Integrate GIS and Cropwat Model in Study Crop Water Requirement and Irrigation Scheduling

Abstract

:Water scarcity is a real threat to food production for millions of people in arid and semiarid areas. Due to the over use of available water resources, it has become very important to define appropriate strategiesfor planning and management of irrigated farmland. In this paper, Kenana-Sennar -New Halfa (Sugar cane) region was chosen as the case study area for its special political and economic status and its severe water problem. To achieve effectiveplanning, the information about crop water requirements, irrigation withdrawals, soil types and climatic conditions had beenobtained in the study area. In the meantime, a GIS had been adopted, which extends the capabilities of the crop modelsto a regional level. The Sugar cane region has seasonal water deficits, seriously in Sugar cane germination stage, which is the dominating reason for the low yield per unit area in this region. Under the fortnightly precipitation scenario, in Kenana irrigation was recommended two times in its growth period: 7May and 21May respectively. In Sennar irrigation was also recommended seven times:7 May, 21May, 4June, 18June, 2July , 16July and 27 August respectively. In New Halfa irrigation was recommended nine: 7May, 21May, 4June, 18June, 2July, 16 July, 30 July, 13 August and 27 August Keywords: Sugar Cane , Climatic Water Deficit, Irrigation scheduling I. INTRODUCTION In the near future, irrigated agriculture will need to produce two-thirds of the increase in food products required by a large population increase(1).The growing dependence on irrigated agriculture coincides with an accelerated competition for water and increased awareness of unintended negative consequences of poor design and management. Irrigation systems are selected, designed and operated to supply the individual irrigation requirements of each crop field on the farm while controlling deep percolation, runoff, evaporation and operational losses to establish a sustainable production process. Considering the stupendous task and constraint of time in developing the ultimate irrigation potential, it is necessary to use the modern methods of surveying and analysis tools. Remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) with their capabilities of data collection, manipulation, integration, analysis, presentation, dissemination etc.These systems become more efficient and effective tools for irrigation water management.The capability of GIS to analyze the information across space and time would help in managing such dynamic systems. Soil survey data and GIS are important tools in land use planning. Intertwined, they represent an invaluable and underutilized resource. (2)found that the GIS is an important tool that can be used for optimal allocation of water resources of an irrigation project. Mean water balance components results for different months were stored in GIS databases, analyzed and displayed as the monthly crop water requirements maps. (3)showed that satellite remote sensing coupled with GIS offers an excellent alternative to conventional mapping t...