Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Calibration and Validation of SWAP to Simulate Conjunctive Use of Fresh and Saline Irrigation Waters in Semi-Arid Regions

  • Published:
Environmental Modeling & Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Soil–Water–Atmosphere–Plant (SWAP) version 2.0 was evaluated for its capability to simulate crop growth and salinity profiles at Agra (India) located in a semi-arid region having deep water table and monsoon climate. The data of 12 conjunctive use treatment combinations simulating cyclic and mixing modes of fresh and saline water for wheat were used to calibrate and validate the model. Absolute deviations between the SWAP simulated and observed relative yields during calibration ranged from 2.5 to 2.9 %. A close agreement in the trend and values of measured and simulated soil salinity profiles was observed. Scenario building simulations carried out with the validated SWAP revealed that the maximum crop yields varied from 97 to 99 % with the best available water (EC 3.6 dS m−1) while the minimum ranged from 65 to 79 % in the treatment with all saline water. Other than this, the relative yield varied from 80 to 98 % in 10 other cyclic and mixing mode treatments. It was established that notwithstanding the seasonal build-up of salts due to saline water use, there would be no long-term build-up of salts as leaching during the monsoon season would render the soil profile salt free at the time of sowing of rabi (winter) crops. Thus, short-term field observations could be used in conjunction with SWAP to show that there seems to be an assured long-term sustainability when saline water is used in conjunctive mode with fresh water in monsoon climatic conditions with deep water table. These results are in conformity with the observation that many farmers in India are using saline and fresh water in conjunctive mode on a long-term basis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Belmans, G., Wesseling, J. G., & Faddes, R. A. (1983). Simulation of the water balance of a cropped soil: SWATRE. Journal of Hydrology, 63, 271–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Braden, H. (1985). Ein Energiehaushalts- und Verdunstungsmodell for Wasser und Stoffhaushaltsuntersuchungen landwirtschaftlich genutzer Einzugsgebiete. Mittelungen Deutsche Bodenkundliche Geselschaft, 42, 294–299.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bradford, S., & Letey, J. (1992). Cyclic and blending strategies for using nonsaline and saline waters for irrigation. Irrigation Science, 13(3), 123–128.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Breve, M. A., Skaggs, R. W., Passons, J. E., & Gilliam, J. W. (1998). Using the DRAINMOD- N model to study effects of drainage system design and management on crop productivity, profitability and NO3- N losses in drainage water. Agricultural Water Management, 35, 227–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Breve, M. A., Skaggs, R. W., Passons, J. E., Mohammad, A. T., & Gilliam, J. M. (1995). Simulation of drainage water quality with DRAINMOD. Irrigation and Drainage System, 9, 259–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Chauhan, C. P. S., & Singh, R. B. (2003). Progress report of NATP on develop regional salt and water balance models. Bichpuri: Raja Balwant Singh College. 34 p.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Chauhan, C. P. S., Singh, R. B., & Gupta, S. K. (2008). Supplemental irrigation of wheat with saline water. Agricultural Water Management, 95, 253–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Dinar, A., Letey, J., & Vaux, H. J., Jr. (1986). Optimal ratios of saline and non-saline irrigation waters for crop production. Soil Science American Journal, 50, 440–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Feddes, R. A., Kowalik, P. J., & Zaradny, H. (1978). Simulation of field water use and crop yield, Simulation Monographs, Pudoc, Wageningen, 189p.

  10. Goudriaan, J. (1977). Crop meteorology: a simulation study. Simulation monographs, Pudoc, Wageningen.

  11. Grattan, S. R., & Rhoades, J. D. (1990). Irrigation with saline groundwater and drainage water. In K. K. Tanji (Ed.), Agricultural salinity assessment and management, Chap 20 (pp. 432–449). New York: American Society of Civil Engineers.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Gupta, G. P., Prasher, S. O., Chieng, S. T., & Mathur, I. N. (1993). Application of DRAINMOD under semi-arid conditions. Agricultural Water Management, 24, 63–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Gupta, S. K. (2002). Future prospect of subsurface drainage in India. Journal of Water Management, 10, 49–57.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Hirekhan, M., Gupta, S. K., & Mishra, K. L. (2007). Application of WaSim to assess performance of a subsurface drainage system under semi-arid monsoon climate. Agricultural Water Management, 88, 224–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kroes, J. G., van Dam, J. C., Huygen, J., & Vervoort, R. W. (1999). Users guide of SWAP version 2.0 (Simulation of water flow, solute transport and plant growth in the soil–water–atmosphere–plant environment, Technical Document 53). DLO Winand Staring Centre: Wageningen.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Lamsal, K., Paudyal, G. N., & Saeed, M. (1999). Model for assessing impact of salinity on soil water availability and crop yield. Agricultural Water Management, 41, 57–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Majeed, A., Stockle, C. O., & King, L. G. (1994). Computer model for managing saline for irrigation and crop growth: preliminary testing with lysimeter data. Agricultural Water Management, 26, 239–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Martin, D. L., Watts, D. G., & Gilley, J. M. (1984). Model and production function for irrigation management. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 110(20), 149–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Minhas, P. S., & Gupta, R. K. (1992). Quality of irrigation water-assessment and management (Information and publication section). New Delhi: Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Naresh, R. K., Minhas, P. S., Goyal, A. K., Chauhan, C. P. S., & Gupta, R. K. (1993). Conjunctive use of saline and non-saline waters. II. Field comparison of cyclic use and mixing for wheat. Agricultural Water Management, 23, 139–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Oosterbaan, R. J., Sharma, D. P., Singh, K. N., & Rao, K. V. G. K. (1990). Crop production and soil salinity: evaluation of field data from India by segmented linear regression, in: Amer, M.H., Abu-Zeid, M.A. (Eds.), Proceeding of the Symposium on Land Drainage for Salinity Control in Arid and Semi Arid Regions. 25th February–2nd March 1990, Cairo, Egypt. 3, 373–383.

