a pit having at least 1m depth is dug in the soil, then different layers having different color
and composition is observed. These layers are called horizons and the succession of these
horizons of the soil is called soil profile (Figure 4). Four soil profiles are commonly known in
soil science.

Figure 5: Soil profile

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a. The plough layer: This layer is the uppermost layer (20 to 30cm thick) and is rich in organic
matter. It is subject to agricultural operations that are made during land preparation
(ploughing and harrowing). This is later occupied by roots of all crops totally or partly. Due
the presence of organic matter the color of the soil in this layer is usually dark (brown to
black).

b. The deep plough layer: contains much less organic matter and live roots. This layer is less
affected by normal land preparation activities. The color is lighter, often grey, and sometimes
mottled with yellowish or reddish spots.
c. The subsoil layer: hardly any organic matter or live roots are to be found. This layer is not
very important for plant growth as only a few roots will reach it.
d. The parent rock layer: consists of rock, from the degradation of which the soil was formed.
This rock is sometimes called parent material.

Soil texture

Soil texture refers to the particle size distribution or the relative amount of sand, silt and clay
particles in the soil. The primary criterion for a porous earth material is to have a particle size
less 2mm. The various size groups of soil particles are called separates. USDA classifies these
separates as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Soil separates

Soil separates Particle size range (mm)

Very coarse sand 2.0 – 1.0
Coarse sand 1.0 – 0.5
Medium sand 0.5 – 0.25
Fine sand 0.25 – 0.1
Very fine sand 0.1 – 0.05
Silt 0.05 – 0.002
Clay Less than 0.002
Soil particle size is determined in different ways. The simplest method used in field is called
finger feel method. In laboratory, particle size is determined using two methods: mechanical
method (sieve analysis) and the sedimentation method (hydrometer/pipette analysis).

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Finger Feel Method

Finger feel method is the simplest way of determining the soil texture. This is done by crushing
soil between hands and feeling the texture. Such method is a rough estimation of the particle size
distribution. In addition to soil texture finger feel method can also be used to estimate the soil
moisture condition in the field.

Sieve Analysis

This method involves passing the soil sample through a series of sieves with different opening
size (Figure 6). The opening sizes range from 2mm to 0.074mm (standard for sieve analysis for
agricultural purpose). The principle here is that all particles of known weight having size less
than the opening diameter passes through the sieve. This gives a range of particle size passing
through a given sieve, and hence this method does not tell us the size of each particle; rather the
particle size categories bracketed by the consecutive sieve sizes. Once the particle size categories
are determined, the result is presented in terms of the mass passed through each of the sieves.
The size range is compared with the USDA classification and the soil separate (Table 3) is
determined from the texture triangle (Figure 7).

Figure 6: Sieve arrangement for particle size analysis

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Table 3: Soil textural classes

Soil textural class Characteristic features

Sandy  Loose and independent grains: no cohesion
 The grains are easily seen with necked eye and felt with finger
 Under dry condition the grains free fall
 Under wet condition the grains can form cast but crumble when
touched
 Have low water holding capacity
Loamy sand  Majorly sand, have some silt and clay; hence somewhat coherent
 Can be shaped into ball; but fall apart easily
 Grains can readily be seen and felt
 Have better water holding capacity than sandy soils
Silt loam  Silt and clay percent are higher than that of loamy sand
 Can be shaped into short cylindrical shaped
 Better water holding capacity than loamy sand
Loamy  Sand, silt and clay proportion is even
 Friable and smooth with gritty feel
 Slightly plastic; can be rolled into a cylindrical shape of up to 15cm
 Good soil for plant growth due its air, water and nutrient content
 Very workable specially under moderate (optimal) moisture content
Clay loam  Percent of clay is greater and hence it is more plastic
 Can be bent to U shape
Light clay  Fine textured soil that forms clod under dry condition
 Very sticky in wet condition
 Can be formed into circle that forms crack
Heavy clay  Dominantly clay particles
 Can be bent into circle without any sign of cracking
 Less workable in dry condition
 Extremely sticky in wet condition
Organic soils  These are soils dominated by organic matters (20-95%)
 Classified based on degree of decomposition
 Muck: well decomposed organic matter
 Peat: raw and very fibrous organic matter

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Figure 7: Soil textural triangle

Hydrometer Analysis
The sieve screening process cannot be used for fine-grained soils – silts and clays because of
their extremely small size. The hydrometer test involves mixing a small amount of soil into
suspension and observing how the suspension settles in time. Larger particles will settle quickly
followed by smaller particles. When the hydrometer is lowered into the suspension, it will sink
into the suspension until the buoyant force is sufficient to balance the weight of the hydrometer.

Typically, a hydrometer test is conducted by taking a small quantity of a dry fine-grained soil
(approximately 10 grams) and thoroughly mixing it with distilled water to form a paste. The
paste is placed in a 1 liter glass cylinder and distilled water is added to bring the level to the 1L
mark. The glass cylinder is then repeatedly shaken and inverted before being placed in a constant
temperature bath. A hydrometer is placed in the glass cylinder and a clock is simultaneously
started. At different times, the hydrometer is read. The diameter D of the particle at time t is
calculated from Stokes’s law as:

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1
 18v  2
D  …………………………………………………………………..……..….(1)
 g  s   w  

Where D is the diameter of the particle in cm,  is dynamic viscosity of the fluid in dyne-

sec/cm2, g is gravitational acceleration in m/s2, and  s   w  is density difference

Fine-textured soils have generally higher water holding capacity than course-textured soils.
Medium textured soils have more water available to plants than clay soils as water in clay soils is
held under high tension; which makes it difficult for plants to get this water.

Soil structure

Soil structure is arrangement of soil particles in a natural unit of aggregation. This unit breaks up
at weakness plane under cycles of wetting and drying, and freezing and thawing. Soil structure
affects not only air, water and nutrient circulation, but also roots penetration in the root zone.
Single-grained and massive soils are structureless. Single-grained soils like loose sand allow
rapid percolation of water (as shown in Figure 7 below) whereas clay soils allow water
movement very slowly. A favorable soil-plant-water relationship occurs in blocky, granular and
prismatic structures.

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Figure 8: Soil structures

Other Soil Physical properties

 Organic matter content

 Water content
 Porosity
 Permeability and hydraulic conductivity
 Consistence
 Temperature

Soil chemical properties

 Salinity (soluble salt content)

 Exchangeable sodium
 Soil reaction (pH)

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2.2. Soil phase relationships

Soil bulk density ( b )

Bulk density is defined as the ratio of mass of dry soil (Ms) to the total volume V of the soil. The
soil volume includes solid volume and volume of void as well (refer figure 8). Volume of soil
changes under different circumstances. For example, compacted soils have less volume than
uncompacted soils.

Ms
b  ……………………………………………………………..………………………….(2)
V

Therefore, bulk density of soil varies depending on the state of soil compaction and aggregation.
In metric system of measurement, bulk density is the same as specific gravity (sp.gr) which is

given as sp.gr 
b
 w . But, since density of water is one, specific gravity remains the same as
bulk density. The ratio of mass of dry soil to volume of the dry soil gives particle density (  p ).

The laboratory determination of bulk density will be conducted in practical session.

Porosity (  )

Water movement in the soil is governed by the soil pore space. Soil texture and structure governs
soil pore sizes. Soil pores are therefore classified as micro pore, meso pores and macro pores
depending on their size. Water and air always compete for these pores and the competence is due
to density difference between water and air, as well as compressibility of air. Micro pores are
held by water under normal situation. However in dry soil, all the pores are occupied by air,
whereas in saturated soil, all the pores are occupied by water. There are two types of pores in the
soil. Primary pores are pores which are formed when soil particles are in dispersed form.
Dispersed system is a system in which at least a one phase particle is subdivided into numerous
particles which together form a large inter-facial area per volume of the soil. Secondary pores on
the other hand are pores which are formed between soil particles which are in aggregate form.
The aggregating agents are clays, organic matters, calcium carbonate, etc. secondary pores are
large pores.

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Porosity is the percentage of voids space in a soil block of volume V. It shows the volume of
void space in the soil relative to the volume of the soil solid.

Air and water occupy pores spaces. Hence,

Vv  Vw  Va …..………………………...(3)

And bulk volume of the soil will be

V  Vs  Vw  Va ………………….……. (4)

Then, porosity is given as follows

Vv
 …………………………………..(5) Figure 9: Soil phases
V
Porosity is also related to soil density as shown in equation 4 which is obtained by rewriting
equation 5.

  
  1  b   100% …………………………………………………………………...……….(6)

 p 

Soil porosity is an important soil property in irrigation engineering as it determines water

movement, air circulation, root penetration, water holding and releasing, etc. Sandy soils have
larger pores but less total pore volume than silt and clay soils. Gravitational water flows through
sandy soils much faster because the pores are much larger. Clayey soils hold more water than
sandy soils because clay soils have a larger volume of small, flat-shaped pore spaces that hold
more capillary water. Permeability and drainability of soils are directly related to the volume and
size and shape of pore space.

In general, soil porosity is affected by many factors including:

 Texture: fine particle soils have high porosity than course particle soil (Table 4)
 Density: dense soils have less porosity
 Organic matter content: high organic matter implies high porosity
 Compaction (machinery operation, human and animal movement etc cause compaction of
the soil): compacted soils have small porosity

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 Management practice (eg. Continuous cropping which causes reduction of organic

matter)
 Plant root system: deep root crops improve soil porosity.

Table 4: Typical values of porosity for different soils (Ali, 2010)

Soil type Porosity

Sandy 30 – 40
Loam 40 – 45
Clay 45 – 55

Void ratio (e)

Void ratio (e) is the ratio of the volume of void space to the volume of solids.

Vv
e …………………………………………….……………………………………………..(7)
Vs

Porosity and void ratio are related as follows.

e
 …………………………………………………………………………………………(8)
1 e

Specific gravity (sp.gr)

Specific gravity is the ratio of mass of dry soil to the mass of water of the same volume as the
dry soil.

Ms
sp.gr  ……………………………………………………...…………………………….(9)
Vs  w

Water content (  )

Water content is the ratio, often expressed by percentage, of the weight of water to the weight of
solids.

Mw
  100% ………………………………………....…………………………………..(10)
Ms

The water content of a soil is found by weighing a sample of the soil and then placing it in an

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oven at 105 oC until the weight of the sample remains constant; that is all the absorbed water is
driven out. For most soils a constant weight is achieved in about 24 hours. The soil is removed
from the oven, cooled, and then weighed to obtain the water content. It is expressed either in
weight basis or volume basis. Volume basis water content is the same as weight basis water
content multiplied by the density of the soil.

 v   w   …………………………………………………………………………….……….(11)

Illustrative Example #1: A 0.01m3 soil sample was taken from a field which is to be grassed to design
sprinkler irrigation system. The weight of the sample was immediately taken to be 20 kg. The sample
was then dried at 105 oC for about 24 hours and reweighed to be 16 kg. Assuming that specific gravity
of the soil is 2.65, determine: a) Bulk density b) Porosity, c) Void ratio and d) Weight basis moisture
content of the soil.

Solution:

Let M = total mass of the sample, Ms = dry mass of the soil, Mw = mass of water, V = bulk volume of
the sample, Vs = volume of soil solid, Vw = volume of water and Va = volume of air

Mass of water in the soil is: M w  M  M s  20  16  4kg  4000 gm

Ms 16000 gm
Volume of soil solid: Vs    6038cm
3

 w  sp.gr 1 gm 3  2.65
cm

Volume of void: Vv  V  Vs  10000cm 3  6038cm 3  3962cm

3

M s 16000 gm
a) Bulk density:  b   3
 1.60 gm 3
V 10000cm cm

Vv 3962cm 3
b) Porosity: b    0.396  39.6%
V 10000cm 3
Vv 3962cm 3
c) Void ratio: e    0.656
Vs 6038cm 3
Mw 4000 gm
d) Water content (weight basis):   100%  100%  25%
Ms 16000 gm

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2.3. Soil Water

Ideally, it is necessary that soil moisture has to be kept constant in order for the crops to survive
and grow well to give maximum yield. The concern of an irrigation engineer is therefore the way
water enters in to the soil, how this water moves in the soil, how much water is stored in the soil,
how much of this water is available to plants, and how can the used water be replenished to keep
the supply nearly constant.

2.3.1. Types of soil water

Gravitational Water
Water that is free to move downward through the soil by the force of gravity is called
gravitational water or free water. At saturation, all pores are filled and the soil holds the
maximum amount of water, with no air in the soil. Under such condition crops face shortage of
oxygen required for its growth. This type of water is by its nature rapidly drainable, and hence
not available to crops.

Figure 10: Soil water and cardinal soil moisture levels

Capillary Water
Capillary water is held in the soil against gravity. It includes the film of water left around the
soil grains and the water filling the smaller pores after gravity water has drained off. This type of
water is readily available to crops (Figure 9). Provided that the soil water is free from the

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influence of ground water table, if gravity water is allowed to drain from a saturated soil, the
quantity of capillary water held is called field capacity. Close to the water table, the quantity of
capillary water held in a granular material is greater than field capacity. This form of capillary
water is sometimes called capillary fringe water. Therefore, amount of water held at a given
point in the soil depends on the distance above the water table, as well as on the soil pore sizes
and shapes.

Hygroscopic water
When a granular material is completely dried by heating, then exposed to the air, it absorbs
atmospheric moisture. This water, when in equilibrium with the atmospheric moisture, is called
hygroscopic water. Such water is very small and hence not available to crops. In practice, further
absorption of water by plants and evaporation from the soil surface reduces the amount of soil
water to extent that is difficult for plants to access this water. Hygroscopic water is held tightly to
the soil particle in the form of thin films of water around the particle.

2.3.2. Soil moisture content

A critical environmental factor to plant growth is maintenance of adequate moisture in the root
zone. The water is needed for plant mainly for three purposes:
 It is used as a transport medium in which nutrients are absorbed and moved through the
plant, and wastes are expelled.
 Water is used as coolant for plant. Transpiration in plant is like body regulation in
animals. Transpiration of water by the plant is required to maintain non-lethal
temperatures.
 Water is one of the elements of photosynthesis in plant.
A lack of water, for even a short time, can cause death; a shortage of water will cause yield
reduction. Since plants absorb nearly all of their water through their roots, maintenance of
adequate soil moisture in the root zone is essential.
To design an irrigation system and make recommendations for improved techniques of applying
water, the irrigation engineer needs to know how much of the water in a soil is available to
plants. The soil is like a tank as it holds just so much available water. Its capacity is limited by
the total amount of water it can hold in its pore space. The availability of this water to plants
depends on the pressure by which the water is held within soil particles. In addition to soil-

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moisture tension and the osmotic pressure of the soil solution, availability of water also depends
on the temperature of the soil. Low soil temperatures decrease availability.
Soil Moisture Constants
The cardinal soil moisture levels between two moisture ranges are called moisture constants.
These are characterized in terms of moisture content in percent volume and soil moisture tension.
These characteristic values differ for different soil types. The soil moisture constants are:
Saturation point
Following thorough irrigation of heavy/intense rainfall, the field gets wetter in such a way that
all pores (micro, meso and macropores) are filled with water. This is the state of maximum water
holding capacity of the soil. The water totally displaces the air out of the soil. As plants need
both air and water, they will suffer under saturation condition. Many crops cannot withstand
saturated soil conditions for a period of more than 2–5 days. Rice is one of the exceptions to this
rule. The period of saturation of the topsoil usually does not last long. After the rain or the
irrigation has stopped, part of the water present in the larger pores will move downward. This
process is called drainage or percolation. The water drained from the pores is replaced by air. In
coarse textured (sandy) soils, drainage is completed within a period of a few hours. In fine
textured (clayey) soils, drainage may take some (2–3) days.
Field Capacity (FC)
Field capacity is usually considered as the amount of water a well-drained soil holds after free
water has drained off or the maximum amount it can hold against gravity. The large pores in the
soil are filled with air, the micropores are filled with water, and any further drainage is slow. In
this condition, the soil is said to be at field capacity (Figure 10). Soil-moisture tension at field
capacity varies from soil to soil. In a salt-free soils, soil moisture tension at field capacity ranges
from less than 1/10 to 1/3 atmosphere.

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Figure 11: Soil moisture conditions and availability to crops

Field Capacity is determined by gravimetric method. This is generally done by thoroughly

wetting soil on an experimental area (2 - 5m2) and letting it to drain by preventing evaporation
(plastic cover or mulch can be used). Then sample is taken from the field and tested
gravimetrically.

Permanent Wilting Point (PWP)

The water stored in the soil is slowly taken up by the plant roots or evaporated from the topsoil
into the atmosphere. If no additional water is supplied to the soil, it gradually dries out. The dryer
the soil becomes, the more tightly the remaining water is retained and the more difficult it is for
the plant roots to extract it. At a certain stage, the uptake of water is not sufficient to meet the
plant’s needs. The plant loses freshness and wilts and the leaves change color from green to
yellow. Finally the plant dies. The soil water content at the stage where the plants die is called

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permanent wilting point. The soil still contains some water, but it is too difficult for the roots to
suck it from the soil (Figure 10). The soil moisture tension at PWP ranges from 7 – 32
atmosphere depending on the soil texture, kind and condition of the plant, amount of salts
available in the soil and to some extent the climatic environment.

Available water

Any soil moisture between FC and PWP is called Available Water (AW). In general fine
textured soils have wide range of water between FC and PWP than course textured soils. In
contrast, sandy soils with their non-capillary pore spaces, release much water within narrow
range of potential because of the predominance of large pores. That is why plants are capable of
absorbing moisture from such soil when the moisture content is as small as 3 – 5% (see Table 5).
On the contrary, fine particle soils have high matrix force that holds the water to the soil. Plants
fail to take water from clay soil even when the moisture is 12 – 20%.

