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Module 5: Irrigation Practices

Need for Irrigation in India,Scope, National Water Policy,

Physical properties of soil that influence soil moisture
characteristics – Concept of soil water potential and its
components, Crop water requirements-Irrigation
Scheduling- Irrigation efficiencies – Duty-Delta-base
period, Surface and Subsurface methods of Irrigation,
Standards for irrigation water, Water logging and
consequences – Salinity and alkalinity-Reclamation

National Water Policy

National Water Policy is formulated by the Ministry of
Water Resources of the Government of India to govern the
planning and development of water resources and their
optimum utilization. The first National Water Policy was
adopted in September, 1987. It was reviewed and updated
in 2002 and later in 2012.

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National Water Policy

The major features are National Water Policy 2012

•The main emphasis is to treat water as economic good which the ministry claims to
promote its conservation and efficient use
•The privatization of water-delivery services
•To ensure access to a minimum quantity of potable water for essential health and
hygiene to all citizens, available within easy reach of the household.
•To curtail subsidy to agricultural electricity users.
•Setting up of Water Regulatory Authority.
•To keep aside a portion of the river flow to meet the ecological needs and to ensure
that the low and high flow releases correspond in time closely to the natural flow
regime.
•To give statutory powers to Water Users Associations to maintain the distribution
system.
•Project benefited families to bear part of the cost of resettlement & rehabilitation of
project affected families.
•To remove the large disparity between stipulations for water supply in urban areas and
in rural areas.
•To support a National Water Framework Law.

What is Irrigation?
• Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil
for the purpose of supplying the moisture essential for
plant growth.
• It is used to assist in growth of agricultural crops,
maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed
soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate
rainfall.

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Irrigation engineering: involves

 Conception,
 Planning,
 Design,
 Construction,
 Operation and
 Management
of an irrigation system.

This is a list of countries by irrigated land area based on The World

Fact book

Irrigated land Date of

Rank Country/Region
(km²) information
- World 3,263,413 2010
1 India 558,080 2003
2 China 545,960 2003
3 United States 223,850 2003
4 Pakistan 182,300 2003
- European Union 168,050 2003

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Important of Irrigation in India

Annual total usage of water = 630 b.cu. m

Annual irrigation usage of water = 500 b.cu.m
Using it only 45% of gross cropped area irrigated
Irrigated land in India = 558,080 km2

Need for Irrigation in India

1. About 80% of the total annual rainfall of India

occurs in four months, i.e. from mid-June to mid-
October.
2. The monsoons are uncertain
3. It does not rain equally in all parts of the country
4. Soils of some areas are sandy and loamy and
therefore porous for which a major portion of
rainwater sinks down very quickly
5. The rain-water flows down very quickly along the
slopes of hillsides.
6. In India 70% of people depend on agriculture

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Benefits of irrigation
 Increase in crop yield (nearly increases yield by 5 times)
 Protection from famine
 Cultivation of superior crops
 Elimination of mixed cropping
 Economic development
 Hydro power generation
 Domestic and industrial water supply

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Classification of Irrigation based on the

sources of water
1. Flow Irrigation
2. Lift Irrigation

Classification of Irrigation based on the water

application

1. Surface Irrigation

2. Sprinkler Irrigation

3. Drip or Trickle Irrigation

4. Sub-Surface Irrigation

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Classification of Irrigation based on the water

application

1. Surface Irrigation

2. Sprinkler Irrigation

3. Drip or Trickle Irrigation

4. Sub-Surface Irrigation

1. Surface Irrigation
• In all the surface methods of irrigation, water is either
ponded on the soil or allowed to flow continuously over
the soil surface for the duration of irrigation.
• Often called flood irrigation.
•Generally low water application efficiency
• Not suitable for uneven surfaces
• Most common form of irrigation throughout the world.
• This method of irrigating is covered above 70% land in
India.
• Low land preparation and operating costs
• In India farmers familiar with this method

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Surface Irrigation can be broadly classified as:

1. Uncontrolled flooding

2. Border flooding

3. Furrow irrigation
Controlled flooding
4. Check flooding

5. Basin flooding

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Uncontrolled flooding method

When water is applied to the cropland without any
preparation of land and without any levees to guide or
restrict the flow of water on the field, the method is called
‘wild or ‘free’ flooding.
Uncontrolled flooding generally results in excess
irrigation at the inlet region of the field and insufficient
irrigation at the outlet end.
Efficiency is reduced because of either deep percolation
or flowing away of water from the field.
The advantage of this method is the low initial cost of
land preparation.

