SOIL–WATER RELATIONS AND IRRIGATION METHODS

ROOT-ZONE SOIL WATER

Water serves the following useful functions in the process of plant growth:

(i) Germination of seeds,

(ii) All chemical reactions,

(iii) All biological processes,

(iv) Absorption of plant nutrients through their aqueous solution,

(v) Temperature control,

(vi) Tillage operations, and

(vii) Washing out or dilution of salts.

Crop growth (or yield) is directly affected by the soil moisture content in the root zone. The
root zone is defined as the volume of soil or fractured rock occupied or occupiable by roots
of the plants from which plants can extract water (3). Both excessive water (which results in
waterlogging) and deficient water in the root-zone soil retard crop growth and reduce the
crop yield.

Soil water can be divided into three categories:

(i) Gravity (or gravitational or free) water,

(ii) Capillary water, and

(iii) Hygroscopic water.

Gravity water is that water which drains away under the influence of gravity. Soon after
irrigation (or rainfall) this water remains in the soil and saturates the soil, thus preventing
circulation of air in void spaces.

The capillary water is held within soil pores due to the surface tension forces (against
gravity) which act at the liquid-vapour (or water-air) interface.

Water attached to soil particles through loose chemical bonds is termed hygroscopic water.
This water can be removed by heat only. But, the plant roots can use a very small fraction of
this moisture under drought conditions.

The water remaining in the soil after the removal of gravitational water is called the field
capacity.

Field capacity of a soil is defined as the moisture content of a deep, permeable, and well-
drained soil several days after a thorough wetting.

Field capacity is measured in terms of the moisture fraction, =( / ) of the soil when,
after thorough wetting of the soil, free drainage (at rapid rate) has essentially stopped and
further drainage, if any, occurs at a very slow rate.
 ( Weight of water in a wet soil sample, Dry weight of the soil sample)

An irrigated soil, i.e., adequately wetted soil, may take approximately one (in case of sandy
soil) to three (in case of clayey soil) days for the rapid drainage to stop. This condition
corresponds to a surface tension of one-tenth bar (in case of sandy soils) to one-third bar
(in case of clayey soils). Obviously, the field capacity depends on porosity and soil moisture
tension.

The volumetric moisture content at the field capacity

Plants are capable of extracting water from their root-zone soil to meet their transpiration
demands. But, absence of further addition to the soil moisture may result in very low
availability of soil water and under such a condition the water is held so tightly in the soil
pores that the rate of water absorption by plants may not meet their transpiration demands
and the plants may either wilt or even die, if not supplied with water immediately and well
before the plants wilt. After wilting, however, a plant may not regain its strength and
freshness even if the soil is saturated with water.

Permanent wilting point is defined as the soil moisture fraction, at which the plant leaves

wilt (or droop) permanently and applying additional water after this stage will not relieve the
wilted condition. The soil moisture tension at this condition is around 15 bars

A bar (b) is a metric measurement unit of pressure. One bar is equivalent to 1 bar = 100,000
Pascal = 100,000 N/m²

The moisture content at the permanent wilting condition will be higher in a hot climate than in
a cold climate. Similarly, the percentage of soil moisture at the permanent wilting point of a
plant will be larger in clayey soil than in sandy soil. The permanent wilting point is, obviously,
at the lower end of the available moisture range and can be approximately estimated by
dividing the field capacity by a factor varying from 2.0 (for soils with low silt content) to 2.4
(for soils with high silt content). The permanent wilting point also depends upon the nature of

crop. The volumetric moisture content at the permanent wilting point becomes .
 The difference in the moisture content of the soil between its field capacity and the
permanent wilting point within the root zone of the plants is termed available moisture. It
represents the maximum moisture which can be stored in the soil for plant use. It should be
noted that the soil moisture content near the wilting point is not easily extractable by the
plants. Hence, the term readily available moisture is used to represent that fraction of the
available moisture which can be easily extracted by the plants. Readily available moisture is
approximately 75% of the available moisture.

The total available moisture (in terms of depth) for a plant (or soil) is given by

=( – )

where, d is the depth of the root zone.

It is obvious that soil moisture can vary between the field capacity (excess amount
would drain away) and the permanent wilting point. However, depending upon the prevailing
conditions, soil moisture can be allowed to be depleted below the field capacity (but not
below the permanent wilting point in any case), before the next irrigation is applied. The
permissible amount of depletion is referred to as the management allowed deficit which
primarily depends on the type of crop and its stage of growth. Thus

in which, is, obviously, less than 1 and depends upon the crop and its stage of growth. At

a time when the soil moisture content is , the soil-moisture deficit is given as
 =( – )

INFILTRATION

Infiltration is another important property of soil which affects surface irrigation. It not only
controls the amount of water entering the soil but also the overland flow. Infiltration is a complex
process which depends on: (i) soil properties, (ii) initial soil moisture content, (iii) previous wetting
history, (iv) permeability and its changes due to surface water movement, (v) cultivation practices,
(vi) type of crop being sown, and (vii) climatic effects. In an initially dry soil, the infiltration rate is
high at the beginning of rain (or irrigation), but rapidly decreases with time until a fairly steady
state infiltration is reached. This constant rate of infiltration is also termed the basic infiltration
rate and is approximately equal to the permeability of the saturated soil.