Table 5: Soil moisture range for different soil types

Soil type Percent moisture based on dry weight of the soil Depth of available
water per unit depth
of soil
𝜃 at Field Capacity (in %) 𝜃 at Permanent Wilting cm/m of soil depth
Point (in %)
Fine sand 3–5 1–3 2–4
Sandy loam 5 – 15 3–8 4 – 11
Silt loam 12 – 18 6 – 10 6 – 13
Clay loam 15 – 30 7 – 16 10 – 18
Clay 25 – 40 12 – 20 16 – 30

For irrigation system design, the total available moisture is calculated for the soil depth based on
the root zone system of the mature crop to be grown.

Available Moisture  10  (FC - PWP)  sp.gr  Z ……………………………………….(12)

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Z is root zone depth in meter; FC and PWP are expressed in terms of moisture content in percent
weight

Between FC and PWP is a critical point when the state of water availability changes from readily
available state to non-readily available state. Ideally, irrigation is needed at this point to
substitute the water used by the crop. FAO recommends irrigation when 50% of the FC is
depleted.

Determination of soil moisture content

Several direct and indirect methods are there to determine the soil moisture content. Direct
methods are those in which soil moisture is removed by evaporation or distillation or chemical
reaction. Then the moisture content can be determined by:
 Gravimetric method: the soil sample is oven dried, the change in weight of the sample is
determined; that change in weight (lost weight) is the weight of the soil water. Let the bulk
soil sample weight be W and the weight after drying be W s. Then, the weight loss due to
drying is weight of water Ww.
Ww  W  Ws …………………………………………………….……………………..(13)
The moisture content can easily be calculated as the ratio of weight of water to weight of
solid (equation 11 above)
 Distillation: the soil sample is mixed with mineral oil of a higher boiling point than water
and heated. The water is driven off by heating and collected by distillation. The collected
water is the soil moisture.
The indirect methods of soil moisture measurement are:
 Neutron thermalization: radioactive source is placed in the soil and the emitted neutrons are
thermalized (slowed down) by water held in the soil. The density of slow neutrons is then
measured. The device detects the radius of measurement (Figure 12) that the neutrons cover
at a given depth.

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Figure 12: Neutron thermalization mechanism (source: Ali, 2011)

 If the radius of measurement is known, the moisture content is determined using equ. 13
below.
r  280  2.7 where 10    60 ……………………………………………….(14)
Here  is moisture content (volume basis) and r is radius of measurement in mm
For instance from the above expression, when  is 18% r is about 231mm and when  is
40% r is 172mm. This shows that high moisture content implies small radius of
measurement.
 Tensiometer: This is the device which measures soil moisture tension. The Tensiometer has
porous end during the test creates contact with the soil. The tube of the Tensiometer is filled
with water. On the top end of the device is pressure gauge which measures the energy
(tension) that is developed when water moves between the porous end of the Tensiometer
and the soil. This soil moisture tension can give us the estimate of soil moisture content.

Figure 13: Tensiometer

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2.3.3. Soil water potential

Water potential is a measure of the ability of soil water to move. It is important to any process
where soil water moves, such as infiltration and redistribution within the soil or the removal of
water from the soil by evaporation and plant uptake. Water potential is the amount of work
required per unit quantity of water to transport water in the soil. This energy arises from the
adhesion force between soil and water particles, and cohesion force between water particles in
the soil. Soil water potential is expressed in kPa. Plants therefore need to exert an energy which
can at least overcome the energy by which the water is held in the soil. An alternative to
measuring the amount of water in the soil is to measure the energy state of the water. Therefore,
soil water potential is an indirect indicator of the soil moisture content. There are four types of
soil water potentials. They are: matrix potential, osmotic potential, gravitational potential and
pressure potential.
a) Matric potential ( m )
Soil water is adsorbed (form hydrogen bond) to soil mineral particles. This is due to adhesion
force that attracts the water particles to the soil particle. On the other hand, water particles are
held together by cohesive force. Therefore, soil water is under two principal pulls; the pull from
the soil mineral particle and the pull from the neighboring water particle. When any external
force like plant absorption force is exerted, water is restrained or held in the soil by these
adhesive and cohesive forces. This places the soil water under tension. Water under tension has
less potential (freedom of movement) relative to free water. This is the case in soil root zone as
there is external force (plant root) and adsorption force (adhesion) that keeps the water under
tension and hence with less potential. The reduction in potential energy of water due the
adsorption of soil water to soil mineral particles is called matrix potential. Matrix potential is
negative for capillary water and zero for gravitational water.
b) Osmotic/solute potential ( s )
Soil water is not pure; rather it is a solution. Water in the form of solution has less potential
energy than the reference water (pure water). Solutes that reduce the potential energy of water
are called osmotically active solutes. All inorganic salts and many large organic molecules are
osmotically active solutes. The reduction in water potential due to presence of solute arises from
hydration of the solute and adsorption of the water in to the solute. The reduction in potential

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energy of water due to the presence of osmotically active solutes in the soil water is called
osmotic or solute potential. Osmotic potential is negative for ordinary soil water and zero for soil
water with no osmotically active solutes.
c) Gravitational potential ( g )

Gravitational potential is the change in potential energy of water due to elevation of the water
with reference elevation. The reference elevation relevant to gravitational energy is arbitrary
elevation chosen. This elevation is usually soil surface or water table, but can be any other point.
At any point above the reference elevation, gravitational potential is positive whereas it is
negative at any point below the reference elevation. The reference elevation is should be kept the
same for a set of calculation although the selection is arbitrary. If so, the difference in
gravitational potential will be constant for different points.
d) Pressure potential ( p )

Pressure potential is the change in the potential energy of water arising from an externally
applied pressure. The main source of this external pressure is water ponding on the surface of
the soil, i.e., hydrostatic pressure. In practice, water is often ponded on the soil surface during
irrigation or heavy rains, and this standing water exerts a positive pressure on the water in the
soil. When there is no hydrostatic pressure however, the external pressure is limited to
atmospheric pressure, which is considered as the reference external pressure relevant to
gravitational potential. Without hydrostatic pressure, pressure potential is zero. When there is
ponding however, the pressure potential increases by the weight of the standing water and the
pressure potential is positive.
In general soil water potential is at a given point under some osmotic and hydrostatic condition is
the resultant of all the components of the soil water potentials.
   m   s   g   p ……………………………………………….……………………..(15)
Plants therefore suck the soil water by exerting pressure that can overcome this resultant soil
moisture tension.
2.3.4. Movement of water in the soil
Whenever water is applied to the soil, be it from rain or irrigation or surface inflow in to the
field, the water under goes some kind of movement. If the rate at which the water is applied to
the field exceeds the rate of infiltration, then the water is ponded or changed to runoff. Otherwise

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it infiltrates. Water enters the soil through pores, cracks, worm and decayed root holes, and
through cavities introduced by tillage. Besides infiltration and surface runoff, percolation,
capillary rise and depletion are also type of soil water movement.
Infiltration
Infiltration is the vertical movement of water through soil. The rate at which irrigation or rainfall
water enters in to the soil is called infiltration rate (mm/hr) and the maximum rate at which
water can enter a soil in a given condition is the infiltration capacity. Infiltration is affected by
different factors (Table 6).
Table 6: Factors affecting infiltration
Factors affecting infiltration Description
Soil texture Fine textured soil intakes water slowly but holds much
Soil structure Block structures favors infiltration more
Antecedent moisture content Dry soil takes water than wet soil
Compaction Compacted soil favors runoff flow than infiltration
Organic matter content High organic matter favors infiltration
Salinity Salts deteriorate soil structure and hence affects infiltration
Soil depth The larger the soil depth, the higher the infiltration
Soil crack Cracking in soil increases initial infiltration
Water table Shallow water table reduces infiltration
Vegetation cover Vegetation favors infiltration by preventing surface flow

Infiltration is also influenced by the flow conditions such as hydraulic gradient, depth of surface
flow, duration of flow, velocity of flow, and rainfall intensity. Management practices that affect
soil crusting, vegetative cover, and soil porosity will increase or decrease the rate of water
infiltration. For example, slow infiltration can be caused by increased soil compaction. Leaving
crop residues on the surface or increasing the organic matter content in the soil surface may
maintain aggregation and enhance infiltration.
The rate of infiltration is affected by soil characteristics including ease of entry, storage capacity,
and transmission rate through the soil. The soil texture and structure, vegetation types and cover,
water content of the soil, soil temperature, and rainfall intensity all play a role in dictating

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infiltration rate and capacity. For example, coarse-grained sandy soils have large spaces between
each grain and allow water to infiltrate quickly.
Infiltration capacity declines rapidly during the early part of a storm and then tends to constant
value, referred to as basic infiltration rate (Figure 14). The mechanism behind such behavior is
that the infiltrated water fills the available storage spaces and reduces the capillary forces
drawing water into the pores. If rainfall intensity at the soil surface occurs at a rate that exceeds
the infiltration capacity, ponding begins and is followed by runoff over the ground surface, once
depression storage is filled.
Table 7: Infiltration capacity of some soils

Soil type Infiltration Rate (cm/hr)

Sandy soil >2.0
Sandy loam 1.0 – 2.0
Loam 0.5 – 1.0
Silt loam 0.5 – 0.8
Clayey 0.1 – 0.5

Infiltration Curve
The infiltration rate of water into soil seems to follow a power function during early period and
then begins to deviate and approach a constant value of infiltration. Different soils have different
infiltration capacity (Table 7)

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Figure 14: Infiltration Curve

Several mathematical relationships or models have been developed for infiltration rate and
cumulative infiltration depth. Among different methods of determining representative
mathematical equation for infiltration, Kostiakov equation is usually used in irrigation system
design.
Kostiakov Equation
Kostiakov developed a simple two parameter equation for infiltration rate and cumulative
infiltration.
Y  at b …………………………………………………………………………...……………..(16)
where Y = cumulative infiltration depth after time t, t is infiltration opportunity time, a and b are
the soil parameters that depend on the soil and its physical condition. Derivative of the
infiltration depth with respect to time gives infiltration rate I
dY
I
d at b  
 I  abt b 1 …………..………………………………………………………(17)
dt dt
Equation 17 represents a power function curve which has infinite initial value and zero final
value. However, the general infiltration pattern is that, it starts at a non-infinity value. As
infiltration goes on the rate goes decreasing and finally takes constant rate; the basic infiltration

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rate. To remove this disagreement, Kostiakov’s equation was modified as follow (equ. 18) by
adding a constant c (the basic infiltration rate).
Y  at b  ct
………………………………………..………………………………………..(18)
I  abt b 1  c
Equation 18 is called modified Kostiakov’s equation. Here the problem is that the constants a, b
and c are difficult to obtain from the infiltration data. Therefore, the equation has been further
modified and is called Branch equation:
Y  at b t t b
I  abt b 1
and , ……………………………………………………………....(19)
Y  at b  ct  t b  t  tb
b

I c
where tb is the time at which basic infiltration rate is reached. This equation assures that
infiltration rate follows power function equation fashion until constant infiltration rate is reached.
Branch equation simplifies the computation of the constants a and b. By plotting the cumulative
infiltration depth data on log-log scale, straight line is obtained.
log Y  log a  b log t ………………………………………….………………………………(20)
The slope of the straight line gives b whereas the intercept gives log a, is intercept.

2.5
Log Y = b log t + log a
2
R² = 0.9236
1.5
Log Y

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
log t

Figure 15: Plot of cumulative infiltration curve vs time on log-log scale

As shown in figure 15 above, the value of b (the slope of the line) is 0.76 and log a (the intercept
of the line) is 0.3178. Antilog of this number gives the value of a.

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Once infiltration coefficients are determined, the infiltration equation can be written.
Determination of infiltration capacity
The most common method of determining infiltration capacity is double ring infiltrometer
analysis. The standard double ring infiltrometer set consists of three pairs of inner and outer
rings, a driving plate, an impact-absorbing hammer, measuring bridges and measuring rods with
floats. The purpose of the outer ring is to have the infiltrating water act as a buffer zone against
infiltrating water straining away sideways from the inner ring (this applies in particular for
heterogeneous soils). Steel pull-out hooks allow removal of the rings.

Figure 16: Double ring infiltrometer setup

Working principle:
The two rings are filled with water; the level of the water in the outer ring is measured at
different time. The depth of water infiltrated between time intervals is the difference between the
current reading and the previous reading. Whenever water is added, the depth added should be
considered during depth computation. The measurement has to be kept on until constant
infiltration rate is reached.
Illustrative Example #2: Consider the following infiltration test result.

Time (min) 0 1 2 5 10 20 30 60 90 120

Cumulative
0 3 5 9 14 22 27 37 47 57
depth (mm)

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Develop infiltration curve for the data. Determine the infiltration constants and write Branch
infiltration equation for the data
Solution:
Here, cumulative depth with time of infiltration is given. From the values infiltration depth in each
time interval and the corresponding infiltration rate can be calculated (Table 8).
Table 8: Infiltration capacity analysis
Cumulative
Infiltration Infiltration infiltration
Time depth rate depth Slope Intercept
(min) (mm) (mm/hr) (mm) Log t Log Y (b) (log a)
0 0
3 180
1 3 0.000 0.477
2 120 0.737 0.477
2 5 0.301 0.699
4 80 0.641 0.506
5 9 0.699 0.954
5 60 0.637 0.509
10 14 1.000 1.146
8 48 0.652 0.494
20 22 1.301 1.342
5 30 0.505 0.685
30 27 1.477 1.431
10 20 0.455 0.759
60 37 1.778 1.568
10 20 0.590 0.519
90 47 1.954 1.672
10 20 0.671 0.361
120 57 2.079 1.756
Average 0.611 0.539

The plot of Infiltration rate and cumulative infiltration depth versus time

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200

Infiltration rate (mm/hr)

Cumulative infiltration
150

depth (mm), 100

50

0
0 50 Time (min) 100 150

Figure 17: Infiltration curve

2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
Log Y

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Log t
Figure 18: Plot of cumulative infiltration depth vs time on Log-Log scale

The plot of cumulative infiltration depth gives nearly straight line. Perhaps the slope and intercepts
calculated at different points on the plot may be slightly different. This time it is necessary to
compute slope and intercept at all points and take the average value as shown on Table 8.
As discussed so far, slope of the line (Figure 18) represents the value of b, and the intercept
represents log a of equation 20.
Accordingly, equation of the line will be:

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log Y  log a  b log t

LogY  0.539  0.611 Log t

b = 0.611 and Log a  0.539  a  100.539  3.459

Now, recall Branch infiltration equation,
Y  at b t t b
I  abt b 1
and ,
Y  at b  ct  tb  t  tb
I c
For t < tb, where tb = 45min, the infiltration equation is assumed to resemble power function
Y  3.459t 0.611
I  2.113t 0.389
For t > tb, infiltration rate remains constant c. From the given data the basic infiltration rate is
20mm/hr. Therefore,

Y  3.459t b  20t  tb 
0.611

I  20

Soil hydraulic conductivity

Hydraulic conductivity is the ability of a media to transmit fluid. It is the proportionality constant
of Darcy’s equation (equation 21) that defines the relationship between flux and hydraulic
gradient.
dh
Q  KA ………………………………………………………………………….………….(21)
dl
where K is the proportionality constant or hydraulic conductivity. It is the flux density (flow per
unit area) when the hydraulic gradient is unity. The unit of K is m3/m2/s although its dimension is
length per time [L/T].
Hydraulic conductivity is an important soil property; it can be used to calculate corresponding
flux from any hydraulic gradient. “Intrinsic permeability” is a term used to describe the ability of
a porous material to transmit fluid, but refers solely to the properties of porous materials like soil.
Sometimes “permeability” is used as a qualitative term, not quantitative. It indicates the ease of a

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media to transmit fluid. Difference between hydraulic conductivity and intrinsic permeability is
described below (Table 9).
Table 9: Difference between hydraulic conductivity and permeability

Hydraulic conductivity Intrinsic permeability

 It is the ratio of flux to hydraulic gradient  It is readiness with which soil (any porous
material transmit water (any fluid))
 It is not exclusive property of the soil alone;  It is ideally exclusive property of the soil
it depends on the attributes of the soil and (media) alone
the fluid
 Affected by both soil texture and structure  It is affected by the soil structure only
 Temperature dependent  Temperature independent
 Viscosity dependent  Viscosity independent

Hydraulic conductivity is affected by soil texture, structure, porosity and water conducting pores
like cracks, root channels and worm holes. Due to this, hydraulic conductivity varies from place
to place, depth to depth and soil type and condition.
Capillary rise
Crops having medium to deep rooted system are capable of extracting significant quantities of
water from shallow water-table or saturated soil layer. In the presence of a shallow water-table or
saturated layer, the upward water movement by capillary rise from the groundwater to the root
zone is an important flux at the bottom boundary of the root zone. Shallow water-table
contribution to supply crop water use is important, especially in arid and semi-arid regions.
Under arid conditions, the water table can supply as much as 60–70% of a crop’s water
requirement. Successful use of the water table depends on the soil’s water retention and
transmission properties, evapotranspiration demand, and distribution of the plant roots systems.
In irrigation and drainage design, the effect of high water table on crop growth and drainage
system performance should be taken into account.
How does capillary rise occur? Let’s consider a capillary tube with radius r filled with fluid of
density 𝜌 (Figure 20).

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Figure 19: Capillary rise

The fluid in the tube is under the influence of downward force (weight of the fluid) and the
upward force (surface tension). These two forces balance each other so that the fluid stays in
equilibrium condition.

Upward force = downward force

Surface tension = weight of the fluid inside the column

2r cos   r 2 hg ……………………….……………(22)

Where 𝜎 surface tension (N/m) is, 𝛼 is contact angle between the liquid and the tube, g is gravity,
h is capillary height (m), and r is radius of the tube (m).

The height to which the capillary effect can rise can be determined by rearranging equation 22
above.