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Surface Irrigation can be broadly classified as:

1. Uncontrolled flooding

2. Border flooding

3. Furrow irrigation
Controlled flooding
4. Check flooding

5. Basin flooding

Controlled flooding method

 Once the water enters then guided by corrugations,
furrows, borders, or ridges.
 High initial cost of land preparation
 Wastage of water is less
 High water application efficiency

Control the water flow

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Surface Irrigation can be broadly classified as:

1. Uncontrolled flooding

2. Border flooding

3. Furrow irrigation
Controlled flooding
4. Check flooding

5. Basin flooding

Border flooding

In this method, the cropland is divided into a number of strips.

These strips are separated by low levees (or borders).
Width of each strip is 10 – 20 m
Length of each strip is 100 to 400 m
 Border should sufficient ht to avoid overtopping
Water from ditches (small canal) enters into each strips
 Flows slowly to lower end and infiltrate in to soil as it advances
Once the water reaches the lower end – supply to the strip turned off
Ideally, there is no runoff and deep percolation.
Suitable for wheat, corn, banana etc

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Borders

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Surface Irrigation can be broadly classified as:

1. Uncontrolled flooding

2. Border flooding

3. Furrow irrigation
Controlled flooding
4. Check flooding

5. Basin flooding

Furrow Irrigation
• An alternative to flooding the entire land surface is to
construct small channels along the primary direction of the
movement of water and letting the water flow through
these channels which are termed ‘furrows’, ‘creases’ or
‘corrugation’.
• In furrow irrigation, only 1/5 to ½ of the land surface is
wetted
• It minimizing evaporation, infiltration loss.
• Furrow irrigation is adapted for row crops like corn,
banana, tobacco, and cabbage. It is also good for grains.
• Irrigation can be by corrugation using small irrigation
streams.
• Furrow irrigation is adapted for irrigating on various slopes
except on steep ones because of erosion and bank
overflow.

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Furrow Irrigation Contd.

• There are different ways of applying water to the furrow.
• As shown in Fig. siphons are used to divert water from the
head ditch to the furrows.
• There can also be direct gravity flow whereby water is
delivered from the head ditch to the furrows by cutting the
ridge or levee separating the head ditch and the furrows.
• Gated pipes can also be used. Large portable pipe(up to
450 mm) with gate openings spaced to deliver water to the
furrows are used.
• Water is pumped from the water source in closed conduits.
• The openings of the gated pipe can be regulated to control
the discharge rate into the furrows.

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Mulching Irrigation

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Surface Irrigation can be broadly classified as:

1. Uncontrolled flooding

2. Border flooding

3. Furrow irrigation
Controlled flooding
4. Check flooding

5. Basin flooding

Check flooding
Most common among surface irrigation
Suitable for close growing crops like groundnut, wheat,
finger millet, pearl millet, paragrass etc.
In this method field is divided into small plots
surrounded by bunds on all four sides.
Water from head channel is supplied into the field
channel one after the other.
Each field channel supplies water to two rows of check
basins and water is applied to one basin after other.

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Low levees surrounding

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Surface Irrigation can be broadly classified as:

1. Uncontrolled flooding

2. Border flooding

3. Furrow irrigation
Controlled flooding
4. Check flooding

5. Basin flooding

Basin flooding
Basins flooding are used mainly around trees and shrubs.
A ridge of soil is built to contain the water, either from a handheld
hose or a bubbler head on a sprinkler system.
A few basins can be filled quickly with water, but if many plants are
irrigated by hand in this manner, watering may become time-
consuming.

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Classification of Irrigation based on the water

application

1. Surface Irrigation

2. Sprinkler Irrigation

3. Drip or Trickle Irrigation

4. Sub-Surface Irrigation

Sprinkler Irrigation
 The sprinkler system is ideal in areas where water
is scarce.
 A Sprinkler system conveys water through pipes
and applies it with a minimum amount of losses.
 Water is applied in form of sprays sometimes
simulating natural rainfall.
 The difference is that this rainfall can be controlled
in duration and intensity.
 If well planned, designed and operated, it can be
used in sloping land to reduce erosion where other
systems are not possible.


