Determination of Crop water Requirement and Irrigation Scheduling for Major Crops of Surendranagar, Gujarat Using CROPWAT 8.0

Abstract

Abstract: Due to the growing need for water for uses such as hydropower, farming, and drinking purpose among others, water is becoming an endangered asset. Water is increasingly needed for a variety of reasons as the population grows. On the contrary, the accessibility of water resources is limited. To determine crop water requirement for any crop and evaluate irrigation scheduling for effective water management, crop coefficients and reference crop evapotranspiration must be calculated. The purpose of this research is to determine crop water requirement of Cotton, Wheat and Sesame for Surendranagar Region and Prepare Irrigation Scheduling using the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith Method using FAO CROPWAT 8.0 Software. Meteorological data for Surendranagar region such as maximum and minimum temperatures, mean relative humidity, sunshine hours, and wind speed, are obtained from Wadhwan taluka of Surendranagar used to calculate reference crop evapotranspiration. Crop water requirement for Cotton using CROPWAT 8.0 model is obtained 876.3 mm/dec Crop water Requirement for Wheat is obtained 543.9 mm/dec and Crop water Requirement for Sesame is obtained 529.6 mm/dec This finding may be helpful for agricultural planning and effective irrigation control in the growing of cotton, Wheat and Sesame.