2 cos 
h …………………………………………..……………………………………….(23)
rg

Surface tension 𝜎 for water is about 0.0728 N/m or capillary angle  is nearly 0o for water,
density of water  is 1000kg/m3, gravitational acceleration g is 9.81m/s2. Substituting these
values into equation 23, and assuming equivalent pore diameter  in m rather than tube radius,
we get simplified expression for capillary height h (cm)

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hcm  
3000
…………………...…………………………………………………………….(24)
 m 

Illustrative Example #3: A banana field soil has effective root zone depth of about 1.30m.
Water table in that area is found at an average depth of about 2.20m below the ground surface.
How much capillary rise is expected in this field if the field soil has average pore diameter of 40
m ? Is it likely that the banana tree get water from the water table?
Solution
The capillary height h is calculated

hcm  
3000 3000
  75cm
 m  40
The watertable is 90cm low from the root zone. The capillary effect can raise the moisture only
by 75cm and hence the crop is unable to get water from the watertable.

2.4. Plants
To design a successful irrigation system, the irrigation engineer must know the rooting
characteristics of plants and how plants use moisture. Since a continuous supply of available
moisture is necessary for good plant growth, the irrigation system for any given crop must be
designed to supply the right amount of water during that crop's peak-use period. To determine
the amount of soil moisture available to that crop, it is necessary to know from what depth of soil
the plants get their moisture, or their moisture-extraction pattern, and how fast they use moisture.
2.4.1. How plants get moisture
The size of the soil reservoir that holds water available to a plant is determined mostly by that
plant's rooting characteristics. The distribution of its roots determines its moisture-extraction
pattern. Most plants have an enormous absorbing root surface. Near the growing tip of each root,
there are many root hairs in close contact with soil particles and with the air spaces from which
roots get their oxygen. Through osmotic and other forces, root hairs extract moisture from the
film of water that surrounds each soil particle.
Two phenomena seem to explain how a plant gets the enormous amount of water it takes in and
transpires:
 Capillary movement of water to plant roots and

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 Growth of roots into moist soil

As roots take up moisture, tension around the soil particles increases and water moves toward
these points of plant absorption. How effective capillary movement is depends on how much
water can be delivered to the soil around the roots and how fast it gets there. But since there is
little root extension when the soil-moisture content is low, it is likely that near the wilting point
any water that reaches plant roots must move-to them.
During favorable growing periods, roots often elongate so rapidly that satisfactory moisture
contacts can be maintained even when the soil moisture content declines and without much help
from capillary movement. Where a good root system has developed during favorable growing
periods, a plant can draw its moisture supply from deeper soil layers. Thus if the roots in the
upper part of the soil have depleted the moisture there to below the wilting point, plant needs can
still be met provided roots have already grown into deeper layers that contain an adequate
moisture supply.
Water is very important element of plant growth. The issue of water flow through the root zone
of field crops represents a complex problem requiring knowledge of a large spectrum of
phenomena from various disciplines. Within the state of the art, two theories of water absorption
are available:
 Active absorption
 Passive absorption
Active absorption is operating in slowly transpiring plant. According to this theory, accumulation
of salt in the root xylem sap lowers the water potential below that in the soil. The resulting
inward diffusion of water produces the “root pressure,” which is transmitted to the evaporating
surface of the leaf.
Passive absorption is operating when transpiration is rapid. According to this theory, roots
operate simply as passive absorbing surface. Evaporation of water from the leaf cells
(transpiration) lowers the cell water potential and causes movement of water into them from the
xylem, thus reducing the pressure in the xylem sap. The reduction in pressure of the xylem sap is
transmitted to the roots, reducing the water potential and causing mass inflow of water from the
soil, unless of course the soil is at a more negative water potential. The resulting tension or
suction induces upward mass flow from roots to leaves through the tube like capillary vessels of
the xylem. These capillary vessels can maintain the cohesive continuity of liquid water columns

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even under a tension of many bars, as needed to draw water from relatively dry soils and
transport it to the top of the tree. The roots therefore merely acts as passive absorbing surfaces
through which water is pulled by a gradient of water potential generated in the transpiring shoots.
This theory is also termed as “cohesion-tension theory.” As one water molecule evaporates from
the leaf, another is pulled in and so on down the stem. The drier the soil, the more tension is
required to pull water in from the soil. When the soil is moist (water potential close to zero),
water flows easily into the root and up the stem.
2.4.2. Root zone depth and water availability
Root zone is that portion of the soil profile where root of a specific crop resides and obtain
nutrient, water and air without difficulty under normal condition. Since root development for any
one crop varies in different parts of the country because of soil and climatic differences, the
design root depth should be based on local moisture extraction data for locally adapted crops.
Extraction of water is most rapid in the zone of greatest root concentration and under the most
favorable conditions of temperature and aeration. Since water also evaporates from the upper few
centimeters of soil, moisture is withdrawn rapidly from the upper part of the soil. As the amount
of moisture in this part of the root zone is diminished, soil-moisture tension increases. Plants
then get moisture from lower parts of the root zone.

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Figure 20: Root zone depth and moisture extraction pattern

In uniform soils that are fully supplied with available moisture, plants use water rapidly from the
upper part of the root zone and slowly from the extreme lower part (Figure 20). The usual
extraction pattern is shows that 40 % of the extracted moisture comes from the upper quarter of
the root zone, 30 % from the second quarter, 20 % from the third quarter, and the remaining
10% from the bottom quarter.
In non-uniform soils, the amount of moisture available for crop growth may be determined by
the soil layer that has the lowest amount of available moisture. If the top layer of a soil has a low
water-holding capacity, the available moisture is soon exhausted. If the moisture supply is not
immediately replenished, plants can draw moisture only from lower levels at a less efficient rate
and their growth is retarded. Any lower layer in the soil that has a low water-holding capacity
also limits the total amount of moisture that plants can use.

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2.5. Crop Water Requirement

2.5.1. Introduction

The core issue in irrigation system design is recognizing the water balance root zone and
designing the system of water supply to replenish the depleted water. This requires frequent soil
moisture test to know the amount of water available in the root zone. The amount of moisture
available in the soil at a given time and evapotranspiration condition of the area is important
concept in irrigation scheduling.

Water requirement is the total quantity of water and how a crop requires water from time it is
established to the time of harvest. Water requirement varies with crop, growth stage and place. In
other word different crops have different water requirement and the same crop may have
different water requirement at different growing stage and different place depending on the
climate, soil, rainfall and method of cultivation.

2.5.2. Delta of crops and Duty of water

As discussed so far, crops need treatment in terms of water, fertilizer and other management
activities from the sowing or transplanting date to the harvesting date. The time from the starting
date to the harvest date of the crop is called crop period or growth period. Water is supplied for
the crop after establishing. The time period between the first watering date after sowing to the
last watering date before harvest, is called base period (B) of the crop. In most cases base period
and crop period are used interchangeably as their difference in terms of day length is not much
significant.

A crop needs some amount of water in a given time period of time. For example 5 to 10cm
depending on the crop type, soil and climate may be needed for 6 to 15 days. The time interval
between two successive watering events is called irrigation frequency (irrigation interval).
Summation of irrigation frequency gives base period B. The total water applied during each
irrigation event is called irrigation depth. Again, the summation of irrigation depth during the
base period gives the total amount of water required by the crop for its full growth. This total
amount of water required for full growth and maturity of a crop is called Delta (∆). Delta is
expressed in hectare-meter or in cubic meter of simply depth of water in cm, which would stand
on the entire irrigated field with no percolation and evaporation.

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Duty of water shows the relationship between the volume of water and the hectare of land that it
can mature. It is defined as the number of hectares of land that can be irrigated for full growth
and maturity of a crop if water is continuously supplied at a rate of 1m3/s during the entire base
period. This is to mean, if an irrigation is practiced under supplied rate of 1m3/s for period of B
days, how much area (in hectare) of land can be cultivated? In general, duty is the hectarage
capacity of a unity discharge of water flowing during the base period.

Delta and Base period can be related as follows.

Suppose a crop has B based period and during this period, water is applied at a rate of 1m3/s.
now, the total volume of water applied during B days will be,
3
V  1m  B days  60 sec  60 min  24 hr
s min hr day
V  86400 B cubic  meter 

This quantity of water is needed for irrigating D hectare of land. Therefore the depth (delta) of
this water will be:

Volume 86400 B 8.64 B

   meters
Area 10 4 D D

Table 10: Factor affecting duty of water

Factors Remark

Crop type Duty is less for crops requiring more water

Temperature Duty is less in warmer season

Rainfall Duty is high if rainfall is there on the cultivated

area as the amount of irrigation water is less

Soil type Highly permeable soil facilitates percolation.

Therefore duty is less

Cultivation method Poor cultivation practice lessens the duty of

water by as loss of water is high

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Illustrative Example #4: A wheat crop grown on a 2.5 ha of land has a base period of about 140
days. It needs 8.5cm of water for 28 days. Determine delta of this crop and duty of the water.

Solution:

Base period 140 days

Number of irrigation days   5
Irrigation frequency 28 days

Delta of the crop

  Number of irrigation  depth of irrigation  5  8.5cm  42.5cm

Assuming that this 42.5cm of water is applied continuously during the base period B,

  Area 0.425m  2.5  10 4 m 2 3

Stream size    8.78  10  4 m
B 140 days  24 hr  60 min  60 sec s
day hr min

Duty of the water

Area 2.5ha
D   2847 ha
stream size 8.78  10 4 m 3 cumec
s

2.5.3. Consumptive use (Cu)

Consumptive use is the total amount of water required for a crop to meet transpiration from
leaves and evaporation from the soil and plant surface. It is also known as evapotranspiration.
The amount of ET demand differs with crop type, soil, climate and other factors. Consumptive
use also varies with time and growth stage of the crop. The ET demand of a crop is met through
irrigation or rainfall. The rainfall that happens during the crop period and available for meeting
the evapotranspiration demand is called effective rainfall (Reff). Effective rainfall does not
include that part of rainfall which is lost through percolation and runoff.

Different methods are used to calculate the effective rainfall from the recorded rainfall data R in
millimeter.

Fixed percentage method

Reff  % of monthly RF

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Dependable rain (FAO/AGLW) method

0.6 R  10 for R  70mm

Reff  
0.8R  24 for R  70mm

Empirical formula method

0.5R  5 for R  50mm

Reff  
0.7 R  20 for R  50mm

USDA soil conservation method

R  125  0.2 R  125 for R  250mm

Reff  
125  0.1R for R  250mm

Irrigation Requirement (IR)

This is the amount of water required for a crop to meet its ET demand for full growth and
maturity. It may be:

 Consumptive irrigation requirement (CIR): is consumptive use exclusive of the effective

rainfall during the crop period.
CIR = ET - Reff………………….………………………………………………………(24)
 Net irrigation requirement (NIR): the amount of water required for a crop to meet its
ET demand as well as other needs like leaching requirement (LR), losses including deep
percolation (Dp).
NIR = ET - Reff +Dp +LR………………………………………………………………(25)
Leaching requirement is the water required for removing unwanted salts from the root
zone.
ECiw
LR  ……………………………………………………………...………….. (26)
EC dw
where ECiw is electrical conductivity of irrigation water applied for leaching (mmhos/cm)
and ECdw is electrical conductivity of drained water after leaching (mmhos/cm). LR is
expressed as fraction.

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 Gross irrigation requirement (GIR): while water is delivered from the source to field as
well as during application there is loss. Gross irrigation requirement considers all losses
associated with conveyance and field application. It is therefore net irrigation requirement
including losses.
NIR
GIR  ………………………………………………………...……………….(27)
Ec  E a
where Ec and Ea are conveyance and application efficiency respectively.

It has been addressed that evapotranspiration is the amount of water that has to be applied to the
soil, be it through irrigation or rainfall supply in order to compensate the amount of water lost
through evaporation and transpiration which would meet the crop water need. This crop water
need is affected by two basic factors: the climatic factors and the crop factors. Different crops
have different water requirement for their growth and therefore we refer to their crop coefficient
for this consideration. The effect of the climatic factors is fixed using a reference (standard crop)
and this effect is combined with the crop factor to get the consumptive use of the crop. The water
requirement of this standard crop is called reference evapotranspiration ETo. The product of the
ETo and crop coefficient Kc gives evapotranspiration of the crop ETc.

ETc  K c  ETo ………………………………………………………………………………..(28)

where ETc = Evapotranspiration of the crop under consideration, Kc = crop coefficient (see
section 3.3.3) and ETo is evapotranspiration of the reference crop.

Evapotranspiration (ET)

Two processes are recognized to lead the evapotranspiration event. The first process is
evaporation; the process by which water is changed in to vapor form and escape from the soil
surface. This process is facilitated greater by climatic factors such as temperature, wind,
humidity and solar radiation. The second process by which water is lost from a cropped field is
transpiration. Transpiration is the process whereby water escapes from the plant leaves through
stomata. Like evaporation, transpiration also is governed by climatic factors: pressure gradient,
temperature, humidity, wind and solar radiation.

The combination of this process is called evapotranspiration because both happen simultaneously
but at different rate. Evaporation rate is very high (can even be equal to 100%) at cropping stage

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and it gradually decreases as the crops growing stage proceeds. This is because the surface is
bare at the initial stage and decreases as the crop canopy covers the soil surface under the plants.
As the rate of evaporation decreases the rate of transpiration on the other hand increases due to
the development of many leaves which have much stomata from which the water escapes.

The surface conditions under which evapotranspiration event is referred results two kinds of
evapotranspiration situations. These are:

 Potential evapotranspiration (ETp): is the rate at which water would be removed from a
wet soil covered by green vegetation. In such case there is no restriction to both
evaporation and transpiration events.
 Reference evapotranspiration (ETo): defined as the rate of ET from a hypothetical
reference crop (usually grass) with an assumed crop height of 10cm, completely shading
the ground and having adequate water. This represents the nearly actual case in an
agricultural field.

2.5.4. Estimation of Evapotranspiration

Evapotranspiration can be estimated using direct and indirect methods:

 Direct methods
 Field measurement
 Lysimeter
 Indirect methods (Empirical formula)
 Blaney – Criddle Formula
 Radiation formula
 Hargreaves method
 Penman - Monteith
 Pan evaporation method

Field measurement

In this method experimental plot is established and soil (root zone) water balance of the plot is
determined. The root depth of up to 105 cm is considered; by dividing in to layers. Each layer is
provided with access tube. Since ET is one component of field water balance, it can be
determined for a given period by measuring other components.

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ETT  SM1  SM 2  Irr  Reff  U  Dp  SRO …………………………………………….. (29)

ETT is evapotranspiration for the time period ∆T between the initial soil moisture condition SM1
and final soil moisture condition SM2.

Soil moisture content of the root of the plot is measured by neutron meter or other method
including gravimetric method. If gravimetric method is used the weight basis soil moisture has to
be converted in to volumetric moisture content.

Lysimeter

Lysimeter is a large container filled with soil, which is located in the field to represent the field
condition with bare or vegetative surfaces, but hydrologically isolated from the surrounding
field-soil, permitting determination of any term of the hydrologic equation (e.g.,
evapotranspiration, percolation, etc.) when the others are known.

Empirical methods

Reference evapotranspiration is estimated by different empirical methods. These methods

consider different climatic parameters in order to determine the ETo. In this paper five empirical
methods; the Blaney – Criddle method, Radiation Formula, Modified Penman Method, Pan
Evaporative Method and Hargreaves Formula have been used to estimate the reference
evapotranspiration.

Blaney – Criddle Method

Blaney - Criddle method is very simple method that considers only temperature data. This
method is not that much accurate especially when the climatic condition is extreme. For example
in case the climate is dry, sunny and windy ETo is underestimated where as in case the climates
is humid, cloudy and calm the method results overestimated value of ETo.

Blaney- Criddle equation is given as:

ETo  P0.46T  8.13 …………………………………………...…………………………..(28)

where T = mean daily Temperature in ℃ and

P = mean daily percentage of annual daytime hours (given in Table 11)

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Table 11: Mean daily percentage (P) of annual daytime hours for different latitude

North Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Latitude South Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

60° 0.15 0.20 0.26 0.32 0.38 0.41 0.40 0.34 0.28 0.22 0.17 0.13

55° 0.17 0.21 0.26 0.32 0.36 0.39 0.38 0.33 0.28 0.23 0.18 0.16

50° 0.19 0.23 0.27 0.31 0.34 0.36 0.35 0.32 0.28 0.24 0.20 0.18

45° 0.20 0.23 0.27 0.30 0.34 0.35 0.34 0.32 0.28 0.24 0.21 0.20

40° 0.22 0.24 0.27 0.30 0.32 0.34 0.33 0.31 0.28 0.25 0.22 0.21

35° 0.23 0.25 0.27 0.29 0.31 0.32 0.32 0.30 0.28 0.25 0.23 0.22

30° 0.24 0.25 0.27 0.29 0.31 0.32 0.31 0.30 0.28 0.26 0.24 0.23

25° 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.29 0.30 0.31 0.31 0.29 0.28 0.26 0.25 0.24

20° 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.28 0.29 0.30 0.30 0.29 0.28 0.26 0.25 0.25

15° 0.26 0.26 0.27 0.28 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.25

10° 0.26 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.28 0.29 0.29 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.26

5° 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27

0° 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27

Illustrative Example #5: The maximum and minimum temperature in Ambo area (latitude of
about 9° N) in the month of January is 26.91 and 10.89℃ respectively. Determine ETo of the
area in January month.

Solution:

ETo  P0.46T  8.13

Tmax  Tmin 26.91  10.89

Mean temperature T    18.90 C
2 2

And mean daily percentage of annual daytime hours P is taken from Table 11; and its value is

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interpolated to be 0.26.

