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The potential of precision surface irrigation in the Indus Basin Irrigation System

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Abstract

In this research we explore the potential of precision surface irrigation to improve irrigation performance under the warabandi system prevalent in the Indus Basin Irrigation System. Data on field dimensions, field slopes along with characteristic soil infiltration properties and outlet discharge were collected through a survey of a sample tertiary unit of Maira Branch Canal, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The performance of all fields in the tertiary unit was analysed and reported in aggregate, with detailed results of one field presented for illustration. The objective is to determine the optimum field layout, defined as the number of border strips, for the observed field characteristics to maximize performance. The results indicate that performance improvement is relatively easily achievable through changes in field layout within current irrigation services. Estimated application efficiency is sensitive to the selected depth of application, and it is important that a practical depth of application is selected. We recommend a depth of application of 50 mm and show how this is achievable and leads to a low quarter distribution uniformity of 0.750 and an application efficiency of 80 %. We also explore the feasibility of a 10-day warabandi rather than the 7-day warabandi and show that there is no significant change in the performance under a 10-day warabandi.

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Abbreviations

a p :

Proportion of total available area cultivated

D :

Depth of water supplied to the root zone (mm)

\(\varepsilon_{\text{i}}\) :

Efficiency

E :

Total number of efficiency terms

N :

Number of border strips in the field

q :

Discharge per unit width

t :

Irrigation interval (s)

t co :

Cut-off time for each border strip

V :

Volume of water applied

w N :

Width of each border strip and

w a :

Water allowance (L s−1 ha−1)

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Acknowledgments

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is in receipt of financial support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, Islamabad, Pakistan, through Grant #22294, the United Nations University, Institute of Sustainability and Peace Grant# 600UU 848 and the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) which were used in part to support this study. The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of research interns, Shamoil Bin Akram and Khan Abdul Hannan. The study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the results are exclusively those of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Water Management Institute, 12 km Multan Road, Thokar Niaz Baig, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan

    Arif A. Anwar

  2. Hydrology Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea

    Waqas Ahmad

  3. Hydrology/Water Management, International Water Management Institute, 12 km Multan Road, Thokar Niaz Baig Road, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan

    Muhammad Tousif Bhatti

  4. NWFP University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Zia Ul Haq

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  1. Arif A. Anwar
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  2. Waqas Ahmad
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  3. Muhammad Tousif Bhatti
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  4. Zia Ul Haq
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Correspondence to Arif A. Anwar.

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Communicated by A. Kassam.

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Anwar, A.A., Ahmad, W., Bhatti, M.T. et al. The potential of precision surface irrigation in the Indus Basin Irrigation System. Irrig Sci 34, 379–396 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-016-0509-5

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