IE Chapter 1 Introduction
IE Chapter 1 Introduction
Irrigation Engineering
Bibek Thapa (M.Sc. Water Resources Engineering)
Senior Lecturer, Khwopa College of Engineering (TU)
Khwopa Engineering College (PU)
Contact: 9849220141
1
1/21/2025
Chapter-01
Introduction
1. Introduction
1.1 Function, advantage and disadvantage of irrigation
1.2 Status of irrigation development in Nepal
1.3 Irrigation methods and their suitability: surface,
sub-surface, sprinkler, and drip
1.4 Principal crops in Nepal: Names, seasons, cropping
pattern, cropping intensity
1.5 Irrigation commanded areas: GCA, CCA, NCA
4
2
1/21/2025
➢ Without water crops cannot grow. On the other hand too much water is not good for many
crops either.
➢ The most well-known source of water for plant growth is rain water.
➢ There are two important situation to address:
• What to do if there is too much rain water? → remove excess water i.e. drainage
• What to do if there is too little rain water? → supply deficit water from some other
source i.e. irrigation
5
NOTE:
▪ Plant gets essential nutrients from the soil in a solution using the water drawn from the roots and
the water drawn is also used for photosynthesis.
▪ When the water is transpired by the leaves of the plants, it drags an unbroken stream of water up
the stem of the plant. The mineral in the solution are carried by the transpiration stream and get
distributed in various parts of the plants.
▪ Photosynthesis occurs in leaves where carbon dioxide and water in presence of light is converted
into sugar (food) and oxygen.
▪ But the quantity of water used in the metabolic process is very insignificant compared to
evapotranspiration. For example, maize uses only about 1% of water for metabolic process and
remaining 99% is lost in transpiration and evaporation.
▪ So the majority of the crop water requirement is used to fulfill the evapotranspiration needs of the
plants. Hence, evapotranspiration itself is usually referred to as crop water requirements.
Transpiration and photosynthesis video (click here)
6
3
1/21/2025
Necessity of irrigation:
The necessity of irrigation can be summarized in the following points:
i. Inadequate rainfall
ii. Uneven temporal distribution of rainfall
iii. Growing crops round a year
iv. Growing superior cash crops
4
1/21/2025
10
5
1/21/2025
11
6
1/21/2025
13
➢ Most of the irrigated land is irrigated by surface water sources (1.02 million ha i.e. 65.74% of the irrigated area) and
rest by ground water resources (0.53 million ha .i.e. 34.11% of the irrigated area) and very small portion of the irrigable
area by non-conventional sources like lift and reservoir storage type irrigation (2,119 ha .i.e. 0.15% of the irrigated
area).
➢ Surface water irrigation is more preferable as it is cheap in operation due to gravity flow system.
➢ Irrigation with ground water resources are common in Terai but it is expensive due to high operating cost i.e. fuel and
repair expenses for pump operations.
14
7
1/21/2025
15
16
8
1/21/2025
17
1.4 Principal crops in Nepal: Names, seasons, cropping Bibek Thapa (KhCE/KhEC)
Note: However, these seasons are not defined by rigid dates and may extend 1 to 3 months on either side.
18
9
1/21/2025
19
1.4 Principal crops in Nepal: Names, seasons, cropping Bibek Thapa (KhCE/KhEC)
20
10
1/21/2025
21
1.4 Principal crops in Nepal: Names, seasons, cropping Bibek Thapa (KhCE/KhEC)
22
11
1/21/2025
23
1.4 Irrigation methods and their suitability: surface, sub-surface, sprinkler and drip
12
1/21/2025
Wild Flooding
13
1/21/2025
Free Flooding
14
1/21/2025
Basin Flooding
15
1/21/2025
Furrow Method
16
1/21/2025
Contour Farming
17
1/21/2025
Sprinkler Irrigation
18
1/21/2025
Drip Irrigation
19
1/21/2025
20
1/21/2025
41
THANK YOU
FOR
YOUR ATTENTION
42
21