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Sprinkler Irrigation
Advantages
A Sprinkler system conveys water through pipes and
applies it with a minimum amount of losses.
Land levelling not required
Suitable for sloping ground
No loss of land – no ditches, levees etc
High water application efficiency about 80%
Less labour involvement
 Less water needed
Disadvantages
They are hard to control in windy areas and they wet
plant leaves.
Initial and operating costs are high
Not suitable for crops requiring standing water eg. Rice
Required electric power to operate
In area of high temperature and high wind velocity,
considerable evaporation loss may take place

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Sprinkler Irrigation

Sprinkler Irrigation

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Sprinkler Irrigation

Classification of Irrigation based on the water

application

1. Surface Irrigation

2. Sprinkler Irrigation

3. Drip or Trickle Irrigation

4. Sub-Surface Irrigation

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Drip or Trickle Irrigation

In this irrigation system:
 Drip irrigation, also known as trickle irrigation, functions as its
name suggests.
 Water is delivered at or near the root zone of plants, drop by
drop.
 This method can be the most water-efficient method of
irrigation, if managed properly, since evaporation and runoff are
minimized.
 In modern agriculture, drip irrigation is often combined with
plastic mulch, further reducing evaporation, and is also the
means of delivery of fertilizer.
 Weeds are controlled because only the places getting water can
grow weeds.
 There is a low pressure system.
 There is a slow rate of water application somewhat matching the
consumptive use. Application rate can be as low as 1 - 12 l/hr.
 There is reduced evaporation, only potential transpiration is
considered.
 There is no need for a drainage system.

Drip or Trickle Irrigation

The Major Components of a Drip Irrigation System

include:
a) Head unit which contains filters to remove debris
that may block emitters; fertilizer tank; water meter;
and pressure regulator.
b) Mainline, Laterals, and Emitters which can be
easily blocked.

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Drip or Trickle Irrigation

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Drip Irrigation
Advantages
 Delivers water slowly.
 Minimizes water loss due to runoff.
 Low seepage losses
 Useful in windy areas.
 Less evaporation.
 Less splash that may spread fungal.
 High water application efficiency

Suitability of Sprinkler and Drip Irrigation

The natural conditions such as soil type, slope, climate, water quality
and availability, have the following impact on the choice of an irrigation
method:

Soil type: Sandy soils have a low water storage capacity and a high infiltration rate.
They therefore need frequent but small irrigation applications, in particular
when the sandy soil is also shallow. Under these circumstances, sprinkler
or drip irrigation are more suitable than surface irrigation. On loam or clay
soils all three irrigation methods can be used, but surface irrigation is more
commonly found. Clay soils with low infiltration rates are ideally suited to
surface irrigation.
Slope: Sprinkler or drip irrigation are preferred above surface irrigation on steeper
or unevenly sloping lands as they require little or no land levelling. An
exception is rice grown on terraces on sloping lands.

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Suitability of Sprinkler and Drip Irrigation

Climate: Strong wind can disturb the spraying of water from sprinklers. Under very
windy conditions, drip or surface irrigation methods are preferred. In areas of
supplementary irrigation, sprinkler or drip irrigation may be more suitable than
surface irrigation because of their flexibility and adaptability to varying
irrigation demands on the farm.
Water Water application efficiency is generally higher with sprinkler and drip
availability: irrigation than surface irrigation and so these methods are preferred when water
is in short supply. However, it must be remembered that efficiency is just as
much a function of the irrigator as the method used.
Water Surface irrigation is preferred if the irrigation water contains much sediment.
quality: The sediments may clog the drip or sprinkler irrigation systems.
If the irrigation water contains dissolved salts, drip irrigation is particularly
suitable, as less water is applied to the soil than with surface methods.
Sprinkler systems are more efficient that surface irrigation methods in leaching
out salts.

Classification of Irrigation based on the water

application

1. Surface Irrigation

2. Sprinkler Irrigation

3. Drip or Trickle Irrigation

4. Sub-Surface Irrigation

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Sub-Surface Irrigation

Irrigation to crops by applying water from

beneath the soil surface either by constructing

trenches or installing underground perforated pipe

lines.

