Book Description

The irrigation water is considered as the essential input for crop production. Over exploitation of natural water resources has caused a menace for the future human generations. The depletion of underground water table in high productivity areas and under utilization of the water resources in rain fed areas of the country, poor irrigation efficiency and high seepage losses from conveyance system, poor land development and mismanagement of the irrigation water resources has acquired alarming proportions. As the share of water for agriculture in future is going to reduce, there will be tremendous pressure to produce more per drop of water in order to meet the food and other requirements of burgeoning population of the country. The existing irrigation water resources are not utilized judiciously and their mismanagement has lead to problems like low production efficiency, salinization, water logging and degradation of land. To manage these problems and increase the production efficiency of irrigation, it is pertinent to adopt judicious methods of irrigation water use, by efficient on-farm irrigation management based on scientific approach. Therefore, a comprehensive knowledge of available soil moisture and its constants, scheduling and quality of irrigation water and proper drainage techniques is crucial. This manual on irrigation engineering is an attempt to fulfil this urgent need as it covers all major aspects of irrigation water management. Although, manual is meant primarily for the students of agricultural universities, yet it will provide valuable basic information and guide to the scientific community and field functionaries.