Then ETo  0.26  0.46  18.90  8.13  4.37 mm

day

Radiation Formula method

Radiation formula gives expression for ETo by considering more factors than that of Blaney -
Criddle. In this method climatic and radiation factors are taken in to account for determining the
reference evapotranspiration. The expression is given as

ETo  a  bWRs  ……................................................................................................................ (29)

Adjustment factors a and b

a and b are adjustment factors which take care of the effect wind speed, humidity and relative
sunshine duration, and they are found from Table 12

Table 12: Adjustment factors a and b values for different wind, humidity and sunshine conditions

n/N Wind speed Low RH (<20%) Medium RH (20-50%) High RH (>50%)

a b a b a b
Strong (> 5m/s) -1.60 1.40 -1.70 1.25 -1.65 0.98
Medium (2 – 5m/s) -1.80 1.28 -1.85 1.15 -1.55 0.88
Weak (< 2m/s) -2.00 1.15 -2.00 1.05 -1.45 0.80

a b A b a b
Strong (> 5m/s) -1.80 1.73 -2.10 1.52 -1.70 1.16
Medium (2 – 5m/s) -2.05 1.55 -2.15 1.38 -1.70 1.06
Weak (< 2m/s) -2.30 1.35 -2.20 1.20 -1.80 0.97

Strong (> 5m/s) -2.00 2.06 -2.55 1.82 -1.70 1.31

Medium (2 – 5m/s) -2.30 1.82 -2.50 1.61 -1.95 1.22
Weak (< 2m/s) -2.60 1.55 -2.40 1.37 -1.15 1.14

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Here n/N is the ration of the actual sunshine hour n to maximum daily sunshine hour N. Actual
sunshine hour n is obtained from meteorological station records whereas N is given (Table 13)
for different latitudes and time of the year.

Weighting factor W

W is weighting factor which depends on temperature and altitude. It can be calculated as

W = ∆ (∆+𝛾)…………………………………………………………………………………..(30)

∆ = slope of the saturated vapor pressure curve as function of temperature, 𝛾 = psychrometric

constants. Both ∆ and 𝛾 are temperature and pressure dependent parameters.

For simplicity the value of W has been calculated and the values for different temperature and
altitude can be obtained from Table 14.

Table 13: Maximum sunshine hour N at different latitude and time of the year

Latitude North Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
South Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan. Feb Mar Apr May Jun
50 8.5 10.1 11.8 13.8 15.4 16.3 15.9 14.5 12.7 10.8 9.1 8.1
48 8.8 10.2 11.8 13.6 15.2 16 15.6 14.3 12.6 10.9 9.3 8.3
46 9.1 10.4 11.9 13.5 14.9 15.7 15.4 14.2 12.6 10.9 9.5 8.7
44 9.3 10.5 11.9 13.4 14.7 15.4 15.2 14 12.6 11 9.7 8.9
42 9.4 10.6 11.9 13.4 14.6 15.2 14.9 13.9 12.9 11.1 9.8 9.1
40 9.6 10.7 11.9 13.3 14.4 15 14.7 13.7 12.5 11.2 10 9.3
35 10.1 11.0 11.9 13.1 14 14.5 14.3 13.5 12.4 11.3 10.3 9.8
30 10.4 11.1 12 12.9 13.6 14 13.9 13.2 12.4 11.5 10.6 10.2
25 10.7 11.3 12 12.7 13.3 13.7 13.5 13 12.3 11.6 10.9 10.6
20 11 11.5 12 12.6 13.1 13.3 13.2 12.8 12.3 11.7 11.2 10.9
15 11.3 11.6 12 12.5 12.8 13 12.9 12.6 12.2 11.8 11.4 11.2
10 11.6 11.8 12 12.3 12.6 12.7 12.6 12.4 12.1 11.8 11.6 11.5
5 11.8 11.9 12 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.3 12.3 12.1 12 11.9 11.8
0 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1

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Table 14: Weighting factor W as a function of altitude and temperature

Altitude (masl) 0 500 1000 2000 3000 4000

Temperature (0C)
40 0.85 0.86 0.87 0.88 0.89 0.9
38 0.84 0.85 0.86 0.87 0.88 0.9
36 0.83 0.84 0.85 0.86 0.88 0.89
34 0.82 0.82 0.83 0.85 0.86 0.88
32 0.80 0.81 0.82 0.84 0.85 0.86
30 0.78 0.79 0.80 0.82 0.84 0.85
28 0.77 0.78 0.79 0.81 0.82 0.84
26 0.75 0.76 0.77 0.79 0.81 0.83
24 0.73 0.74 0.75 0.77 0.79 0.81
22 0.71 0.72 0.73 0.75 0.77 0.79
20 0.66 0.7 0.71 0.73 0.75 0.78
18 0.68 0.67 069 0.71 0.73 0.76
16 0.64 065 0.66 0.69 0.71 0.73
14 0.61 0.62 0.64 0.66 0.69 0.71
12 0.64 0.6 0.61 0.64 0.66 0.69
10 0.61 0.57 0.58 0.61 0.64 0.66
8 0.52 0.54 0.55 0.58 0.61 0.64
6 0.49 0.51 0.52 0.55 0.58 0.61
4 0.46 0.48 0.49 0.52 0.55 0.58
2 0.43 0.45 0.46 0.49 0.52 0.55
Rs is short wave radiation and it is given as

 n
Rs  0.25  0.5  Ra
 N  ………………………………………………………………………..(31)

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Ra is extraterrestrial radiation is the solar radiation that is received at the top of the atmospheric
horizontal. Normally it is given in MJ/m2/day but has to be converted to mm/day for the purpose
of determining ETo.

Table 15: Extraterrestrial radiation Ra (mm/day) at latitude

Latitude 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
50 3.8 6.1 9.4 12.7 15.8 17.1 16.4 14.1 10.9 7.4 4.5 3.2
48 4.3 6.6 9.8 13.0 15.9 17.2 16.5 14.3 11.2 7.8 5.0 3.7
46 4.9 7.1 10.2 13.3 16.0 17.2 16.6 14.5 11.5 8.3 5.5 4.3
44 5.3 7.6 10.6 13.7 16.1 17.2 16.6 14.7 11.9 8.7 6.0 4.7
42 5.9 8.1 11.0 14.0 16.2 17.3 16.7 15.0 12.2 9.1 6.5 5.2
40 6.4 8.6 11.4 14.3 16.4 17.3 16.7 15.2 12.5 9.6 7.0 5.7
38 6.9 9.0 11.8 14.5 16.4 17.2 16.7 15.3 12.8 10.0 7.5 6.1
36 7.4 9.4 12.1 14.7 16.5 17.2 16.7 15.4 13.1 10.6 8.0 6.6
34 7.9 9.8 12.4 14.8 16.5 17.1 16.8 15.5 13.4 10.8 8.5 7.2
32 8.3 10.2 12.8 15.0 16.5 17.0 16.8 15.6 13.6 11.2 9.0 7.8
30 8.8 10.7 13.1 15.2 16.5 17.0 16.8 15.7 13.9 11.6 9.5 8.3
28 9.3 11.1 13.4 15.3 16.4 16.8 16.7 15.7 14.1 12.0 9.9 8.8
26 9.8 11.5 13.7 15.3 16.4 16.7 16.6 15.7 14.3 12.3 10.3 9.3
24 10.2 11.9 13.9 15.4 16.3 16.6 16.5 15.8 14.5 12.6 10.7 9.7
22 10.7 12.3 14.2 15.5 16.3 16.4 16.4 15.8 14.6 13.0 11.1 10.2
20 11.2 12.7 14.4 15.6 16.1 16.4 16.3 15.9 14.8 13.3 11.6 10.7
18 11.6 13.0 14.6 15.6 16.0 16.1 16.1 15.8 14.9 13.6 12.0 11.1
16 12 13.3 14.7 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.9 15.7 15.0 13.9 12.4 11.6
14 12.4 13.6 14.9 15.1 15.7 15.7 15.7 15.7 15.1 14.1 12.8 12.0
12 12.8 13.9 15.1 15.1 15.7 15.5 15.5 15.6 15.2 14.4 13.3 12.5
10 13.2 14.2 15.3 15.7 15.5 15.3 15.3 15.5 15.3 14.7 13.6 12.9
8 13.6 14.5 15.3 15.6 15.3 15 15.1 15.4 15.3 14.8 13.9 13.3
6 13.9 14.8 15.4 15.5 15.1 14.7 14.9 15.2 15.3 15 14.2 13.7
4 14.3 15 15.5 15.4 14.9 14.4 14.6 15.1 15.3 15.1 14.5 14.1
2 14.7 15.3 15.6 15.3 14.6 14.2 14.3 14.9 15.3 15.3 14.8 14.4
0 15 15.5 15.7 15.3 14.4 13.9 14.1 14.8 15.3 15.4 15.1 14.8

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Illustrative Example #6: Determine ETo in the month of February under the following condition
using radiation formula
Latitude: 10° N
Altitude: 2000 masl
Average temperature: 18℃
Relative humidity: 60%
Wind speed: 2.4 m/s
Average sunshine hour: 10.8
Solution
ETo  a  bWRs 
The adjustment factors a and b are taken from table 12 for the given humidity, wind speed and
sunshine condition. To do that maximum sunshine hour N has to be known and it is read from
table 13.
n 10.8
N = 11.8 for February. Therefore, N  11.8  0.92 (high)
a = -1.95, b = 1.22

Weighting factor W = 0.61 (from Table 14)

Extraterrestrial radiation Ra = 14.2 mm/day and hence, short wave radiation Rs will be
 n
Rs  0.25  0.5  Ra  0.25  0.5  0.92 14.2 mm  10.08 mm
 N  day day

Then,

ETo  1.95  1.22  0.71  10.08 mm  6.78 mm

day day

Pan Evaporation Method

Pan evaporation method gives the combined effect temperature, humidity, wind speed and
sunshine. This method uses pans to measure evaporation from free water surface. Different kinds

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of pans are in use out of which Class A pan (circular pan) and sunken Colorado pan (square) are
well known. Class A pan has diameter of 120.7cm and 25cm depth; water is fill up to 20cm
depth. The pan is place by being elevated to 5cm height.

The equation for estimating evapotranspiration using this method is given as

ETo  E pan  K pan ……………………………………………………………………………….(32)

Where

Epan = the amount of water that is evaporated from the pan and it is equal to the evaporation
equal to the evaporation measurement taken from the pan (mm/day).

Kpan = Pan Coefficient and it depends on wind speed (km/day), pan environment and relative
humidity. The values Kpan is tabulated below (Table 16). If the conditions are not known, for
class A pan, Kpan value of 0.70 is usually taken whereas for Sunken Colorado pan Kpan value of
0.80 is taken.

Figure 21: Class A pan

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Illustrative Example #7: Calculate ETo using pan evaporation method for the following
conditions:
Location: Guder
Month: April
Measured pan evaporation Epan: 7.2 mm/day
Wind speed: Moderate
Relative humidity: Medium
Pan environment: Nearly dry virgin land (station area = 100m2)

Solution:
For the conditions given, pan coefficient Kpan = 0.65 (from Table 16)
Therefore,

ETo  E pan  K pan  7.2 mm  0.65  4.78 mm

day day

Table 16: Pan Coefficient Kpan values for different wind speed and relative humidity conditions

Class A Case A: Pan placed in short green cropped

Case A: Pan placed in dry fallow area
pan area
Low Medium High Low Medium High
RH (%)
(<40) (40-70) (.>70) (<40) (40-70) (.>70)
Windward Windward
Wind distance of distance of
(km/day) green crop dry fallow
(m) (m)
1 0.55 0.65 0.75 1 0.70 0.80 0.85
10 0.65 0.75 0.85 10 0.60 0.70 0.80
100 0.70 0.80 0.85 100 0.55 0.65 0.75
1000 075 0.85 0.85 1000 0.50 0.60 0.70

1 0.50 0.60 0.65 1 0.65 0.75 0.80

10 0.60 0.70 0.75 10 0.55 0.65 0.70

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100 0.65 0.75 0.80 100 0.50 0.60 0.65

1000 0.70 0.80 0.80 1000 0.45 0.55 0.60

1 0.45 0.50 0.60 1 0.60 0.65 0.70

10 0.55 0.60 0.65 10 0.50 0.55 0.65
100 0.60 0.65 0.70 100 0.45 0.50 0.60
1000 0.65 0.70 0.75 1000 0.40 0.45 0.55

1 0.40 0.45 0.50 1 0.50 0.60 0.65

10 0.45 0.55 0.60 10 0.45 0.50 0.55
100 0.50 0.60 0.65 100 0.40 0.45 0.50
1000 0.55 0.60 0.65 1000 0.35 0.40 0.45

Hargreaves Method

Hargreaves method on the other hand needs only temperature to compute ETo. Therefore, it is
used in case where no climate data other than temperature is available. The Hargreaves formula
is written as:

ETo  0.0023Ra Tmax  Tmin  Tmean  17.8 …………………………………………….……(33)

0.5

Ra = Extraterrestrial radiation (mm/day) and it is taken from table as usual

Tmean = mean temperature (oC)

Illustrative Example #8: Compute ETo using Hargreaves method for the conditions given in
illustrative example #6 if maximum and minimum temperature is 7 ℃ and 24 ℃ respectively
Solution
Ra = 14.2mm/day, Tmean = 18 oC, then

ETo  0.0023Ra Tmax  Tmin  Tmean  17.8  0.0023  14.224  7 0.5 18  17.8  4.82 mm day
0.5

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Penman-Monteith Method

The Penman-Monteith method needs temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity and wind
speed data. This method is commonly being used for ETo calculation provided that the required
data is available. The Penman-Monteith equation is given as:

 Rn  G    u 2 e s  ea 
900
ETo  T  273 …………………………….………………… (34)
   1  0.34u 2 

Where: ETo = Reference evapotranspiration (mm/day)

∆ = slope of vapor pressure curve (kPa/oC)
Rn = net radiation at crop surface (mm/day)
G = soil heat flux density (mm/day). Because the magnitude of daily soil heat flux
beneath densely planted grass is relatively small, G can be neglected
 = psychrometric constant (kPaoC-1)
u2 = wind speed at 2m elevation from surface (m/s)
es  ea = vapor pressure deficit (kPa) where es and ea are saturation and actual vapor
pressure respectively
T = average temperature in oC
Let’s define these terms one by one

a) Slope of vapor pressure curve ∆

The relationship between air temperature and saturation vapor pressure is characterized by the
slope of the vapor pressure curve as follows.

 17.27T 
2504 exp  
 T  237.3 
 …………………………………………………….………………..(35)
T  237.32
T is daily temperature in oC

b) Psychrometric constant 

The psychrometric constant at wet bulb temperature is given as:

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 293  0.0065 z 
5.26

  0.067  ………………..……………………………..………………….(36)
 293 
where z is elevation in meter

c) Saturation vapor pressure es

 e 0 Tmax   e 0 Tmin  
e s    …………………………………………………...………………..(37)

 2 
where

 17.27T 
e 0 T   0.611 exp  ………………………………………………….…………….(38)
 T  237.3 

Here, T represents Tmax or Tmin (oC). Avoid calculating the saturated vapor pressure using Tmean
as the relationship between saturated vapor pressure and temperature is not linear.

d) Actual vapor pressure ea

Actual vapor pressure ea is saturation vapor pressure at dew point temperature (Tdew).

 17.27Tdew 
e a  0.611 exp  ………………………………………………...………………..(39)
 dew
T  237.3 

e) Net radiation Rn

Rn is the difference between the net short wave radiation Rns and long wave radiation Rnl.

Rn  Rns  Rnl …………………………………………………………………………………..(40)

Net short wave radiation Rns is the function of extraterrestrial radiation Ra and it is given as

 n
Rns  (1   ) 0.25  0.5  Ra ………………………………………………………....………(41)
 N
where  is reflection coefficient and it assumed that 25% of short wave radiation is reflected
from majority of the plants. So  is taken to be 0.25. n = actual sunshine hours (meteorological
data) and N = daytime hour (maximum sunshine hours of a day) given in Table 13. Remember that
the extraterrestrial radiation Ra is given in Table 15.

Net long wave radiation Rnl

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Rnl 

f t   Rns  0.34  0.044 ea  ………………………………………………..………….(42)
Ra

f(t) takes care of the effect of temperature on radiation and it is given in Table 17 for different
temperature values. Rns is net short wave radiation (mm/day), ea is actual vapor pressure and Ra is

extraterrestrial radiation (mm/day).

Table 17: Influence of temperature on long wave range expressed as a function of temperature f(t)
o
T( C) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36
f(t) 11 11.4 11.7 12 12.4 12.7 13.1 13.5 13.8 14.2 14.6 15 15.4 15.9 16.3 16.7 17.2 17.7 18.1

2.5.5. Crop coefficient Kc

As discussed in the previous section, crop evapotranspiration ETc is determined by multiplying

the reference evapotranspiration ETo by a dimensionless coefficient called crop coefficient Kc.
The reference crop corresponds to a living agricultural crop (trimmed grass) and it incorporates
the majority of the effects of variable weather into the ETo estimate.

The crop coefficient Kc is the ratio of the crop ETc to the reference ETo (eq.43) and it represents
an integration of the effects of three primary characteristics that distinguish the crop from the
reference grass. These characteristics are:

 Crop height (affecting roughness and aerodynamic resistance)

 Crop–soil surface resistance (affected by leaf area, ground coverage by vegetation, leaf
age and condition, the degree of stomatal control, and soil surface wetness) and
 Albedo (reflectance) of the crop–soil surface (affected by the fraction of ground covered
by vegetation and by the soil surface wetness).

ETc
Kc  ……………………………………………......……………………………………………….(43)
ETo

In general, crop coefficient varies with specific crop characteristics. The characteristics of a crop
changes growth stages of the crop. The change in crop coefficient over the length of the growth
stage is indicated using crop Kc curve (Figure 22).