CONSUMPTIVE USE OF WATER

Consumptive use of water by a crop is the depth of water consumed by the plant in
the process of transpiration and evaporation, during crop growth.

Transpiration is the process of water entering the plant roots and used to build plant tissue.

Evaporation is the process of water evaporating from the adjacent soil, water surface or
from the surface of the leaves of the plant. Any water deposited by dew or rainfall and
subsequently evaporated without entering the plant system is also part of evaporation.

These two processes (i.e. transpiration and evaporation) collectively termed as evapo-
transpiration.

Consumptive use of water by a crop is expressed as the depth of water per unit area for
specified period, such as days, months or seasons.

The value of consumptive use of water is needed to calculate the irrigation requirement of
the crop.

The values of consumptive use for a given crop at a given place can vary widely from day to
day.

There are a lot of factors which affects the consumptive use of water by a crop. These are as
given below.

 Temperature
 Humidity
 Wind Velocity
 Soil Topography
 Sunlight Hours
 Method of Irrigation
 Cropping Patterns
 Natural Ground Water Table
Following are the types of consumptive use,

1. Optimum Consumptive Use

2. Potential Consumptive Use
3. Seasonal Consumptive Use
1. Optimum Consumptive Use:
It is the consumptive use which produces a maximum crop yield. 

2. Potential Consumptive Use:

If sufficient moisture is always available to completely meet the needs of vegetation
fully covering the entire area then resulting evapotranspiration is known as Potential
Consumptive Use.

3. Seasonal Consumptive Use:

The total amount of water used in the evapotranspiration by a cropped area during
the entire growing season.

While measuring or calculating potential evapotranspiration, it is implicitly assumed

that water is freely available for evaporation at the surface. Actual evapotranspiration, in the
absence of free availability of water for evaporation will, obviously, be less and is determined
by: (i) the extent to which crop covers the soil surface, (ii) the stage of crop growth which
affects the transpiration and soil surface coverage, and (iii) soil water supply.

Potential evapotranspiration is measured by growing crops in large containers,

known as lysimeters, and measuring their water loss and gains. Natural conditions are
simulated in these containers as closely as possible. The operator measures water added,
water retained by the soil, and water lost through evapotranspiration and deep percolation.
Weighings can be made with scales or by floating the lysimeters in water. Growth of roots in
lysimeters confined to the dimensions of lysimeters, the disturbed soil in the lysimeters
and other departures from natural conditions limit the accuracy of lysimeter measurements
of potential evapotranspiration.
Potential evapotranspiration from a cropped surface can be estimated either by
correlating potential evapotranspiration with water loss from evaporation devices or by
estimations based on various climatic parameters. Correlation of potential evapotranspiration
assumes that the climatic conditions affecting crop water loss ( ) and evaporation from a

free surface of water ( ) are the same. Potential evapotranspiration Det can be correlated

to the pan evaporation as

in which, is the crop factor for that period. Pan evaporation data for various parts of

India are published by the Meteorological Department. The crop factor depends on the
crop as well as its stage of growth. The main limitations of this method are the differences in
physical features of evaporation surfaces compared with those of a crop surface.

Table: Values of crop factor from some major crops

Percentage of crop Maize, Cotton, Wheat, Barley
growing season since Potatoes, Peas and and other small Sugarcane Rice
sowing Sugar beets grains
0 0.20 0.08 0.50 0.80
10 0.36 0.15 0.60 0.95
25 0.75 0.33 0.75 1.10
50 1.00 0.65 1.00 1.30
75 0.85 0.90 0.85 1.15

100 0.20 0.20 0.50 0.20

In the absence of pan evaporation data, the consumptive use is generally computed as
follows:
(i) Compute the seasonal (or monthly) distribution of potential evapotranspiration,
which is defined as the evapotranspiration rate of a well-watered reference crop which
completely shades the soil surface (2). It is thus an indication of the climatic evaporation
demand of a vigorously growing crop. Usually, grass and alfalfa (a plant with leaves like that
of clover and purple flowers used as food for horses and cattle) are taken as reference
crops.
(ii) Adjust the potential evapotranspiration for the type of crop and the stage of crop
growth. Factors such as soil moisture depletion are ignored so that the estimated values of
the consumptive use are conservative values to be used for design purposes.