EFFICIENT WATER MANAGEMENT for

SUFFICIENT CROP PRODUCTION

Prof. Pravat RoulAssociate Director of Research

Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar

Water is the ELIXIR of Life which makes wonders in earth if it is used

Properly, Efficiently, Economically, Environmentally, Optimally,Equitably, and Judiciously

Sir C. V. Raman

World Water Council 2000 …..envisages that “there is a water crisis

today. But the crisis is not about having

too little water to satisfy our needs. It is a

crisis of managing water so badly that

millions of people and environment

suffer”.

National Water Policy

“Efficiency of utilization in all the diverse uses of water should be optimized and an awareness of water as a scarce resource should be fostered”

… National Water Policy,2002

National Water Policy revised in 2002 lays emphasis on:

• Integrated water resource development & management- Integrated use

• Proper blending of traditional knowledge with recent technologies- ITK use

• Creation of well developed infrastructure system- Infrastructure development

• Water utilization and demand regulation with effective involvement of all stake holders- Participatory approach

World Water Day (22 March)… theme areasWorld Water Day (22 March)… theme areas

1995-Water- everyone’s responsibility1996- Water fore the thirsty1997-Is water resource of the world enough?1998-Ground water:the invisible resource1999-Flow of water:everyone’s life dependant upon2000- Water for 21st century2001- Water for health2002- Water for development2003- Water for future2004- Water and disaster2005-2015- Water for life

2003- International Year of Freshwater

2007- International Year of Water Productivity

2008- Year of Irrigation

Proportion of water use in the World

• Agriculture 69%

• Industrial 23%

• Domestic 08%

Projected demand of water in India (m ha m)

Projected demand of water in India (m ha m)

Purpose 2000 2010 2025 2050

Irrigation 54.1(85.3%) 68.8 (84.6) 91.0 (83.2) 107.2 (74.1)

Domestic 4.2(6.6) 5.6 (6.9) 7.3 (6.7) 10.2 (7.0)

Energy 0.2(0.3) 0.5 (0.6) 1.5 (1.4) 13.0 (9.0)

Industrial 0.8(1.3) 1.2 (1.5) 2.3 (2.1) 6.3 (4.4)

Others 4.1(6.5) 5.2 (6.4) 7.2 (6.6) 8.0 (5.5)

Total 63.4 81.3 109.3 144.7

Source: Agril. Res. Data Book 2006, ICARUrbanisation: 10.8% in 1991, 27.8% 2001, 41% 2030

Projected demand of water in Odisha (m ha m) 

Purpose

2001 2051

Surface Ground Total Surface Ground Total

Domestic 0.08 0.12 0.20 0.12 0.18 0.30

Agriculture 1.80 0.47 2.27 4.00 0.94 4.94

Industry 0.06 0.01 0.07 0.18 0.02 0.20

Environment 2.10 0.84 2.94 2.10 0.84 2.94

Others 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.04

Total 4.05 1.45 5.50 6.42 2.00 8.44

India’s position….

• Ranked 133rd among 180 Nations in terms of water availability

(Norway 81 383 m3/yr, Canada 76 551 m3 /yr, Brazil 31 891 m3 /yr, Australia, 14 850 m3 /yr)

• Ranked 120th in 122 countries in terms of water quality

Declining per capita availability of water

• India– 5177 m3 in 1951– 2500 m3 in 1990– 1820 m3 in 2001– 1341 m3 in 2025– 1144 m3 in 2050

• Odisha– 3359 m3 in 2001– 2218 m3 in 2051

Stress level - 1700 m3/year Scarcity level - 1000 m3/year Absolute scarcity level - < 500 m3/year

But by 2051: Rushikulya basin will experience a scarcity condition and basins like Budhabalanga and Bahuda will be close to scarcity condition

Domestic 100Institutional 20Industrial 30Fire extinction 15Other purpose 35Total 200

Water use in a farm (%)Water use in city(litre/day/head)

Irrigation 80Domestic 10Farm animals 05Waste 05Total 100%

Need for efficient management of water in agriculture

• Uses 85% fresh water

• Declining water availability for agril. use (85 to 74%)• Irrigated area has to increase to 140-150 mha to

produce 450-500 mt food grains to feed 162 crore people by 2050

• Efficiency of canal irrigation system is 40%( to 60%) ground water from 60% ( to 75%)

• Development of irrigation is a costly proposition

Objectives of efficient irrigation water

management

Objectives of efficient irrigation water

management• High yield of good quality

• High WUE

• Low irrigation cost

• Least damage to soil productivity/health

• High yield of good quality

• High WUE

• Low irrigation cost

• Least damage to soil productivity/health

SolidAir

Water

Volume composition of soil

Efficiency of irrigation methodsEfficiency of irrigation methodsEfficiency Surface Sprinkler Drip

Conveyance 60-70 100 100

Application 60-70 70-80 90

Ev from surface 30-40 30-40 15

Overall 60-65 80-85 85-90

WATER USE EFFICIENCY (WUE)

[Y/WR]

Factors affecting WUE (Y/WR)Factors affecting WUE (Y/WR)

• Climatic parameters

• Crops and varieties

• Agronomic practices

• Irrigation techniques

• Fertilizer management

• Pest control

• Climatic parameters

• Crops and varieties

• Agronomic practices

• Irrigation techniques

• Fertilizer management

• Pest control

Y WR

• Climatic parameters

• Mulching

• Wind break

• Antitranspirants

• Antievaporants

• Growth retardants

• Precised irrigation•In-situ moisture conservation

WUE of different field cropsWUE of different field cropsCrop WR

(mm)Yield

(kg/ha)WUE

(kg/ha-mm)

Rice 1200 4000 3.3Maize 500 4000 8.0Potato 500 20000 40.0Groundnut 480 2500 5.2Sunflower 400 2000 5.0Mustard 300 1400 4.7Sesame 250 1000 4.0Greengram 250 1000 4.0Jute 480 2800 5.8Sugarcane 1700 100000 58.8

Critical growth stages of cropsCritical growth stages of crops

Crop StageRice Tillering, PI, Fl, Milk

Wheat CRI, Tillering, Jointing, Fl, Milk, Dough

Maize Knee high, Tasseling, Silk

Pulses Fl, Pod devel.