Sub-Surface Irrigation Sub divided in to

1. Natural sub-surface irrigation
Leakage water from river, channel, canal etc. goes underground and
during passage through the sub soil it may irrigate land
Sometimes high water table reaches the plant root by capillary action
It is an natural process without any additional efforts and coast
2. Artificial sub-surface irrigation
 Artificial joint drains laid below surface
 Water is supplied to the plant by capillarity
 Very costly process
 Adopted In India on a very small area

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Conditions that favor subsurface irrigation

• An impervious subsoil at a depth of 2 m or more.
• A very permeable subsoil of reasonably uniform
texture permitting good lateral and upward
movement of water.
• Permeable loam or sandy loam surface soil.
• Uniform topographic conditions and moderate
slope.
• Existence of high water table.
• Irrigation water is scarce and costly.
• Soils should be free of any salinity problem.
• It must be ensured that no water is lost by deep
percolation.

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Suitable crops
• Various types of crops, particularly with shallow root
systems are well adapted to subsurface irrigation system.
• Wheat, potato, beet, peas, fodder crops etc.

Advantages
• Maintenance of soil water at favorable tension
• Loss of water by evaporation is held at minimum
• Can be used for soils with low water holding capacity and
high infiltration rate where surface irrigation methods
cannot be adopted and sprinkler irrigation is expensive.

Limitations

• Presence of high water table.

• Poor quality irrigation water cannot be used-good
quality water must be available.
• Chances of saline and alkali conditions being
developed by upward movement of salts with water.
• Soils should have a good hydraulic conductivity for
upward movement of water.

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Classification of Irrigation based on the water application

1. Surface Irrigation
1. Uncontrolled flooding

2. Border flooding

3. Furrow irrigation
Controlled flooding
4. Check flooding

5. Basin flooding

2. Sprinkler Irrigation
3. Drip or Trickle Irrigation
4. Sub-Surface Irrigation

Water requirements of crops

Total quantity and the way in which a crop required water,
from the time it is sown to the time it is harvested
Water requirement varies with
Crop type
Soil type
Method of irrigation
Location
Climate
Ground slop
Method of cultivation
Period cultivation
Useful rainfall

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Crop parameter

Base Period : Period between first watering after sowing to last water
before harvesting

Denoted as “B” and expressed in no of days

Crop Period : Period between sowing to the harvesting period

Crop Period slightly more than base period

Practically takes Crop Period = Base Period

Frequency of Irrigation or rotation period

Time interval between two consecutive watering called

Frequency of Irrigation generally between 6 -15 days

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Duty (D) :

Duty of water is defined as no of hectares that can be irrigated by

constant supply of water at the rate of 1m3/sec throughout the base
period.

Area of land in hectares irrigated for full growth of a crop by

supply 1 m3/sec of water continuously during the entire base period
(B)

Delta and Duty are crop specific

Unit for D is ha/cumec or ha/(m3/sec)

Delta (Δ) :
Each crop requires certain amount of water per hectare for
its maturity.
If the total of amount of water supplied to the crop is stored
on the land without any loss, then there will be a thick of water
standing on the land.
Total depth of water (in cm) required by a crop to maturity
Crop Delta on field
Sugarcane 120 cm
Rice 120 cm
Tobacco 75 cm
Cotton 50 cm
Maize 25 cm
Peas 15 cm

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Base Period : Period between first watering after sowing to last water
before harvesting
Delta (Δ) :
Total depth of water (in cm) required by a crop to maturity

Duty (D) :

Duty of water is defined as no of hectares that can be irrigated by

constant supply of water at the rate of 1m3/sec throughout the base
period.

  Delta in m
8 .6 4
  B D  Duty in ha / cumec
D B  Base period in Days

A canal was designed to supply irrigation needs

of 1200 ha of land growing rice of 140 days
base period and having a delta of 134 cm.
Compute the following:
1) Duty for the rice
2) Discharge available in the canal
3) Volume of water used

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Rice Irrigation
A = 1200 ha
B = 140 days
Δ = 134 cm = 1.34 m

Culturable command area of a reservoir is 20,000 ha. The

base period, intensity of irrigation and duty of various crops
under a canal system are given in the table below. Assume
crops are grown simultaneously.
1. Find the reservoir capacity if the canal losses are 15%
and the reservoir losses are 10%.
2. Taking a time factor for the canal to be 13/20. calculate
the discharge required at the head of the canal. If the
capacity factor is 0.8, determine the design discharge.

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Command area = 20,000 ha.

Find the reservoir capacity
if the canal losses are 15%
and the reservoir losses are
10%.

Command area = 20,000 ha.

