IDENTIFYING THE BEST LOCATION FOR OPTIMUM YIELD OF COTTON CROP WITH THE HELP OF CLIMWAT AND CROPWAT SOFTWARE

Abstract

Agriculture is one of major activity in INDIA. Overall development depends on food production in service of existing or growing population with maximum benefits and optimal utilization of water and land resources. Management of this water and land resources is also one of the main financial development. . Since pumping has an effect on the ground water resources availability, effective management of water resources using reliable calculation of historical groundwater balances at local and sub- watershed scales is required (Kendy et al 2004). We used CropWat 8 Window to determine PET of the area and the Crop Water Requirement (CWR) of cotton which are cultivated using irrigation during dry months; T-M and simple water balance equations were used to quantify annual recharge to the water table and water table status under different irrigation scenarios. Although irrigation from the groundwater could ensure the food security of the area, different water management scenarios showed that the ground water table will be declining as a result. Recharge and water table calculations show that irrigation increases the recharge to the water table but at the same time reduces the overall water table depth due to pumping. Water table depth will not be depleted if irrigation follows the CWR of vegetables . Present study includes identifying the best location for optimum yield of cotton crop using Climwat and Cropwat software by taking three study areas of India.