Groundnut Fl, Pegging, Pod devel.

Sunflower 4-5 leaf stage, Buttoning, Fl, Seed devel.

Sugarcane Germination, Tillering, Grand growth

Potato Stolonisation, Tuberisation, Tuber devel.

Brinjal, Chilli, Okra

Seedling, early growth, Fl., Fruit devel.

Effect of moisture stress on maizeEffect of moisture stress on maize

Stress at Grain yield (t/ha)

% ↓ WR (cm)

WUE (kg/ha-

cm)

No stress 6.32 - 43 148

Seedling 3.76 41 33 99

Early growth 4.31 32 37 118

Tasseling 3.13 51 35 88

Milk 3.16 50 33 93

Tasseling to Milk

2.20 65 32 67

Critical growth stages of sweet potato

Stage Yield, t/ha

Stress during tuber initiation 4.4

Stress during tuber development 12.4

Stress during tuber maturity 6.2

Non stress 8.6

CD 5% 3.7

Effect of land levelling on WUETreatmen

tWR, mm WUE, kg/m3 water

Rice Wheat Rice Wheat

LLRB - 264 - 1.90

TLRB - 334 - 1.38

LLFB 695 353 0.91 1.31

TLFB 915 527 0.55 0.82RB; raised bed, FB: flat bed, TL: tradional levelling, LL: laser levelling

Gill, 2006, Nat Symp. Conservation Agril, ISA, Varanasi

Effect of puddling on water expense in riceEffect of puddling on water expense in riceTreatment BD ,

g/ccWater

expense, mmWater

saving, %Yield, t/ha

Unpuddled 1.55 310 - 5.91

Compaction with tractor wheel 1.70 270 13 5.68

Puddling with country plough 1.63 229 26 5.92

Puddling with disc harrow 1.65 229 26 5.97

Puddling with rotavator 1.69 210 32 5.59

Puddling with puddler 1.59 230 26 5.93

Alternate furrow irrigation in maizeAlternate furrow irrigation in maize

Method Yield (t/ha)

IR (cm)

Water saving (%)

WUE (kg/ha-cm)

Each furrow 4.36 26.8 - 1.63

Alternate furrow 4.09 20.4 24 2.00

Paired row 3.83 20.6 23 1.86

Water saving due to alternate furrow irrigation

Crop Water saving, %

Maize 27-29

Sugarcane 45

Sunflower 12

Cotton 27

Tomato 16

Importance of WM in rice

• Much higher WR (1 cm/each day duration)• Most inefficient user of water (3.7 kg/ha mm)• In India- 52% is irrigated but consumes 40% of all

irrigation water resources• In Odisha 43% is irrigated-but consumes 65% of all

irrigation water resources• 60-83% of total water applied to rice field is lost as

deep percolation• 3000-4000 litre water is sufficient to produce 1 kg rice,

but– In India it is about 15 000 litres– Even in Japan it is about 6000 litres

Water saving techniques in rice

Proper land leveling and puddling (saves 10%), Laser leveling improves WUE & FUE by 20-30%

· Growing rice in a compact rather than in isolated patches.

· Continuous shallow sub. (5+2 cm) than deep sub. saves 10-50% irrigation water

· Saturation throughout is optimum in shallow WT (20-30 cm in rabi and 20-45 cm in kharif)

· Bed planting saves 26-42% water as compared to conventional planting.

· SRI & Aerobic rice cultivation are other water saving options

RWUE of cropping systems in rainfed uplandSystem RWUE (kg/ha-mm)

Sole Rice 2.17

Rice+Arhar (4:1) 3.80

Rice+Biri (4:1) 4.64

Rice+G.nut (4:1) 3.75

G.nut+Arhar, 4:1 6.59

G.nut+Biri, 4:1 5.48

G.nut+Mung, 4:1 6.13

G.nut+Cowpea, 4:1 4.82

Maize-HG 6.73

Maize-Sesame 6.27

Rice based cropping system

System REY (t/ha)

WUE, (kg/ha-

mm)

Net return (Rs. ha-1)

B:C

Rice-mustard-rice 10.84 9.00 16749 1.43

Rice-potato-rice 20.00 16.00 30473 1.47

Rice-potato-okra 17.96 19.48 22816 1.33

Rice-cauliflower-rice 17.84 15.38 27960 1.44

Rice-cabbage-rice 19.54 15.89 39045 1.64

Rice-rice 8.98 9.62 12197 1.30

On Farm study in Hirakud Command (mean of 5 years)

INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEM

Sunken and raised bed system Sunken and raised bed system

Rice, fish and vegetable farming

Productivity of water 8.96 Rs/m3

Net Return 1.2 lakh/ haB:C ratio 4.78

THANK YOU