Taking a time factor for the canal
6000ha
to be 13/20. calculate the
6000ha
discharge required at the head 2000ha
of the canal. If the capacity 4000ha
factor is 0.8, determine the 2000ha
design discharge.

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Importance of duty:
1. It helps in design of irrigation canals is proposed in an
irrigation project.
2. It helps to check efficiency of working of a cannel
system.
3. To compare the two irrigation system
4. Minimize the losses

Factors Affecting Duty

1. Kind of crop and base period

2. Season (Kharif season (June – Oct.) and Rabi season (Nov. – Feb.))
3. Effective Rainfall during crop period
4. Nature of soil
5. Methods of cultivation
6. Method of irrigation
7. Climate conditions like temp., wind velocity etc
8. Place of measurement of duty
9. Ground slope

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Irrigation Efficiencies
 Efficiency is the water output to the water
Expressed as percentage
Water losses in canals
1. Evaporation from the water surface
2. Deep percolation to soil layers underneath the canals
3. Seepage through the bunds of the canals
4. Overtopping the bunds
5. Bund breaks
6. Runoff in the drain
7. Rat holes in the canal bunds
Water losses in the field
1. Surface runoff, whereby water ends up in the drain
2. Deep percolation to soil layers below the root zone

Irrigation Efficiencies

1. Water Conveyance efficiency

2. Water application efficiency
3. Water use efficiency
4. Water storage efficiency

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Irrigation Efficiencies
 Water Conyenance Efficiency
It indicates the efficiency with which water is conveyed from
source of supply to the field. It estimates the conveyance
losses. It is expressed as

Wf
Ec = --------- X 100
Wr
Where,
Ec = Water conveyance efficiency (%)
Wf= Water delivered at the field
Wr= Water delivered at the source (river)

Irrigation Efficiencies
Water Application Efficiency:
The percentage of water delivered to the
field out of which water stored in the root zone
soil.

Water stored in the root zone (Ws)

Water application efficiency = ------------------------------------ X 100
Water delivered to the field (Wf)

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Irrigation Efficiencies
Water use Efficiency:

Percentage of water delivered to the field that

is used beneficially..

Water used beneficially (Wu)

Water use efficiency = ------------------------------------ X 100
Water delivered to the field (Wf)

Irrigation Efficiencies
 Water Storage Efficiency:
This parameter estimates whether the amount of water
necessary for the crop is stored in the root zone or not. It is
expressed as the percentage of water needed in the root zone
prior to irrigation to that stored in the root zone during
irrigation.
Water stored in the root zone
Water storage efficiency = ------------------------------------- X 100
Water needed in the root zone

Water needed in the root zone = Field capacity – Available moisture

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Irrigation Efficiencies
Factors affecting Irrigation efficiency
1. Nature of the plant
2. Nature of soil
3. Climatic Conditions
4. Soil Moisture Content
5. Fertilizers
6. Plant population
7. Method of Irrigation

GROSS COMMAND AREA(G.C.A):-

Gross command area is the total area which can be economically irrigated from
irrigation system without considering the limitation on the quantity of available
water.
It includes the area which is, otherwise, uncultivable. For example, ponds and
residential areas uncultivable area of gross command area.
The boundaries of the gross command of an irrigation canal system are total Area
lying between drainage boundaries which can be \commanded or irrigated by a
canal.

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GROSS COMMAND AREA(G.C.A):-

GCA divided in to
a) Culturable Command Area (CCA)
b)Unculturable Area

Unculturable Area
Area land not suitable for cultivation
Includes
•Water body
•Urban area
•Industrial area
•Road
•Railway line
•Forest land
•Alkaline and saline soil etc.

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Culturable Command Area (CCA)

The area cultivated land in the Gross Command Area of an
irrigation system is called Culturable Command Area (CCA)
Portion of Gross Command Area on which cultivation possible.
At any given time, however, all the cultivable land may not be
actually under cultivation.
The CCA is divided into two categories:
a) Cultivated Culturable Command Area and
b) Uncultivated Culturable Command Area

GROSS COMMAND AREA(G.C.A):-

GCA divided in to
a) Culturable Command Area (CCA)
b)Unculturable Area

GCA = Culturable Command Area + Unculturable Area

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GROSS COMMAND AREA(GCA):-

a) Culturable Command Area (CCA)

b)Unculturable Area
GCA = Culturable Command Area + Unculturable Area

The CCA is divided into two categories:

a) Cultivated Culturable Command Area and
b) Uncultivated Culturable Command Area

Physical properties of soil that influence soil

moisture characteristics

1. Saturation capacity
2. Field capacity
3. wilting point
I. Permanent wilting point
II. Ultimate wilting point

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Saturation Capacity

 A saturated soil has all of the pore space filled with

water.