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2.5.6. Growth stages of crops

The Kc for a given crop changes over the growing period as the groundcover, crop height and
leaf area changes. There are for growth stages of a crop:

a. Initial stage: This is germination and early growth of when groundcover is nearly 10 per
cent. Evaporation at this stage is very high (dominant) when the soil is wet whereas
transpiration rate is very low.
b. Developmental stage: This is the stage from 10 per cent groundcover to effective full
groundcover reaches (70 – 80 per ce nt). Full effective coverage for majority crops occurs at
early flowering stage. Here majority of the surface is shaded and therefore, evaporation is
limited but transpiration becomes dominant.
c. Mid stage: Mid stage is the period from effective groundcover to start of maturity.
Discoloring of leaves is common sign of mid stage in many crops. Kc reaches its maximum
and nearly constant value at this stage. Mid stage is long for many perennial and annual
crops. But, mid stage of vegetables which are harvested early for their greenness value is
quiet short
d. Late stage: The period from maturity to full senescence (harvest) is called late stage. Kc
declines and ends when the crop dries out or harvested.

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Figure 22: Crop growth stage and Kc curve

2.6. Irrigation scheduling

2.6.1. Water availability in root zone

Antecedent soil moisture content governs the water intake capacity of the soil and therefore the
amount of irrigation water required during each irrigation event. To be sure about the available
moisture in the root zone prior to irrigation, it is necessary to test the moisture content or tension
(water potential) in the soil to clearly know the moisture level. Pressure measurement devices
such as Tensiometer can be used to monitor soil moisture level and water potential and moisture
content are inversely related (Figure 23). It is always needed that the soil moisture in the root
zone is readily available to crops without any difficulty. That is, the moisture between field
capacity and critical point is readily available and therefore, the soil moisture has to be kept
between these two moisture constants FC and CP. Moisture beyond FC is gravitational water that
simply percolates whereas moisture between CP and PWP is non-readily available to crops.
That is irrigation has to be undertaken just when 50% of RAW is depleted.

Illustrative Example #9: The antecedent moisture of a soil 12% by volume. How much depth of
irrigation has to be undertaken to raise the moisture content to 25% if the root zone depth of the
soil is 1.20m?

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Solution
Irrigation depth  10  SM 1  SM 2   z
 10  25  12   1.20
 156mm

In general, information on soil moisture condition both before and after application is very
important for proper irrigation water application. This helps to know how much and when to do
irrigation to replace the consumed water. It is also useful to estimate the proportion of initial and
applied water goes different soil moisture levels as can be seen from illustrative example 9
below.

Table 18: Crop coefficient of different crops (Allen et al, 1999 and FAO 1989)

Crop Kc ini Kc mid Kc end Ini Dev Mid. Lat. Total

Carrot 0.70 1.05 0.95 20 30 30 20 100
Cabbage 0.70 1.05 0.95 20 25 60 15 120
Garlic 0.70 1.00 0.70
Onion, dry 0.70 1.05 0.75 20 35 110 45 210
Onion, green 0.70 1.00 1.00 25 40 20 10 95
Spinach 0.70 1.00 0.95
Radishes 0.70 0.90 0.85
Sweet potatoes 0.50 1.15 0.65
Beans 0.45 1.15 0.55 20 30 30 10 90
Chick peas 0.40 1.00 0.35
Ground nut 0.40 1.15 0.60
Lentils 0.40 1.10 0.30 20 30 60 40 150
Peas 0.50 1.15 1.10 20 30 35 15 100
Soybean 0.50 1.15 0.50
Pepper 0.60 1.05 0.90 25 35 40 20 120
Potato 0.60 1.15 0.70 – 0.40 25 30 30 20 105
Tomato 0.60 1.15 0.75 – 0.90
Water melon 0.40 1.00 0.75
Banana year 1 0.50 1.10 1.00

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Banana year 2 1.00 1.20 1.00

Coffee on bare soil 0.90 0.95 0.95
Coffee with weeds 1.05 1.10 1.10
Tea 0.95 1.00 1.00
Cotton 0.35 1.15 0.55 30 50 55 45 180
Sunflower 0.35 1.12 0.25 25 35 45 25 130
Barley 0.30 1.15 0.25 15 30 65 40 150
Oats 0.30 1.15 0.25 15 30 65 40 150
Wheat 0.30 1.15 0.25 – 0.40 15 30 65 40 150
Winter wheat 0.40 – 0.70 1.15 0.25 – 0.40
Millet 0.30 1.00 0.30 20 30 55 35 140
Sorghum 0.30 1.05 0.55 20 35 45 40 140
Rice 1.05 1.20 0.90 – 0.60
Maize 0.55 1.20 0.65 – 0.35 30 50 60 40 180
Grass 0.85 0.90 0.90

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Figure 23: Soil moisture level and irrigation requirement

Illustrative Example #10: Bulk density and dry density of a soil is 1.35 and 2.7g/cc respectively.
Moisture content of this soil at FC is 40% whereas that of at PWP is 22% (volume basis). What
is:
a) Deep percolation depth
b) Total Available Water (TAW)
c) Readily Available Water (RAW)
d) Non-Readily Available Water (nRAW)
e) Dead water
Root zone depth is 1.0m
Solution
a) Deep percolation occurs when moisture content is between saturation and FC.
Hence,
Dp  10  sat   FC  z
At saturation point all pores are filled with water.
Therefore,
sat  

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    1.35 
From equation 6,  sat    1  b   100  1    100  50%
    2.70 
 p 
Dp  10   sat   FC   z
Dp  10  50  40  1
Dp  100mm

b) Total Available Water

TAW  10   FC   PWP 1
 10  40  221
 180mm

c) Readily Available Water

FAO recommends doing irrigation when 50% of TAW is used.
Therefore,
RAW = 0.5 TAW
= 90mm
d) Non-Readily Available Water
TAW  RAW  nRAW
nRAW  TAW - RAW  180mm - 90mm  90mm

e) Dead water
Dead water  10   PWP   0  z
 10  22  0  1
 220mm

2.6.2. Irrigation Efficiency

An irrigation system is subjected to water loss in one way or another. Water loss happens during
water conveyance from the source to the field, during distribution as well as application. The
major challenging events leading to water loss are percolation, runoff, evaporation and
operational losses. The losses can generally be associated with conveyance distribution, storage
and application of water. Four types of irrigation efficiencies can be recalled:

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Conveyance efficiency (Ec): This is the percentage of source water that is delivered to the field.

Depth of water delivered to the field

Ec   100
Depth of water diverted from the source

Factors affecting this efficiency include canal lining, evaporation of water from the canal,
technical and managerial facilities of water control, etc. Conveyance efficiency is higher when
water is conveyed in a closed conduit than when it is conveyed in an open one, since water in the
latter is very much exposed to evaporation as well as to ‘poaching’ by people and to livestock
watering.

Distribution efficiency (Ed)

This shows how uniformly water is applied to the field along the irrigation run. In sandy soils
there is generally over irrigation at upper reaches of the run when as in clayey soils, there is
over- irrigation at the lower reaches of the run.

 y
E d  1   x 100
 d

Where d = average depth of water penetration and

y = average deviation from d.

Application efficiency (Ea): This is the ratio of water directly available to the crop to water
received at the field inlet.

Depth of water used by crop

Ea  100
Depth of water delivered to the field

It is affected, for example, by the rate of supply, infiltration rate of soil, storage capacity of the
root zone, land leveling, etc. For furrow and border irrigation, water is mostly lost through deep
percolation at the head end and through runoff at the tail end, while for basin irrigation it is
mostly through deep percolation and evaporation, since the basin is closed. Moreover,
application is highly affected by irrigation method that is in practice (Table 19).

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Table 19: Application efficiency under different irrigation system (FAO, 1989)

Irrigation method Field application efficiency (%)

Surface irrigation (basin, border and furrow) 60
Sprinkler irrigation 75
Drip irrigation 90

Storage efficiency (Es)

Small irrigation may lead to high water application efficiencies, yet the irrigation practice may
be poor. The concept of water storage efficiency is useful in evaluating this problem. This
concept relates how completely the water needed prior to irrigation has been stored in the root
zone during irrigation.

Water stored in the root zone

Es   100
Water neded in the root zone prior to irrigation

Overall efficiency (E): The overall or project irrigation efficiency of an irrigation scheme is the
ratio of water made available to the crop to that released at the headwork. It is the product of two
efficiencies, namely conveyance efficiency (Ec) and application efficiency (Ea).

E  Ec  Ea

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Illustrative Example #11: 200mm of water was diverted from a river through an earthen canal to
irrigate a 25 ha of land. a guage installed at the field inlet however shows that the water entering
into the field from the canal is 148mm. When irrigation is done, the moisture content of the soil
increases by 16% by volume, all of which is to be used by the crop. If the root zone depth of the
soil is 75cm, determine the conveyance efficiency, application efficiency and overall efficiency
of the system.
Solution:
Depth of water delivered to the field 148mm
Ec   100   100  74%
Depth of water diverted from the source 200mm
Depth of water used by crop
Ea  100
Depth of water delivered to the field

But, depth of water used by crop

Depthmm   10 16  0.75  120mm

120mm
Ea   100  81%
148mm
E  Ec  Ea  0.74  0.81  100  60%

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3. IRRIGATION METHODS

Irrigation practice, which was started as a random event, that ancient people learnt while
diverting flood to protect themselves. Random event through time became art among the ancient
people. Irrigation has now become science, engineering and technology. With development of
science and technology, modern agriculture also developed.

As discussed at the very introduction of this course, irrigation involves diversion of water from
the source, transporting the water to the field, distributing through the field and applying the
water to the crop. There two major techniques of water application to crops. They are:

 Surface irrigation and

 Sprinkler irrigation
 Localized (drip or trickle) irrigation
3.1. Surface irrigation methods
3.1.1. General description

Surface irrigation is the oldest and most common method of applying water to crops. It involves
moving water over the soil in order to wet it completely or partially. It is method is the technique
of applying water to the field by using gravitational effect. The water flows over or ponds on the
soil surface and gradually infiltrates to the desired depth. Surface irrigation methods are best
suited to soils with low to moderate infiltration capacities and to lands with relatively uniform
terrain with slopes less than 2-3%.

Surface Irrigation Design Principles

Surface irrigation system should be design by taking into account the following basic principles:

 Uniform application of water all over the plots without causing erosion
 Minimum percolation loss
 Equal opportunity time to put equal amount of water into the soil
 Compromising inflow with soil infiltration capacity to reduce runoff

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Design Parameters of Surface Irrigation System

Design of surface irrigation system includes specification of the following parameters as

systematically represented in Fig. 24:

 Infiltration rate  Rate of advance

 Surface roughness  Field length
 Size of stream  Depth of flow
 Slope of the field  Depth of water to be applied
 Erosion hazard  Infiltration depth

Figure 24: Variable in surface irrigation design

Hydraulics of Surface Irrigation

When water is applied to the soil surface by any of the three surface irrigation methods (furrow,
border or basin), it will infiltrate into the soil to the required depth in order to bring the soil back
to field capacity. There are four phases of surface irrigation water application process (Fig. 25).

 Advance phase: starts when water is applied at the upstream end of the field and ends at the
downstream end of the field. If the stream size (application rate) is greater than the soil
infiltration capacity, then the water advances (flows) from the upstream to downstream. Note
that some of the water infiltrates into the soil whereas stream beyond the infiltration capacity

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of the soil flows (advances). The time between the start of irrigation and water advancement
to the end of the field is called the advance phase.
 Storage phase: After a while, water applied at the head of the field reaches the tail of the
field. If water application is continued at the head of the field, then the water starts ponding
on the field and even runoff can be collected if overflow occurs unless water application is
cutoff at the head. The time elapsed between the arrival of the water at the tail end and the
stopping of the inflow at the top end is called the storage or ponding phase.
 Depletion phase: After stopping the inflow at the head end, water may continue to pond on
the soil surface for a while. Some water still infiltrates the soil, with the excess being
collected as runoff. At a certain moment water will start receding from the head end. The
time between the stop of the inflow at the head end and the appearance of the first bare soil
that was under water is called the lag time or depletion phase.
 Recession phase: When water starts receding from the head end, it continues to the tail end.
The time when water starts to disappear at the head end until it eventually recedes from the
whole field is called the recession phase.

The time-difference between the recession and advance curve is called the contact time or the
intake opportunity time. This is the time in which any point in the field is in contact with water.
Three fundamental principles are important in surface irrigation water application:

 Depth of infiltration depends on contact time

 Contact time can be increased by flattening the field, or increasing the length of run
 Contact time can be decreased by steepening the field or reducing the length of run

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Figure 25: Phases of surface irrigation

3.1.2. Basin irrigation system

A basin is a horizontal area of land surrounded by earthen bunds and totally flooded during
irrigation (shown in Figure 26). Two different types are considered: one for paddy rice irrigation,
where ponded water is maintained during the crop season; and the other for other field crops,
where ponding time is short until the applied volume infiltrates. Ideally, the waterlogging should
not last longer than 24-48 hours. It is also used for the leaching of salts by deep percolation in the
reclamation of saline soils.

Basin irrigation performance and design is affected by the following factors

Flow rate: An increase in unit inflow rate can reduce deep percolation losses and improve
application efficiency. The time of advance decreases with the increase in flow rate.

Soil type: The efficiency and uniformity of basin irrigation depend on the relative magnitude of
the soil infiltration rate and flow rate. A soil with a relatively high infiltration rate will require a
substantially higher flow rate to achieve the same uniformity and efficiency as for a heavier soil.

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Longitudinal slope: Theoretically, basin is an irrigation unit with zero slopes. However in
practice some slope is provided along the longitude of the field. This slope needs to be optimized
to have as high efficiency as possible.

Aspect ratio (field size): This is the ratio of the width to length of the field. With the increase in
aspect ratio, the application efficiency and irrigation uniformity decrease, meaning a reduction in
irrigation performance. The reason is that increase in aspect ratio leads to greater deep
percolation losses as the time of advance also increases.

Surface micro-topography: The local undulations are commonly termed as micro-topography.

Micro-topography causes local stagnation and irregular advance of water front.

Irrigation depth: This determines the duration of irrigation. Higher irrigation depth needs longer
time.

Figure 26: Basin irrigation system

Flooding should be done using a large stream size that advances quickly in order for water to
spread rapidly over the basin. The advance time should not exceed a quarter of the contact time,

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so as to reduce difference in contact time on the different sections of the basin. It may be used on
a wide variety of soil textures, though fine-textured soils are preferred. As the area near the water
inlet is always longer in contact with the water, there will be some percolation losses, assuming
the entire root zone depth is filled at the bottom of the field. Coarse sands are not generally
recommended for basin irrigation as high percolation losses are expected at the areas close to
water intake.

3.1.3. Border irrigation system

Border is strip of land with a downward slope but is as horizontal as possible in cross-section
(Figure 27). A horizontal cross-section facilitates an even rate of water advance down the
longitudinal slope. Border can vary from 3-30 m in width and from 60-800 m in length. They are
separated by parallel dykes or border ridges.

Figure 27: Border irrigation system

Like in case of basin irrigation border irrigation system design parameter is border size (length
and width) and it is also affected by the same parameters as that of basin irrigation system.

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Borders can be grouped into three categories depending on the management strategy adopted:

a) Fixed flow: a system in which the inlet flow rate remains constant throughout the duration of
irrigation, the method is simple and less expensive but generally of low efficiency.
b) Cutback: this is a system in which irrigation begins with a maximum or near maximum non
erosive inlet flow rate, which continues for a part of the irrigation period and then reduced to a
level just above what is needed to wet the entire length of the border
c) Tail water reuse: this is a system in which excess surface runoff from the downstream end is
collected in a sump and then pumped back into the same field to open up more borders or
used to irrigate another field.

Design of Border irrigation

To ensure adequate spread of water over the entire border, a minimum allowable inflow rate qmin
must be specified. USDA-SCS the following empirical formulas for determination of this and
other border irrigation design parameters.

L  S 0.5

q min  5.95  10 6   n

Where qmin = discharge per unit border width (m3/s/m)

L = border length (m)

S = border slope (m/m)

n = roughness coefficient (ranges from 0.15 to 0.25 based on the roughness of the field)

The maximum non erosive inflow qmax is limited by the soil erodibility condition, which is the
function of field slope S and the crop type (sod or nonsod).

q max  CS 0.75

C is an empirical coefficient that takes into account the crop type and is equal to 3.5  10 4 for
sod crops and 1.7  10 4 for nosod crops.

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In some occasions the ridge height of the border may limit the maximum inflow. That time
manning equation is used to determine the maximum inflow qmax for maximum allowable depth
of flow ymax

1 5 3 12
q max  y max S
n

Illustrative Example #12: A wheat field has border length of 100m with average slope along the
border 0.1%. If the rougness coefficient of the field n is 0.15,
a) Determine the required flow rate per unit width of the border
b) What would be the maximum non erosive inflow?
c) If maximum allowable ponding is 0.15m, determine the maximum inflow?
Solution
a) The minimum inflow required for this field condition is determined as

L  S 0.5 100  0.001

   
0.5
6
q min  5.95  10   5.95  10 6   1.25  10  4 m 3 s 1 m 1
n 0.15
b) Maximum inflow if erodibility is limiting factor in the wheat (sod crop) field would be

q max  CS 0.75  3.5  10 4  0.001

0.75
 0.062m 3 s 1 m 1

c) Maximum inflow if ridge/dike height is limiting factor

 0.15 3  0.001 2  0.089m3 s 1m 1

1 5 3 12 1 5 1
qmax  ymax S 
n 0.15

3.1.4. Furrow irrigation system

A furrow irrigation system consists of furrows and ridges. The water is applied by means of
small channels or furrows, which follow a uniform longitudinal slope. The method is best suited
to row crops such as maize, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, etc. Water can be diverted from the field
canal or the tertiary canal into furrows by means of siphons placed over the side of the ditch or
canal bank and allowed to flow downstream along the furrow (Figure 28). The water level in the
canal must be raised to a sufficient height above the level of the furrows by using a piece of
wood, check plates, or canvas filled with sand. This creates a head difference between the water

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level in the field ditch and the furrow, which is necessary for the water flow. Water can also be
diverted into furrows through gated pipes or hoses connected to a hydrant fitted on buried pipes.

