Judicious use of Water in

Agriculture

Rajan Bhatt,
Assistant professor (Soil
Science),
Krishi Vigyan Kendra,
 Water to drink

66% of the human

body is made up of
water.

At just 2% dehydration
your performance
decreases by around
20%.

We should drink at
least 1½ litres of
water a day.
 Water World

Two thirds of our

planet is covered by
water.

97.5% of the water is

saltwater.

The majority of
freshwater is beyond
our reach, locked into
polar snow and ice.
 World Water Uses

80
70%
70
% of total water used

60
50
40
30 22%
20
8%
10
0
Agriculture Domestic Industry
Water uses
Water Future

The UN
estimates
that by 2025,
75% of the
world
population
won’t have
reliable, clean
water.
Punjab’s Share in World and
India
S. Particulars World’s ( % ) India ( % )
No.

1 Punjab’s Land area 0.33 1.6

2 Punjab’s Rice contribution 1 42

3 Punjab’s wheat contribution 2 55

4 Punjab’s cotton 2 24
contribution
 Water scenario in Punjab
• Land of five rivers.
•
• Before 150 years ago
•
• After 150 years .
•
• 6head works
 Head works at different
rivers
 Head work Year of River
 establishment
1.Madhupur 1859 Ravi
2.Ropar 1882 Satluj
3.Hussaniwalla 1933 Eastern and
Bikaner canal
4.Nangal 1952 Satluj –Beas river
5.Harike 1954
Satluj
6.Talwara 1971 Beas
 Punjab-agricultural Scenario
• Punjab (1960)
Punjab (Now)
 Crops Changed area (%)
• Wheat 27% 78 %
• Rice 6% 60 %
• Pulses 24% 1.3 %
• Gram 22% 0.4%
• Tubewells 1 lakh 11,90000


*Centrifugal pumps replaced by


 Crop water requirements
(cm)
 Crop Water requirement
1. Rice 180 cm
2. Cotton 45 cm
3. Maize 40 cm
4. Groundnut 25 cm


This is the reason why rice assume as



the main culprit of falling ground

water level.
 Water Required
• Total Water required 43 lakh ha-m/
year
• Water (in our pocket) 30 lakh ha-m/
year


Rainfall------------------------ 15.5 lakh ha-

m/ year
Seepage----------------------- 14.5 lakh

ha-m/ year

 Dark zone increased
• Out of total 141 blocks of Punjab we
Have 112
 Blocks in the dark zone.
• Farmers of Rajasthan-----All they have
but not water, so there is a need to
use water judiciously in agriculture.
 Ways to use water
judiciously in agriculture
1.Diversification
2.Laser levelling
3.Crop varieties
4.Date of transplanting
5.Under ground pipelines
6.Tensiometer.


 Diversification
• Rice cultivation in almost 26 lakh ha
but there is a need to decrease
around 10 lakh ha area from paddy
to other oilseed and pulse crop.
To encourage this:

1.There is a project of FLD’s

2.National Horticulture Mission
3.Dairy department
4.Fishery department
*Instead of this there are a no. of

schemes to divert the farmers from

Laser leveling
Working of laser leveler
 laser transmitter
Laser receiver
Hydraulic control system
Working of laser leveler
 Crop varieties
• Use medium duration Punjab
Agricultural University
recommended varieties
• PR-111
• PR-120
• PAU-201
• Prefer basmati as it’s transplanting
starts from 10th of July.
 Date of transplanting
• It is proposed and now by law that
Paddy transplanting must starts
from 10th of June as
A.At that time Monsoon arrives and the
evaporation losses decrease to a
much extent.
B.Time interval in between two
irrigations increased.
 Under Ground pipe lines
vStops water loss from the source to
the field.
vIncrease 10 Marlas from 1 acre.
vIncreased the total yield of crop.
vDecrease the problem of weeds.
vEasy movement of farm machinery
such as tractor, combines etc.
 Tensiometer
• A new technique for scheduling
irrigation.
• Parts of tensiometer
• Ceramic cup
• Silicon cork
• Two acrylic pipes
*Inner pipe directly linked with the cup

whereas outer is just to provide the

support. Water saved tghrough
tensiometer around 25-30%.
 Sprinklers and drip system
• Best for the orchards and vegetables
• Decrease water requirement to
manyfolds.
• Minimizes the chances of spreading
the disease from the infected plant
to the healthy ones.
• Improve the fruit quality and
standard.
•
*To encourage this system farmers are
Micro-irrigation includes
vDrip irrigation
vMicro-sprinkler Irrigation
vBucket & Mug Irrigation
Drip Irrigation
components
1.Water Source
(Tubewell and Pump or
water tank)
1.Filter and fertilizer tank
2.Main / submain
3.Laterals
4.Emitter
Gravity fed drip irrigation in plateau
 Conclusions
• Need more impact assessment of irrigation and
more econometric studies of performance.
• Irrigation crucial to productivity-some systems
are not sustainable because of over pumping
• Irrigation technologies and improvement in
varieties are another sources of improved
water productivity in agriculture.
• Water management is a major challenge-cost
benefit needed to improve investment choice
and integrate agriculture and environment
and urban water use. Main challenge is
efficient irrigation at the regional level.
• Farmers must follow the recommendations of
the University like Tensiometer, Under ground
pipelines etc.
Thanks