Vol. of water = Vol. of voids

Specific Yield (Sy)

 Specific yield is the ratio of volume of water that drains from a
saturated soil due to gravity to the total volume of soil.
 A sample with smaller grain sizes will have a lower specific yield
because of the Surface Tension.

Volume of water drained by gravity

Sy 
Total volume of soil

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Field Capacity (Specific Retention )

• Following a rain or irrigation, a portion of the water from
saturated soils will drain from the soil due to gravity.
• After two to three days the gravitational drainage will become
negligible.
• At this time the soil is said to be at field capacity.
• Field Capacity: The field capacity is the moisture content of the
soil after free drainage has removed most of the gravity water.

Volume of water stored against gravity

Field Capacity 
Total volume of soil

Field Capacity
• It consists of two parts
Capillary water + Hygroscopic water

– Capillary water :
-Water stored against gravitational force by surface tension
- Available to plants
– Hygroscopic water :
- Water stored by loose chemical bonds with soil molecules
- Not available to plants
- Oven dry only remove

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Permanent Wilting Point : Permanent

wilting point or the wilting coefficient is
that water content at which plants can no
longer extract sufficient water from the soil
for its growth.

Ultimate Wilting: Ultimate wilting of

plants Occurs when they become
completely wilted and dead after ultimate
wilting has occurred, the plants do not
recover from wilting even after the
addition of water to the soil.

Available Moisture:
= Field capacity - Permanent wilting point

Readily Available Moisture : It is that portion of the

Available moisture that is most easily extracted by plants. It
is approximately 75% of the available moisture.

The unavailable water is the Hygroscopic water

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Classification based on availability of soil water to

plant

1. Saturation capacity
2. Field capacity
3. Permanent wilting point
4. Ultimate wilting point

The above water contents are expressed as % of water held in the soil
pores, compared to a fully saturated soil
Weight of water present
Soil moisture content =
Weight of dry soil

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Soil water contents expressed in depth units

1m
1m Take the following:
D
Considered unit area = 1m x 1m
Root zone depth = D m
Specific weight of dry soil = γd kg/m3
Specific weight of water = γw kg/m3

d D
Depth of water (d )  Soil moisture
d w
1m
1m
Depth of water (d )  D  SG  Soil moisture

Other important terms

Soil Moisture Tension:-The force per unit area that must be

exerted in order to extract water from the soil is known as soil
moisture tension.

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Moisture Equivalent: Moisture equivalent is defined as the

percentage of moisture retained in an initially saturated sample
of soil 10 mm thick after being subjected to a centrifugal force
of 1000 times gravity for a period of 30 minutes.
Field Capacity = Moisture equivalent

Moisture equivalent
Permanent wilting point =
1.8 to 2.0

Moisture equivalent
Ultimate wilting point =
2.7

Other important terms

Soil-Moisture deficiency: The water required to bring the

soil moisture content of a given soil to its field capacity
Irrigation Scheduling: Frequency and quantity of water
supplied to prevent the fall of soil moisture below optimal
level and bring the soil moisture up to its field capacity.

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After how many days, you will supply water to soil in order
to ensure sufficient irrigation of the given crop,
Field capacity of the soil = 30 %,
Permanent wilting point = 12%,
Density of soil = 1.25gm/cc,
Effective depth of root zone = 60 cm and
Daily consumptive use of water for the given crop = 12.5 mm.
Assume that readily available moisture is 75% of the
available moisture.

Field capacity of the soil = 30 %,

Permanent wilting point = 12%,
Density of soil = 1.25gm/cc,
Effective depth of root zone = 60 cm and
Daily consumptive use of water for the given crop = 12.5 mm.
Assume that readily available moisture = 75%

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Soil water contents expressed in depth units

1m
1m Take the following:
D
Root zone depth = D m
Specific weight of dry soil = γd kg/m3
Specific weight of water = γw kg/m3
Considered unit area = 1m x 1m

d D
Depth of water (d )  Soil moisture
d w
1m
1m
Depth of water (d )  D  SG  Soil moisture

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