The water is gradually absorbed into the soil and spreads laterally to wet the area between the
furrows. The amount of water that infiltrates the soil at any point along the furrow depends on
the soil type and the period during which the water is in contact with the soil at that particular
point. This is known as the contact time or the intake opportunity time. With furrow irrigation,
water is mainly lost by deep percolation at the head end of furrow and runoff at the tail end.
Furrows can be used on most soil types, although coarse sands are not recommended since
percolation losses, especially at the top end, would be high because of high infiltration rates.
Soils that crust easily are especially suited for furrow irrigation, since the water does not flow
over the ridge, which means that the soil in which the plants grow remains friable.

Furrow design is an iterative process that should consider the shape of the furrow, the spacing
between furrows, with the furrow length determined, amongst other factors, by the stream size to
apply and its application time, the soil type and the slope.

Figure 28: Furrow irrigation system

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Design of Furrow Irrigation system

General Guideline

1. Furrow Length depends on the soil type and slope. However, the length should not exceed
400m. Coarser soil needs shorter furrow and relatively larger slope than finer soil.
2. Slope of the furrow should be between 0.05 to 0.5% to be safe against erosion. Furrows can
also be level and are thus very similar to long narrow basins. However, a minimum grade of
0.05% is recommended so that effective drainage can occur following irrigation or excessive
rainfall. If the land slope is steeper than 0.5%, then furrows can be set at an angle to the main
slope or even along the contour to keep furrow slopes within the recommended limits.
3. Stream size/ flow rate should be the one that can be contained by the furrow size. When the
stream size is large, water will move rapidly down the furrows and so generally furrows can
be longer. Normally stream sizes up to 0.5 l/s will provide an adequate irrigation provided
the furrows are not too long.
Like for the case of border irrigation system, the maximum stream size (qmax in l/s) that will
not cause erosion will obviously depend on the furrow slope S as shown in Table 20.
0.6
q max 
S
Under normal condition the required stream size can be determined by:
0.5
q 
S

Table 20: The relationship between furrow slope and maximum inflow

Furrow slope S (%) Maximum flow rate, qmax (l/s)

0.1 6.0
0.3 2.0
0.5 1.2
2.0 0.3

4. Furrow Shape: In sandy soil, water moves faster vertically than sideways (or lateral).
Narrow, parabolic, or deep V-shaped furrows are desirable to reduce the soil area through

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which water percolates. However, sandy soils are less stable and tend to collapse, which may
reduce the irrigation efficiency. In clay soils, the infiltration rate is much less than for sandy
soils, and there is much more lateral movement of water. Thus, a wide, shallow furrow is
desirable to obtain a large wetted area to encourage infiltration.
5. Spacing of Furrow is influenced by the soil type and the cultivation practice. Based on the
crop and soil, it normally ranges from 50 to 80 cm.
6. Average depth of applied (or infiltrated) water can be estimated from volume balance.

Inflow depth  Water stored in the soil

qt
q t  A  d W  L  d  d 
W L

Where d = average depth of water (m)

q = flow rate (m3/s)
L = furrow length
t = time (sec)
Illustrative Example #13: Furrows of 80 m length and 0.50 m width and having a slope of 0.3%
are irrigated for 30 min with a stream size of 0.005 m3/s. Determine the average depth of water.
Check for safety of the flow rate against erosion.
Solution
The average depth will be
qt 0.005  30  60
d   0.225m
W L 0.5  80
To check the whether the flow causes erosion or not, maximum non erosive flow rate has to be
calculated.
0.6 0.6 3
q max    200 l  0.2 m
S 0.003 s s
The inflow of 0.005m3/s is by far less than the critical inflow rate (0.2m3/s) and hence there is no
erosion problem

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3.1.5. Efficiency of different surface irrigation systems

Furrow irrigation could reach a field application efficiency of 65% when it is properly designed,
constructed and managed. The value ranges from 50-70%. Losses will occur through deep
percolation at the top end of the field and runoff at the bottom end.

Border irrigation can reach a field application efficiency of up to 75%, if properly designed and
managed although a more common figure is 60%.

Basin irrigation, it is possible to achieve field application efficiencies of 80% on properly

designed and managed basins, although a more common figure used for planning varies between
60-65%.

Poor field application efficiency affects the overall efficiency of the system. There are common
problems that can reduce the field application efficiency of the three surface irrigation methods
to a considerable extent. These are:

 Poor land leveling can lead to waterlogging in some places and inadequate water
application in others
 Different soil types along the furrows, borders and basins result in different infiltration
rates
 Too small an advance stream results in too long an advance time, leading to uneven water
distribution in the field
 Too large a stream size will result in water flowing too fast down the leading to a cutoff
taking place before the root zone has been filled with water.
 The use of irregular-shaped plots with variable lengths of run complicates the operation
of the system, resulting in poor efficiencies
3.1.6. Criteria for selection of surface irrigation methods

The selection of a surface irrigation method depends mainly on soil type, crops to be irrigated,
the irrigation depth, land slope, field shape, labor availability and water source.

 Soil type: All three surface irrigation methods prefer heavy soils, which have lower
infiltration rates. A light soil with high infiltration rates favors deep percolation losses at
the top of the fields, resulting in low field application efficiency.
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 Type of crop:
 Furrow irrigation is particularly suitable for irrigating row crops such as maize
and vegetables. Furrows are also more suitable for shallow-rooted crops.
 Borders irrigation can also be used for row crops or for close-growing crops that
do not favor water ponding for long durations, such as wheat and alfalfa.
 Basin irrigation is suitable for crop, whether row or close-growing, that can stand
a very wet soil for up to 24 hours. Eg. Paddy rice
 Depth of irrigation application: if less irrigation depth is required, furrow irrigation is
appropriate; large depth is achieved by basin irrigation. Of the three surface irrigation
methods, basin irrigation can have higher irrigation efficiency and use less water for the
same crop on the same soil than the other methods as water is confined within bunds.
 Land slope: In general terms, all surface irrigation methods favor flat land as steep slopes
would necessitate excessive land leveling in order to avoid erosion, which is expensive
and can lead to the removal of top soil. Flat land with a slope of 0.1% or less is best
suited for basin irrigation (which needs a zero slope) since it requires minimum land
leveling. Border irrigation may be used on steeper land, even up to 5%, depending upon
other limiting factors such as soil type. One has to be cautious with furrow irrigation on
such steep slopes. This is because the flow is confined to a small channel (the furrow),
which could result in erosion.
 Field shape: In general, furrow irrigation requires regular field shapes, allowing the use
of the same stream size for the same furrow lengths. However, for all three types
regularly shaped fields are preferable.
 Labor availability: Basin irrigation requires less labor than the other two methods and
might have to be considered if there is a critical labor shortage.
3.2. Pressurized irrigation system

Pressurized irrigation system uses a system of pipes and pressure to convey, distribute and apply
water to crops. Pressurized irrigation system is used in areas where there is limited water source.
The water use efficiency of pressurized irrigation is generally better that that of surface
irrigation. This is because water conveyance system is pipe, which avoids all conveyance losses
like evaporation, percolation and unexpected abstraction losses. The field distribution system is

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piping as well and therefore no water loss in distribution system too. Field application is also
more precise than surface irrigation in that occurrence of runoff is unlikely. However,
pressurized irrigation system requires powerful water delivery and application pressure. For this
purpose large head is needed and this necessitates use of pump. This system is also more
challenging than surface irrigation system in that it needs high cost of construction. The system
is also sensitive to clogging and hence pressure loss in the system. Pressurized irrigation system
consists of two methods; sprinkler and trickle (drip) irrigation methods.

3.2.1. Sprinkler irrigation system

Introduction

Sprinkler irrigation in agriculture began with the development of impact sprinklers and
lightweight steel pipe with quick couplers. In the 1950s, improved sprinklers, aluminum pipe,
and more efficient pumping plants reduced the cost and labor requirements and increased the
usefulness of sprinkler irrigation. The sprinkler technology gradually advanced and today, it is at
sophisticated stage of using self-propelled and automated sprinkler system.

Working principle

Sprinkler irrigation is the method of applying water to plants from overhead in the form of water
spray. The water from the source is conveyed to the field at a sufficient pressure, water is jetted
through the narrow opening called nozzle to spread it from the pipe network across the soil
surface.

Components of sprinkler irrigation

Although there are different types of sprinkler systems, all have the following basic components:

 Pump draws water from the source, such as a reservoir, borehole, canal, or stream, and
delivers it to the irrigation system at the required pressure. It is driven by an internal
combustion engine or electric motor. If the water supply is pressurized, the pump may not
be needed unless pressure boosting is needed.
 Mainline is a pipe that delivers water from the pump to the laterals. In some cases the
mainline is placed below ground and is permanent. In others, portable mainline laid on

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the surface can be moved from field to field. Buried mainlines usually are made of coated
steel, asbestos-cement, or plastic. Portable pipes usually are made of lightweight
aluminum alloy, galvanized steel or plastic. In large fields the mainline supplies one or
more sub mains that deliver the water to the laterals.
 Laterals deliver water from the mainline to the sprinklers. It can be portable or
permanent and may be made of materials similar to those of the mainline, but is usually
smaller. In continuous-move systems, the lateral moves while irrigating.
 Sprinkler/ nozzle spray the water across the soil surface with the objective of uniform
coverage.

Types of sprinkler irrigation system

There are two general types of sprinkler irrigation system.

a) Set sprinkler system

In set systems, the sprinklers remain at a fixed position while irrigating. It has different
types:
 Hand-move
 Wheel line lateral and
 Hose fed lateral sprinklers
b) Continuous move sprinkler system
In continuous-move systems, the sprinklers operate while the lateral is moving in either a
circular or a straight path. There are different types:
 Center-pivot
 Linear-move laterals
 Traveling rain gun sprinklers

Adaptability of sprinkler irrigation system

Sprinklers are available in a wide range of characteristics and capacities and are suitable for most
crops and adaptable to most irrigable soils. Set systems can apply water at any selected rate
down to 3 mm/hr. This extends the use of sprinkling to fine-textured soils with low infiltration
rates. High-application-rate systems, such as the center-pivot and traveling rain guns, are not
applicable to low-infiltration-rate conditions.
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Sprinklers can be adapted to most climatic conditions, but high wind conditions decrease
distribution uniformity and increase evaporation losses, especially when combined with high
temperatures and low air humidity. Although sprinkling is adaptable to most topographic
conditions, large elevation differences result in non-uniform application unless pressure
regulation devices are used. Therefore, care is required to select the proper sprinklers for the
existing conditions.

Advantages of sprinkler irrigation system

Sprinkler irrigation has the following advantages compared to surface irrigation:

 Sprinkler irrigation system gives high irrigation seasonal water use efficiency if designed
and operated properly.
 Sprinkler irrigation does not depend on soil infiltration capacity as long as the application
rate is less than infiltration rate
 Soils with different textures and profiles can be efficiently irrigated
 Land leveling is not required; shallow soils that cannot be graded for surface irrigation
without detrimental results can be irrigated
 Steep and rolling topography can be irrigated without producing runoff or erosion
 Light, frequent irrigations, such as for germination of a crop, can be given
 Sprinkler systems can effectively use small, continuous streams of water, such as from
springs and small-tube or dug wells
 Need less labor force than in surface irrigation
 Sprinklers can be managed to supplement rainfall
 Sprinklers can leach salts from saline soils more effectively than surface or micro
irrigation methods
 Cultural practices such as conservation tillage and residue management can be used
easily under sprinkler irrigation

Limitations of sprinkler irrigation

 Initial costs are higher than for surface irrigation systems

 Energy costs for pressurizing water is a significant expense

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 When water is not continuously available at a sufficient, constant rate, the use of a
storage reservoir is required
 Soil infiltration rate of less than 3–5 mm/hr will constrain system
 Windy and dry conditions cause water loss by evaporation and wind drift
 Certain waters are corrosive to the metal pipes used in mainline and laterals
 Water containing trash or sand must be cleaned to avoid clogging and nozzle wear
 Sprinkler irrigation water containing salts may cause problems because salts drying on
the leaves affect some crops
 The high humidity and wet foliage created by sprinkling is conducive to some fungal and
mold diseases
3.2.2. Trickle/ Drip irrigation system

Working principle

Trickle or drip irrigation applies water to individual plant or small groups of plants. Application
rates are usually low to avoid water ponding and minimize the size of distribution tubing. The
water fed directly to/around the plant root. The spacing of the emitters, and thus the layout and
cost of the system, depends on the crop spacing and rooting pattern and the soil characteristics.
For closely spaced water sensitive crops with small root systems, the emitters may be as close as
20 cm apart along each crop row. For row crops with extensive root systems in fine-textured soil,
the emitter spacing may be up to 1 m on alternate crop rows. The applied water wets the soil in
different ways. In fine textured soil, water moves both vertically and laterally. In course textured
soil water mostly moves vertically (Figure 29).

Components of trickle irrigation

Trickle irrigation has the same components as sprinkler system except emitter instead of nozzle
of the sprinkler system.

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Figure 29: wetting pattern (top) and components of drip irrigation (bottom)

Advantages of trickle irrigation

Trickle irrigation has the following advantages over surface and sprinkler irrigation systems

 Avoids evaporative component of evapotranspiration because water is applied directly to

the plant root
 Limited wetting reduces weed growth
 Slow application rate allows penetration of water into problematic soils
 Reduced deep percolation and runoff; therefore, water saving technology
 Allows fertilizer injection
 Less moisture stress in soil and fast growth of crops, increased yield and quality crop
 Less labor cost
 Less operating pressure than sprinkler

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 Higher efficiency

Limitations of trickle irrigation

 The system is very prone to clogging. Hence water quality is a critical issue
 Salinity may be severe because, salts are accumulated near the root of the crops
 May not be economical for densely cultivated crops
 Unexpected failure of the system causes application interruption
 Rodents and other animals in search of water may damage pipes

4. IRRIGATION PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

4.1. Feasibility of Irrigation

An irrigation project is needed in an area if there is inadequacy of rainfall, uneven distribution of

rainfall, etc. On the other hand it will be of a paramount importance to alleviate food shortage
due to population growth. For example population of Ethiopia is expected to be about 170
million by 2050. As of the recent data, the country produces about 270 million quintals.
Assuming that Ethiopia is currently food self-sufficient when the population is more than 85
million, the current production of Ethiopia has to at least be doubled to feed the population by
2050. Today, over 95% of the country’s agriculture is rainfed. If the production has to be
doubled, irrigation has to be expanded.

In general feasibility of irrigation project is seen from the following perspectives.

 Availability of adequate water supply

 Topographic suitability of the area

 Cultural practices of the society

 Adequacy of existing irrigation system if any

 Possibility of growing cash crops or other voluble crops after provision of irrigation
water

 Facilities regarding accessibility to the site and transportation of construction materials.

 Economic justification for implementing the irrigation scheme.

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Once the reconnaissance survey proves that irrigation projects can be planned in an area, the
following data needs to be collected for detailed feasibility study:
 Physical data: Location, size, physiography (description of land form which includes
only physical aspects), climate, etc.
 Hydrological data: Precipitation, Evaporation, transpiration, stream flow, sediment,
water quality etc.
 Agricultural data: Land classification, crop water requirements, types of crops etc
 Geological data: Rock & Soil types, ground water, minerals, erosion, etc.
 Cartographic data: Topographic & other maps of the area.
 Ecological data: Types of vegetation, fish & wild life.
 Demographic data: Population statistics, data of people etc.
 Economic data: Means of transportation, market, land taxes, etc.
 Legal data: Water rights, land ownership administrative pattern, etc
 Data in existing project: Types of Location of various projects.
 Data on public opinion: Opinions of different section of the society
 Flood control data: Records of past flood, extent of damage caused, drainage
requirements

Land Suitability Evaluation

Land suitability is the fitness of a land-mapping unit for a defined use (in this case irrigation).
Land evaluation provides information and recommendations for deciding ‘which crops to grow
where’ and related questions. Land evaluation is the selection of suitable land, and suitable
cropping, irrigation and management alternatives that are physically and financially practicable
and economically viable.

The four basic features of land suitability for irrigated agriculture are

 Irrigable terrain (land forms)

 Potentially fertile soil
 A climate in which the crop can thrive (develop well & be healthy)
 A reliable source of water of consistent quality

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Soil Survey

This includes

 Identification of soil types

 Field observation of infiltration
 Field observation of hydraulic conductivity
 Water table depth and fluctuation
 Workability of the soil
 Absence or presence of soil salinity

Water Resource survey

 Surface water supplies from long – term records of stream flows, by stream gauging and
water quality. If such data is not available, rainfall records for the catchments or stream
flow records of the neighboring rivers used.
 If the above two conditions didn’t exist, stream gauging and metrological stations are set
up as soon as possible on the principle that short – term records are better than none.
 For ground water supplies
 Short term yield is assessed by drilling and testing trial wells.
 Long term yield is estimated by a detailed study of the aquifers (by
mathematical models, numerical models which simulate the non-steady state,
two-dimensional, ground water flows are used for such purposes

Agricultural and Engineering aspects

In feasibility study the present state of Agriculture and agricultural society is assessed and the
future state, with irrigation, is predicted, i.e., the ‘with’ and ‘without’ conditions of irrigation.

Present farm practices

 The number of farms of different sizes

 Farming methods in use
 Land areas cultivated and irrigated
 Crop yield per hectare

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 Total crop production and costs.

