Assessment of Crop Water Requirements and Irrigation Scheduling for Wheat in Prayagraj Using CROPWAT
Published by
INTERNATIONAL RIVER-BASIN FOUNDATION (WCPI) RIVER WATER USER ASSOCIATION
Summary
Published in International River-Basin Foundation (WCPI) – River Water User Association Researched crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling for wheat in Prayagraj using the FAO CROPWAT 8.0 model and CLIMWAT database. Analyzed 20 years of meteorological data (2000–2019) to estimate evapotranspiration, effective rainfall, and irrigation needs using the FAO Penman–Monteith method. Results showed a net irrigation requirement of ~173 mm and a gross irrigation requirement of ~248 mm for wheat. Applied MATLAB for data distribution analysis, and used Python (Pandas, NumPy) and R for data interpretation and visualization. Study demonstrated that optimized irrigation scheduling can enhance water use efficiency, reduce losses, and improve crop yield and quality, supporting sustainable water resource management.