Study of Crop Evapotranspiration and Irrigation Scheduling of Different Crops Using Cropwat Model in Waghodia Region, India

To control the overexploitation of accessible water resources, it has become essential to define proper strategies for planning, development, and management of water resources. Proper modification in traditional irrigation practices helps improve water use efficiency. CROPWAT is an FAO suggested model for proper management of irrigation. CROPWAT model integrates with soil, crop, and climate information for estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ET0), crop evapotranspiration (ETc), crop water requirement (CWR) and irrigation water requirements (IWR).It also develops and manages the irrigation scheduling. The average annual rainfall of Waghodia region was 907mm of, and out of this, 527.6mm was useful for crop growth and development. The CWR for Waghodia Region is estimated as 241.3mm, 480.9mm, and 339.3mm and irrigation requirement as 188.8mm, 343.3mm, and 333.9mm for sorghum, rice, and wheat crop, respectively. CROPWAT 8.0 model can efficiently and effectively calculate the evapotranspiration and net requirements of irrigation water. The CROPWAT 8.0 Model can play an important role in the irrigation management practices as well as irrigation scheduling of crops over manual irrigation practicing using different water supply systems.