 Labor available for farming operation
 Existing skill in irrigated farming and attitudes to change.
 Assessment on the existing market & transport.
 Presence of noxious weeds

The future state of Agriculture

This assessment is much more difficult (numerous assumptions inevitably have to be made)

It should be demonstrated that

 The soils and the climate are suitable

 The rotation of crops is sound
 The water duties can be provided
 There will be accessible markets capable of absorbing the increased production at
economic prices
 The advising and training facilities will be adequate, etc.

The Engineering aspect mainly focuses on the development of a source of water for irrigation
and construction of various structures for storage, diversion, conveyance and application of
water. These include investigations of:

 Site selection and Design of a reservoir & a dam

 Site selection & Design of diversion head – works at point off takes.
 Alignment for canal system (lay outs for canal)
 Alignment for field channels.
 Study of sub–surface conditions that affect the design and construction of proposed
structures.
 Concentrated on the mechanical properties of the sub soil at foundation levels.
 Construction materials including, soil and sand, rock and aggregate, cement, lime stone
steel, etc.
 Tests should be carried out on the various construction materials.
 Any flood hazard so that provision of flood dyke protection is possible.

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 If there is drainage requirements i.e. layouts of sub – surface drains.

 Other factors having bearing effects upon the design of engineering works.

Social and Economic aspects

The attitude of the people to the introduction of irrigation in that area should be investigated
thoroughly. The Various items considered in benefit/cost relationships are.

a. Costs
 Capital cost of the project.
 Cost of preliminary and precise survey and investigation.
 Cost of a equitation of land
 Cost of various structures
 Cost of earthwork and lining for canal system etc.
 Allowance made for foreseen and unforeseen contingencies.
 Interest on Capital
 Depreciation
 Operational and maintenance cost of project
b. Benefits.
 Agricultural production in the project area before and after taking up the project
(irrigation).
 Cost of cultivation before and after irrigation (cost of inputs viz. Seeds, manure, labor,
irrigation machines and implement etc).

Then the benefit cost ratio is calculated. The project is economically feasible if B:C ratio is
greater than 1.5.

4.2. Irrigation water quality

The quality of irrigation water is very much influenced by the contents of the soil, which is to be
irrigated. Particular water may be harmful for irrigation on a particular soil but the same water
may be tolerable or even useful on some other soil.

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Irrigation water may be said to be unsatisfactory for its intended use if it contains:

 Chemicals toxic to plants or the persons using plant as food

 Chemicals that react with the soil to produce unsatisfactory moisture characteristics
 Bacteria injurious to persons or animals eating plants irrigated with water.

There are two main causes of salinity:

 Salinity caused by the supply of irrigation water and

 Salinity caused by the upward movement of water and salts, related to high water tables
and lack of drainage; it is only indirectly related to salts in the irrigation water.

The general solution to these problems is to remove the salts from the soil by providing extra
water, which dissolves the salts and percolates to the saturated zone where it is removed by
drainage. The process is called leaching.

Irrigation water quality parameters

a) Sediment content: of irrigation water has both agronomic and hydraulic impacts on the
system performance. Water with sediment causes:

 Decrease in soil permeability

 Siltation problem in irrigation canal and storage structures
 Clogging of irrigation pipelines
In general ground water or surface water from reservoirs, etc., does not have much sediment to
cause any serious problems in irrigation.

b) Total concentration of soluble salts: Salts, when present in excessive quantities, reduce
osmotic activities of the plants and may prevent adequate aeration causing injuries to plant
growth. The effect of salts on plant growth depends largely upon the total amount of salts in
the soil solution. The salinity concentration of the soil solution (Cs) after the consumptive use
(Cu) has been extracted from the soil is given by

C Q
Cs 

Q  (C u  Reff ) 

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Where Q = quantity of water applied

Cu = is consumptive use of water
Reff = useful rainfall
C = concentration of salt in irrigation water
Concentration of salt is measured in PPM (equivalent to mg/l). Concentration of salt above 2000
PPM is generally harmful for almost all crops. Salt concentration is measured by determining
electrical conductivity.

Table 21: Salt content of irrigation water

Level of Electrical conductivity Description

100-250 micromhos/cm Low Conductivity (low salinity)
250-750 micromhos/cm Medium conductivity
750-2250 micromhos/cm High conductivity
>2250 micromhos at 25oC Very high conductivity

c. Proportion of sodium ions to other cations: small quantities of sodium ions present in most
soils relative to other cations. If its percentage increases it has an influence on the
aggregation of soil grains i.e. it breaks down. The soil becomes less permeable and of poorer
tilth. It starts crusting when dry and its pH increases towards that of an alkaline soil. High
sodium soils are therefore, plastic, sticky when wet, and are prone to form clogs and they
crust on drying. The proportion of sodium ions present in the soil is generally measured by a
factor called sodium-absorption ratio (SAR) and represents the sodium hazards of water.
SAR is defined as:
Na 
SAR 
 Ca    Mg   
 
 2 

When SAR between is 0-10 it is low sodium water, 10-18 medium, 18-26 High, >26 very high

Low sodium water is suitable for irrigation except in crops which are sensitive to sodium like
fruit trees; avocados etc whereas medium sodium water is hazardous in fine textured soils. Very

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high sodium water is generally not suitable for irrigation. SAR value can be reduced by adding
gypsum (CaSO4).

d. pH: The pH value of a soil or natural water is a measure of its alkalinity or acidity. More
accurately stated, the pH value is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration in water.
Mathematically this is the logarithm to the base 10 of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion
concentration of the pure water.
e. Potentially toxic elements: elements like Boron, Selenium, etc may be toxic to plants.
Concentration of Boron exceeding 0.3 PPM may be toxic to certain plants. >0.5 PPM
dangerous to nuts, citrus fruits. Beets, asparagus are quite tolerant. Even for the most tolerant
crops its concentration should not exceed 4 PPM. Boron is present in various soaps.
Wastewater containing soap, etc should be used with great care in irrigation.
4.3. Landscape Design for Irrigation Fields

Surface irrigation systems need level and smooth field feature for uniform distribution of water
over the field. Land grading is reshaping of the field surface to a planned grade. It is necessary in
making a suitable field surface to control the flow of water, to check soil erosion and provide
surface drainage. A properly graded land surface ensures unobstructed smooth flow of water into
the land, without eroding the soil and ensuring uniform distribution of water throughout the field.
Land leveling operations may be grouped into three phases:

Rough grading: is the removal of abrupt irregularities such as mounds, dunes and rings, and
filling of pits, depressions and gullies.

Land leveling: It requires moving large quantities of earth over considerable distance

Land smoothing: Leveling operations leaves irregular surfaces due to dumping the loads. These
irregularities are removed and a plane surface obtained by land smoothing which is the final
operation in land leveling.

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Criteria for land leveling

 The characteristics of the soil profile,

 Prevailing land slope,
 Rainfall characteristics,
 Cropping pattern,
 Methods of irrigation,

Land clearing

Prior to making the land grading survey, it is important to remove heavy vegetative growth from
the land. Land clearing consists of removing of some or all the trees, bushes, vegetation, trash
and boulders from the area specified for land grading.

Land Grading Survey and Design

With the field boundaries considered and established, the next step is to survey the area for
land leveling design. The general practice is to establish a grid system over the field and set
stakes at the grid points (Fig 30).

Figure 30: Grid pattern used for staking field which is to be graded

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The usual grid space is 25m in each direction. Other spacing such as 30 by 30m, 20 by 20m, and
15 by 15m are also sometimes used, depending on the nature of the surface relief of the area and
the precision required in leveling. Each grid point is at the center of the grid square and
represents nearly equal area. For convenience in identification, the row lines are lettered and the
column lines numbered.
To locate the grids two or more base lines are established in both horizontal and vertical
directions. Line B may be first established using distance measurement at for example one and
half times the grid interval parallel to the south edge of the field as shown in Fig. 31 below.

Figure 31: Grid point elevation of the field marked

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The north-south lines are also established in the same manner putting them parallel to the
western edge of the field. In this case (Fig. 31), the grid interval is 25m and line B is established
at 37.5 m from the datum. The center of the grid squares are located by pegs and then the
elevation of these points are determined using level by following the usual surveying procedures
(please refer surveying materials). Any permanent point on or near the farm may be taken as the
bench mark (BM).
Contour lines are important indicators of:

 Direction and degree of slope

 Ridges
 Depressions and other topographical features

Plane method
Different methods like plane method, profile method and contour adjustment methods are used
for land leveling design. The plane method is the most commonly used method of land leveling
design. Its use, however, is restricted to those fields where it is feasible to grade the field to a true
plane. The following is the procedure for land leveling design.
i. Determining the centroid of the field
 The centroid of a rectangular field is located at the point of intersection of its diagonals.
 The centroid of a triangular field is located at the intersection of the lines drawn from its
corners to the mid-points of the opposite sides.
 To determine the centroids of irregular field, the area is divided into rectangles and right
angled triangles. The centroid is located by computing moments about two reference
lines at right angles to each other.
 The distance of the centroid of the field from any line of reference is equal to the sum of
the products obtained by multiplying the area of each part time the distance from the line
of reference to its centroid, divided by the area of the entire field.
 By computing the distance to the centroid from two lines of reference perpendicular to
each other, the exact point of the centroid can be determined.
The centroid can be located with sufficient accuracy by assuming that each stake in the field
represents the same area. The procedure is illustrated in Fig. 32.

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Figure 32: Location of the centroid of the field

Referring to Figure 4.3, let one of the lines of reference be 12.5m to the south of the line A and
coincide with the southern boundary of the field. The computation process is as follows:

Line Distance(Yi) No Stakes Product

A 12.5 9 112.5
B 37.5 9 337.5
C 62.5 9 562.5
D 87.5 9 787.5
E 112.5 9 1012.5
F 137.5 7 962.5
G 162.5 6 975.0
Total 58 4750.0

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The distance of the centroid from the reference line is then obtained by dividing the sum of the
products by the total number of stakes

4750
Dis tan ce of centroid in y - direction from the reference line   81.896 m
58

Another line of reference may be assumed at 12.5m to the left of the line 1 and the location of
the centroid in the east-west direction is computed as 105.603m from the reference line in the
same way.

Line Distance (Xi) No Stakes Product

1 12.5 7 88.5
2 37.5 7 262.5
3 62.5 7 437.5
4 87.5 7 612.5
5 112.5 7 787.5
6 137.5 7 962.5
7 162.5 6 975.0
8 187.5 5 937.5
9 212.5 5 1062.5
Total 58 6125.0

6125
Dis tan ce of centroid in x - direction from the reference line   105.603 m
58

Therefore, the location of the centroid with two dimensions x and y will be (105.603, 81.896) as
shown in Fig. 32.

ii. Determination of the average elevation of the field

The average elevation 

 Elevation of average of each grid 
98.78
 1.703 m
Total number of grids 58

Any plane passing through the centroid at this elevation will produce equal volumes of cut and
fill. With the elevation of the centroid known and the downfield grade and cross slope selected,
the elevation required at each grid point can be calculated. The desired cut or fill (refer Table 22)
may be computed from the comparison of the original and the proposed elevations.

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iii. Compute the slope of the plane of best fit

The slope any line in the x or y direction on the plane which fits the natural ground surface, can
be determined by the least squares method. The plane equation can be written as:

E  X , Y   AX  BY  C

Where E = elevation of the X, Y coordinate

A, B = regression coefficients (best fit slope along x and y direction respectively)
C = elevation of the origin or the reference

 N  N 
  X j   E j  
 
N
 j 1  j 1 
X j Ej 
N
A  2
 N 
 X 
 j 

 
N

X 2 j 1
j
j 1 N

 N  N 
  i   Ei 
 Y
 i 1  i 1 
Yi Ei  
N

 N
B i 1
2
 N 
N


 Yi 

 Yi  i 1
2

i 1 N
The values of A and B can be calculated for the above field using computer MS. Excel and the
result has been presented in Table 22 below.

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Table 22: Computation of slope of the best fit plane

Grid Adjusted Cut/Fill

points Xj Yi Ei Xj2 Yi2 XjEj YiEi Elevation
A1 12.5 12.5 2.22 156.25 156.25 27.75 27.75 2.16 0.065
A2 37.5 12.5 2.02 1406.25 156.25 75.75 25.25 2.03 -0.010
A3 62.5 12.5 1.93 3906.25 156.25 120.63 24.13 1.91 0.025
A4 87.5 12.5 1.80 7656.25 156.25 157.50 22.50 1.78 0.020
A5 112.5 12.5 1.73 12656.25 156.25 194.63 21.63 1.66 0.075
A6 137.5 12.5 1.59 18906.25 156.25 218.63 19.88 1.53 0.060
A7 162.5 12.5 1.47 26406.25 156.25 238.88 18.38 1.41 0.065
A8 187.5 12.5 1.38 35156.25 156.25 258.75 17.25 1.28 0.100
A9 212.5 12.5 1.28 45156.25 156.25 272.00 16.00 1.16 0.125
B1 12.5 37.5 2.26 156.25 1406.25 28.25 84.75 2.16 0.100
B2 37.5 37.5 2.06 1406.25 1406.25 77.25 77.25 2.04 0.025
B3 62.5 37.5 1.96 3906.25 1406.25 122.50 73.50 1.91 0.050
B4 87.5 37.5 1.81 7656.25 1406.25 158.38 67.88 1.79 0.025
B5 112.5 37.5 1.71 12656.25 1406.25 192.38 64.13 1.66 0.050
B6 137.5 37.5 1.56 18906.25 1406.25 214.50 58.50 1.54 0.025
B7 162.5 37.5 1.44 26406.25 1406.25 234.00 54.00 1.41 0.030
B8 187.5 37.5 1.32 35156.25 1406.25 247.50 49.50 1.29 0.035
B9 212.5 37.5 1.19 45156.25 1406.25 252.88 44.63 1.16 0.030
C1 12.5 62.5 2.29 156.25 3906.25 28.63 143.13 2.17 0.125
C2 37.5 62.5 2.18 1406.25 3906.25 81.75 136.25 2.04 0.140
C3 62.5 62.5 1.97 3906.25 3906.25 123.13 123.13 1.92 0.055
C4 87.5 62.5 1.80 7656.25 3906.25 157.50 112.50 1.79 0.010
C5 112.5 62.5 1.70 12656.25 3906.25 191.25 106.25 1.67 0.035
C6 137.5 62.5 1.55 18906.25 3906.25 213.13 96.88 1.54 0.010
C7 162.5 62.5 1.41 26406.25 3906.25 229.13 88.13 1.42 -0.005
C8 187.5 62.5 1.26 35156.25 3906.25 236.25 78.75 1.29 -0.030
C9 212.5 62.5 1.13 45156.25 3906.25 240.13 70.63 1.17 -0.035
D1 12.5 87.5 2.30 156.25 7656.25 28.75 201.25 2.17 0.130
D2 37.5 87.5 2.21 1406.25 7656.25 82.88 193.38 2.05 0.165
D3 62.5 87.5 1.99 3906.25 7656.25 124.38 174.13 1.92 0.070
D4 87.5 87.5 1.79 7656.25 7656.25 156.63 156.63 1.80 -0.005
D5 112.5 87.5 1.67 12656.25 7656.25 187.88 146.13 1.67 0.000
D6 137.5 87.5 1.53 18906.25 7656.25 210.38 133.88 1.55 -0.015
D7 162.5 87.5 1.36 26406.25 7656.25 221.00 119.00 1.42 -0.060
D8 187.5 87.5 1.21 35156.25 7656.25 226.88 105.88 1.30 -0.085
D9 212.5 87.5 1.10 45156.25 7656.25 233.75 96.25 1.17 -0.070
E1 12.5 112.5 2.22 156.25 12656.25 27.75 249.75 2.18 0.045
E2 37.5 112.5 2.08 1406.25 12656.25 78.00 234.00 2.05 0.030

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E3 62.5 112.5 1.93 3906.25 12656.25 120.63 217.13 1.93 0.005

E4 87.5 112.5 1.78 7656.25 12656.25 155.75 200.25 1.80 -0.020
E5 112.5 112.5 1.65 12656.25 12656.25 185.63 185.63 1.68 -0.025
E6 137.5 112.5 1.52 18906.25 12656.25 209.00 171.00 1.55 -0.030
E7 162.5 112.5 1.32 26406.25 12656.25 214.50 148.50 1.43 -0.105
E8 187.5 112.5 1.19 35156.25 12656.25 223.13 133.88 1.30 -0.110
E9 212.5 112.5 1.08 45156.25 12656.25 229.50 121.50 1.18 -0.095
F1 12.5 137.5 2.16 156.25 18906.25 27.00 297.00 2.18 -0.020
F2 37.5 137.5 2.02 1406.25 18906.25 75.75 277.75 2.06 -0.035
F3 62.5 137.5 1.90 3906.25 18906.25 118.75 261.25 1.93 -0.030
F4 87.5 137.5 1.73 7656.25 18906.25 151.38 237.88 1.81 -0.075
F5 112.5 137.5 1.63 12656.25 18906.25 183.38 224.13 1.68 -0.050
F6 137.5 137.5 1.45 18906.25 18906.25 199.38 199.38 1.56 -0.105
F7 162.5 137.5 1.28 26406.25 18906.25 208.00 176.00 1.43 -0.150
G1 12.5 162.5 2.08 156.25 26406.25 26.00 338.00 2.19 -0.105
G2 37.5 162.5 1.97 1406.25 26406.25 73.88 320.13 2.06 -0.090
G3 62.5 162.5 1.88 3906.25 26406.25 117.50 305.50 1.94 -0.055
G4 87.5 162.5 1.70 7656.25 26406.25 148.75 276.25 1.81 -0.110
G5 112.5 162.5 1.61 12656.25 26406.25 181.13 261.63 1.69 -0.075
G6 137.5 162.5 1.42 18906.25 26406.25 195.25 230.75 1.56 -0.140
N N

X Y E
2
N N N N N

Xj  Yi  Ei, j  Yi =  X jEj

j i i
2
j 1 i 1
j 1 i 1 i , j 1 = i 1 j 1 =
= 6125 = 4750 =98.78 872812.50 522812.50 = 9215.50 8116.25

 N  N 
  j   E j 
 X
 j 1  j 1 
 X jEj  
N
6125  98.78
N 9215.50 
A   58  0.005
2
 N  6125 2
 X j  872812.50 
  58
 j 1 
N

X 
2
j
j 1 N
 N  N 
  Yi   E i 
 i 1  i 1  4750  98.78
N


i 1
Yi E i 
N
8116.25 
58
B 2
  0.0002
 N  4750 2
  Yi  522812.50 
N
 i 1  58
 Yi 
2

i 1 N

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E  X , Y    0.005 X  0.0002Y  C

Elevation of the origin C can be determined by using the coordinate of the centroid whose xyz is
known.

