Assessment of Crop Water Productivity in an Intensively Cultivated Watershed of Peninsular India

Abstract

Background: India is facing high water stress and it is amongst those with the most fragile and uncertain water resource countries in the world. Crop productivity depends on quality of input supply including seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and supported by irrigation facilities. In India, ground water irrigates more than 61% of net cropped area and much of water being used for irrigating rice crop. The disproportionate water uses for crop production results in poor water productivity. The planning of water resources could be achieved by knowing the crop water requirements in different seasons and productivity of water. Hence, study was taken up to assess the water use and productivity of crops under intensively ground water irrigated watershed.Methods: A study conducted to assess the water use and productivity of different crops grown in Kothakunta sub watershed (having 206 working bore wells with cultivated area of 203.5 ha) in Siddipet district of Telangana, India during kharif and rabi season of 2008 to 2012, data were collected from 147 farmers on rice, maize, cotton, potato, flora beans and tomato crops grown under irrigation. The water applied to crops was measured by fixing water meters at the end of water delivery pipe and recorded the quantity of water applied each time. For rice crop four plots were taken and for other crops two plots were taken for measuring the water. The water use and productivity were assessed by using standard procedure. Result: The water productivity was found to be higher to vegetables, which ranged between 2.43 kg of potato, 1.57 kg of beans and 1.26 kg of tomato than cereals (0.79 kg for maize and 0.39 kg for rabi rice) per cubic meter of irrigation water consumed. Water productivity in terms of monetary return (₹) per cubic meter of water consumed was higher with beans (₹ 17.20) in contrast to potato (₹ 16.12). Rice equivalent yield (REY) calculated per cubic meter of irrigation water consumption was very similar to economic return (₹ per cubic meter of water).