Hydrological Studies and Performance Evaluation of Irrigation Water Supply in Matar Branch of MRBC Area, Central Gujarat, India

Hydrological Studies and Performance Evaluation of Irrigation Water Supply in Matar Branch of MRBC Area, Central Gujarat, India

In this paper, an attempt is made to understand the hydrological aspects and issues pertaining to the cropping pattern in the Matar branch canal of Mahi Right Bank Canal (MRBC) command area in Gujarat state, India. A field survey was carried out to identify the hydrological impacts in the nine villages of the study area. Furthermore, to evaluate the performance of the irrigation water supply in Matar branch for Kharif and Rabi seasons the Performance Indicator (PI) values for three different scenarios were computed. Results show that the long term average rainfall at Matar station for the period 1876 to 2011 is 753 mm and has a decreasing trend. The Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) is calculated by using CROPWAT and the average PET estimated during year 2000 to 2010 is 5.73 mm/day. The average moisture availability index (MAI) value during the year 2000 to 2010 is -58.67, indicating a semi-arid condition. Analysis of rainfall data and the questionnaires collected during field surveys shows that the plantation of water intensive crop paddy has replaced tobacco and cotton. The average annual income of the farmers over the last decade has also reduced due to water-logging and salinity in the command area. The PI values based on applied irrigation water depth and net crop water requirement for three different scenarios shows that for better performance of the Matar branch irrigation system the transplantation of the paddy crop in Kharif season should be carried out in the first two weeks of July.