C  1.703  0.005 105.603  0.0002  81.986  2.215m

Finally the equation of the best fit plane is written as:

E  X , Y    0.005 X  0.0002Y  2.215

6. DRAINAGE SYSTEM

6.1. Introduction

6.1.1. Excess Water in Agriculture

Agricultural water is supplied either from rainfall or from irrigation. The amount of precipitation
may exceed the amount of water required to meet the crop evapotranspiration. Any rain water,
which is excess beyond the crop water demand, is therefore drainable water. Drainage is
removal of excess surface or sub-surface water from the land to enhance crop growth. In
addition to this it is also important for removing soluble salts that may cause salinity to the soil.

Over irrigation is another source of excess water in irrigated agriculture. While artificially
supplying water to crop fields, the applied depth may be greater than the consumptive use during
the period between irrigation intervals. In fields with soils of low infiltration capacity and rough
fields the water may form ponding. Ponding is the accumulation of water on the soil surface.
This occurs due to less infiltration capacity or total saturation of the soil.

Another source of excess water in agricultural land is ground water. Whenever there is ground
water recharge, watertable rises up. The ground water when rises super saturates the root zone of
the crop causing waterlogging in the cultivated field. Waterlogging is the accumulation of water
in the root zone of the soil.

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Watertable may also rise due to ground water recharge from seepage under surface water bodies
and hydrostatic pressure from artesian aquifers. In general, the source of excess water determines
the type of remedy to be taken to avoid the water.

6.1.2. Agronomic Water Balance

Agronomic water balance is the equilibrium between the amount of water entering and escaping
from the root zone of the soil. It provides simple method to estimate the amount of water
required for irrigation, and/or the amount to drain out. If all agronomic water balances
components are known (Fig. 33) for some specified period, irrigation or drainage amount can be
estimated.

Figure 33: Components of agronomic water balance

The water balance in the root zone is given as

I i  R  S  I  E o  ET  N  q

Where, Ii = irrigation water

R = Precipitation
I = Infiltration
S = Upward movement of ground water (seepage) or capillary rise
Eo = Evaporation from ponds in the field (very important especially for rice field)
ET = crop evapotranspiration
O = surface runoff (surface drainage) from the field
N = downward movement (seepage) of water from root zone (natural drainage)
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q = ground water outflow (sub-surface drainage)

6.1.3. Watertable and root zone depth

Part of the water applied to the soil surface drains below the root zone and feeds deeper soil
layers, which are permanently saturated. This saturated zone of soil is considered as part of
ground water. The topmost of this saturated zone is called water table (refer Figure 34).
Watertable is an imaginary surface separating capillary water from free ground water. At
watertable hydrostatic pressure is equal to the atmospheric pressure. Watertable is unstable
surface that varies from to time. Following heavy rainfall or irrigation, the groundwater table
rises. It may even reach and saturate the root zone. If prolonged, this situation can be disastrous
for crops. Where the groundwater table appears at the surface, it is called an open groundwater
table as shown in Fig. 34a. This is the case in swampy areas.

Figure 34: Groundwater recharge and fluctuation in watertable

The groundwater table can also be very deep and distant from the root zone, for example
following a prolonged dry period. In such case to keep the root zone moist, irrigation is then
necessary (Fig. 34b).

6.1.4. Agricultural impacts of Excess water

The growth of most agricultural crops is sharply affected by continued saturation of any
substantial part of the root zone or by ponded water on the surface. Poorly drained soils depress
crop production in several ways:

 Heat removal from soil root zone due to high evaporation, causing cold stress to plants

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 Saturation or surface ponding stops air circulation in the soil and prevents bacterial
activity.
 Certain plant diseases and parasites are encouraged.
 High water table limits root penetration.
 Soil structure is adversely affected by excess water.
 Toxicity effect due to salt and alkali accumulation
 Wet spots in the field delay farm operations or prevent uniform treatment.

6.1.5. Importance of Drainage in Agriculture

To control soil salinization
Salinization is the accumulation of soluble salts at the surface or some point below the surface of
the soil to the extent that has negative impact on the plant growth. To remove salts from the soil,
water is used as vehicle. This is done by applying more irrigation water than required for crop
growth. The excess water applied infiltrates into the soil and then percolates through the root
zone. During percolation the water takes away (leaches) part of the accumulated salt from the
soil and removes through sub-surface drainage system. Here, the additionally supplemented
water needs to be removed by the aid of drainage. Thus salinity control is made by combination
of irrigation and drainage measures.

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Figure 35: Leaching with extra irrigation water and removal of salty water with drainage system

To control waterlogging
Following over irrigation and heavy rainfall soil in the root zone gets saturated. At this state, all
pore spaces are filled with water. This is waterlogging problem and it affects plant growth. To
remove excess water from the root zone, subsurface drainage is used (Fig. 35). This is done by
digging open drains or installing pipes, at depths varying from 1m to 3m. The excess water then
flows down through the soil into these drains or pipes. In this way, the water table can be
controlled

Figure 36: Controlling watertable rise with sub-surface drainage system

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Drainage to control ponding

There are three ways surface ponding can occur; excess rainfall, over irrigation and runoff inflow
in to the field. Under these circumstances, the surface soil may not be capable of passing all the
incoming water to infiltrate. More over pore spaces near the surface of the soil may be sealed due
to the excess supply. As a result water accumulates over the field.
To remove ponding water from the surface of the land, surface drainage is used. Normally, this
consists of digging shallow open drains. To make it easier for the excess water to flow towards
these drains, the field is given an artificial slope. This is known as land shaping or grading (Fig.
37)

Figure 37: surface drainage system to control ponding

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6.2. Components and Types of Drainage system

6.2.1. Components of Drainage System
A drainage system can have three components: field drainage system, main drainage system and
the outlet (shown in figure 38). The field drainage system is used to collect ponded water and/or
sub-surface water from the field. The main drainage system conveys the drainage water collected
from the field by the field drainage system to the drainage outlet. Outlet is the point where the
drainage water is disposed safely. Field drainage system is a network that gathers the excess
water from the land by means of field drains, which are supplemented by measures to promote
the flow of excess water to these drains.

Figure 38: Components of Drainage system

Field drainage system is the most important part of the whole drainage system as it is direct
measure to control ponding and waterlogging. Field drains can be surface or subsurface drains
based on the source of the drainage water. Surface drains are shallow graded channels usually
with relatively flat side slope. Subsurface field drains may be open or pipe. The open drains are
the same as the surface ditches, but different in that side slope is steeper and the depth high with
exposed watertable. Pipes are subsurface drains, which are buried at the safest depth where
excess subsurface water can be collected effectively. The pipes are perforated so that the water
enters into the pipe.

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Main drainage system is conveyance system that receives water from the field drainage system,
surface runoff and ground water flow, and passes it to the outlet point. The main drainage system
consists of collector drains and main drains. Collector drain is a drain that collects water from the
field drains and carries it to the main drain for disposal. Like field drains collector drains may
also be open or pipe. The main drain is the principal of the system to carry the drainage water
from field to the disposal point. Usually they are canalized stream, which runs through the lowest
part of the agricultural field.
Outlet is the terminal point of the drainage system from where the drainage water is discharged
into the river, lake, sea or ponds. The outlet can be gravity or pump aided. In fields that are at
lower elevation with relative to the discharging point, pump is needed at the outlet. In swampy
and delta fields gravity alone is not sufficient to drain the water to the required depth. In such
case also, pumping is needed.
6.2.2. Types of Drainage system
Surface drainage system
Depending on the source of the drainage water in the agricultural field, three methods of
drainage systems are used to remove the excess water from the field. These are surface,
subsurface, tubewell drainage system. Surface drainage system is a system of drainage measures
such as open drains and land forming meant to divert excess water away from an agricultural
area in order to prevent ponding. The common land forming in surface drainage system:
 Land grading
 Land planing and
 Bedding
Subsurface drainage system
Excess rainfall, over irrigation and runoff inflow into the agricultural field causes rise in water
table. Moreover, continuous irrigated agricultural practice on a field causes salt and alkali
accumulation in the root zone. Subsurface drainage system is a system by which excess water is
removed from the ground in order to lower the ground watertable. Subsurface drainage is also
used for removing salts from the soil using drainage water as vehicle. It can be open drains or
pipe drains. Open drains are ditches which are deep enough to intersect the watertable so that the
ground water joins the ditch to drain out. On the other hand, a perforated pipe buried at a desired
depth, which is sufficiently below the raised watertable provides pipe drainage. Proper decision

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needs to be made on which type of drain (open or pipe) to use in subsurface drainage system
specifically for the collector and field drains.
Combined drainage system
Sometimes, combined surface and subsurface drainage systems are used. Whether this is needed
or not depends on a combination of factors: the intensity and duration of the rainfall, surface
storage, the infiltration rate, the hydraulic conductivity (which is a measure of the water
transmitting capacity of soils), and the ground water conditions. Some of the cases in which
combined system is used are:
 In irrigated areas in arid and semi-arid regions, where the cropping pattern includes rice
in rotation with "dry-foot" crops (e.g. maize and cotton). Here, subsurface drainage is
needed to control salinity for the dry-foot crops, whereas surface drainage is needed to
evacuate the standing water from the rice fields.
 Areas with occasional high-intensity rainfall, which causes water to pond at the soil
surface, even when a subsurface drainage system has been installed
Tubewell drainage system
Tubewell drainage system is similar to subsurface drainage system in its aim of lowering ground
water table. It is mainly used to reach deeper layer of permeable soils to drain excess water for
tree crops like orange, banana, apple, avocado and so on.
Tubewell drainage system is a network of tubewells to lower the watertable with pump provided
for drawing the drainage water from deep soil layer. It is also called pump drainage system. This
drainage system is generally used situations like;
 When the aquifer is permeable and deep
 When quality ground water is needed for irrigation or other purposes like industrial use
 When the water is under artesian pressure and therefore easy to pump out
 When the land is flat
 When there is sufficient power to operate the pump
 When the thickness of the aquifer is sufficiently high to install the well components

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6.2.3. Drainage water disposal

Drainage water needs proper disposal to appropriate point; usually to rivers leading to seas, or
lakes with no outlet. Drainage water influences surrounding in different ways. In small scale
agricultural fields, the drainage effluent of a farmer harm the farm land of the downstream
neighbor farmer. This also causes conflict among the local farmers. On large scale agricultural
field, the excessive drainage water can cause peak river flow that in turn results inundation of the
downstream catchment. Measures need to be taken to reduce these drainage disposal problems.
These measures are:
 Improving irrigation efficiency especially the application depth and rate to reduce
percolation of water
 Improving drainage efficiency
 Re-use of drainage water for different purposes (irrigation, industrial, sanitary, etc)
 Discharging to surface water by properly routing the drainage water
If the quality of the water does not allow redirecting it to the natural stream, then the following
options are used.
 Channeling the water to a location on the site (but far enough) where it is less
troublesome and where it can percolate into the ground
 Build an evaporation pond (earthen, masonry or concrete) and direct the water into it
6.3. Drainage System Design Consideration
6.3.1. Physical Factors
There are varieties of factors affecting requirement and functioning of drainage system. These
include topography, depth of watertable, groundwater quality and drainage surplus (the amount
of water that is excessive in the soil).
Topography of a region determines the need for and specification of drainage system of an area.
Topographic map provides all physical features that influence the design of the drainage system.
Elevation is one of the important parameter obtained from topographic information. Beyond this,
the presence of different infrastructures like farm road, irrigation canals, etc determines planning
of the system.
Depth of watertable is the primary factor and criteria for drainage system design. Drainage is
basically solution to watertable rise. Therefore, the location of watertable with respect to the root
zone depth has to be known to design the appropriate drainage solution. Observation well (a

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small diameter pipe of about 12.5 cm) is used for testing the groundwater condition at the area
where the drainage system is to be installed (constructed).
Groundwater quality is another reference to have drainage system or not for the purpose of
leaching of soluble salts and alkali. In addition to the accumulation of salt in soil due to irrigation
water quality, salt also arises due to the geological formations that have salty nature. These salts
rise whenever watertable rises. Therefore, if the geology of the area is of saline nature, then
drainage is must to leach out the salt.
Drainage surplus is the amount of water that needs to be removed from the soil in a given
period of time to lower the watertable and avoid any ponding as well. Even if it is difficult to
know the exact value of the drainage surplus, agronomic water balance can be used to estimate
the quantity.
The depth of the water table is often used as a criterion factor because it can be related to crop
production, drain depth and spacing. As the water table fluctuates from time to time, it is
necessary to see the condition using appropriate watertable indices. To decide the level of water
table for which the design is to be made, the level of the undesirable level, that affects crops need
to be known. For this matter, different watertable indices have been developed. The following
are the possible watertable indices that can be referred to make decision on drainage system
design:
 Depth of watertable at harvest date
 The average depth of the water table during a season with excess rainfall
 The average depth of the water table during the irrigation season
 The frequency or number of days during the growing season with a water table shallower
than a certain reference level
 Sum of the exceedences of the daily watertable over a specific reference depth below the
soil surface
 The time it takes for the water table to fall from a certain critically high level to a safe
lower level
6.3.2. Drainage outlet
No matter the type of drainage system installed for an agricultural field, well considered drainage
outlet is must. The outlet should be sufficiently lower in elevation than the field in order to
provide hydraulic head for the drainage flow. Hydraulic head of drainage flow is determined by

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the drainage base (the water level at the drainage outlet). The outlet for different drainage
components is different. For instance, drainage base for field drains is the water level in the
collector drains; the drainage base for collector drains is the water level in the main drains, and
that of the main drains is the water level at the whole drainage outlet. Due care has to be taken to
make sure that the drainage base in any recipient drain is sufficient to allow potential drainage
flow especially when drainage is important.
6.3.3. Design Discharge
The capacity of the drains, whether they are open drains or pipe drains, are fixed based on the
required design discharge. This design discharge is influenced by the storage capacity of the
drainage system. That means the system to be designed should be capable of passing the whole
volume of water that has to be drained out from the field within a given period of time. By
reducing ponding or waterlogging, a drainage system creates a buffer capacity in the soil,
ensuring that space is reserved for the incoming recharge, and the discharge of the drainage
water is in steady state condition.
Therefore, the design discharge should be fixed based on the soil buffer capacity and the
recharge rate. The following tips can be used for fixing the design discharge for different
drainage requirement situations.
 In areas receiving heavy rainfall, both surface and subsurface drainage are required
(combined system can be used). In such case, the design discharge is calculated from the
water balance after the discharge from the working surface drainage is deducted.
 In areas with low rainfall intensity (usually less than 100 mm/month) and irrigated land,
the design discharge has to be determined for the month or season with net highest
recharge.
 In fields where surface drainage system consisting bed land form, the drainage system
has low capacity. Therefore, design discharge computation has to base on the water
balance of short period (2 to 5 days).
6.3.4. Drain slope
The maximum slope of field drains is dictated by the maximum permissible flow velocity. If the
topography should call for steep slopes, drop structures should be built into the drains. For pipe
drains, these are normally incorporated in manholes. Special caution is needed if a steep slope
changes to a flatter slope: high pressures may develop at the transition point unless the flow

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velocity on the upstream side is properly controlled and the downstream (flatter) reach has a
sufficient capacity. In general, the drain slope needs to be designed such that it is not much
steeper to cause scouring of the earthen drains, or not much flatter to cause siltation in the
system.

FURTHER READING MATERIALS:

FAO, (2002). Crop water requirement and irrigation scheduling. Irrigation manual module 4,
Harare, Zimbaabwe
FAO, (2002). Irrigation manual: Planning, Development Monitoring and Evaluation of Irrigated
Agriculture with Farmer Participation. Volume II Module 7, Harare, Zimbaabwe
FAO, (2002). Irrigation manual: Planning, Development Monitoring and Evaluation of Irrigated
Agriculture with Farmer Participation. Volume III Module 8, Harare, Zimbaabwe
FAO, (2002). Irrigation manual: Planning, Development Monitoring and Evaluation of Irrigated
Agriculture with Farmer Participation. Volume IV, Harare, Zimbaabwe
FAO. 1998a. Crop evapotranspiration: Guidelines for computing crop water requirements. By:
Richard Allen, Luis Pereira, Dirk Raes and Martin Smith. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper
56. Rome, Italy
FAO. 1984. Crop water requirements. By: J. Doorenbos and W.O. Pruitt. FAO Irrigation and
Drainage Paper 24. Rome, Italy.
CIGR, Land and Water Engineering. Handbook of Agricultural Engineering Volume I. Springer
1998. USA
Keller J. and R.D., Bliessner Sprinkler and Trickle Irrigation., Springer. 1990. New York.
M.H, Ali. Fundamentals of Irrigation and On-farm Water Management Volume 1.. 2010. New
York, USA

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