  22. Pasternak, D., de Malach, Y., & Barovic, I. (1986). Irrigation with brackish water under desert conditions. VII. Effect of time of application of brackish water on production of processing tomatoes. Agricultural Water Management, 12, 149–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Prendergast, J. B., Rose, C. W., & Hogarth, W. L. (1994). A model for conjuctive use of groundwater and surface waters for control of soil salinity. Irrigation Science, 14, 167–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Rhoades, J. D., Bingham, F. T., Letey, J., Hoffman, G. J., Pinter, P. J., Jr., & Replogle, J. A. (1989). Reuse of drainage water for irrigation: imperial valley study. Agricultural Water Management, 16, 25–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Sarwar, A., & Bastiaanssen, W. G. M. (2001). Long-term effects of irrigation water conservation on crop production and environment in semiarid areas. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 127(6), 331–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Sarwar, A., Bastiaanssen, W. G. M., & Feddes, R. A. (2001). Irrigation water distribution and long-term effects on crop and environment. Agricultural Water Management, 50, 125–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Sharma, D. P., Rao, K. V. G. K., Singh, K. N., Kumbhare, P. S., & Ooterbaan, R. J. (1994). Conjunctive use of saline and non-saline irrigation waters in semi-arid regions. Irrigation Science, 15, 25–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Sharma, D. P., Singh, K. N., & Rao, K. V. G. K. (1989). Reuse of saline drainage water for irrigation of wheat. Indian Farming, 39, 32–33.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Sharma, D. P., Singh, K. N., Rao, K. V. G. K., & Kumbhare, P. S. (1990). Response of wheat (Triticum aestivum) to re-use of saline drainage water in a sandy-loam soil. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 60(7), 448–452.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Sharma, D. P., Singh, K. N., Rao, K. V. G. K., & Kumbhare, P. S. (1993). Management of subsurface saline drainage water. Indian Farming, 43, 15–19.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Sharma, K. K., Gupta, S. K., Singh, R. P., & Chauhan, H. S. (2003). Comparison of conventional and geostatistical procedures for assessing hydraulic conductivity for drainage design. Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science, 51, 489–495.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Sharma, D. P., & Rao, K. V. G. K. (1998). Strategy for long term use of saline drainage water for irrigation in semi-arid regions. Soil & Tillage Research, 48, 287–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Singh, R. (2004). Simulations on direct and cyclic use of saline waters for sustaining cotton-wheat in a semi-arid area of north-west India. Agricultural Water Management, 66, 153–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Singh, R. B., Minhas, P. S., Chauhan, C. P. S., & Gupta, R. K. (1992). Effect of high salinity and SAR waters on salinization, sodication and yield of pearl millet and wheat. Agricultural Water Management, 21, 93–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Singh, R., & Singh, J. (1996). Irrigation planning in cotton through simulating modelling. Irrigation Science, 17, 31–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Taylor, S. A., & Ashcroft, G. M. (1972). Physical Edophology (pp. 434–435). San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Co.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Tedeschi, A., & Menenti, M. (2002). Simulation studies of long-term saline water use: model validation and evaluation of schedules. Agricultural Water Management, 54, 123–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. van Dam, J. C., Huygen, J., Wesseling, J. G., Feddes, R. A., Kobat, P. E. V., van Waslsum, Groenendijk, P., & Diepen, C. A. (1997). Theory of SWAP version 2.0. Department of Water Resour., Report 71. Wageningen: Wageningen Agricultural University. 167p.

    Google Scholar 

  39. van Genuchten, M. Th. (1983). SALT: analysis of crop salt tolerance data. Research Report No. 12. US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Riverside, California, 50 p.

  40. Vazifedoust, M., van Dam, J. C., Feddes, R. A., & Feizi, M. (2008). Increasing water productivity of irrigated crops under limited water supply at field scale. Agricultural Water Management, 95, 89–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Verma, A. K., Gupta, S. K., & Isaac, R. K. (2010). Long-term use of saline drainage waters for irrigation in subsurface drained lands: simulation modelling with SWAP. Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 47, 15–23.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Wahba, M. A. S., Ganainy, M. E., Dayem, M. S. A., Kandil, H., & Gobran, A. (2002). Evaluation of DRAINMOD-S for simulating water table management under semi-arid condition. ICID Journal, 51(3), 213–226.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Wesseling, J. G., Elbers, J. A., Kabat, P., & van den Broek, B. J. (1991). SWATRE: instructions for input. Internal Note, Winand Staring Centre, Wageningen, the Netherlands. International Water logging and Salinity Research Institute, Lahore, Pakistan, 29 p.

  44. Workman, S. R., & Skaggs, R. W. (1989). Comparison of two drainage simulation models using field data. Transaction ASAE, 32(6), 1933–1938.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Panch Marg, Yari Road, Versova, Andheri (W), Mumbai, 400 061, India

    Ajit Kumar Verma

  2. Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, 132001, India

    Suresh Kumar Gupta

  3. Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHIATS), Allahabad, 211007, India

    Rajendra Kumar Isaac

Authors
  1. Ajit Kumar Verma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Suresh Kumar Gupta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rajendra Kumar Isaac
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ajit Kumar Verma.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Verma, A.K., Gupta, S.K. & Isaac, R.K. Calibration and Validation of SWAP to Simulate Conjunctive Use of Fresh and Saline Irrigation Waters in Semi-Arid Regions. Environ Model Assess 19, 45–55 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-013-9379-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-013-9379-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation