Abstract:
The knowledge of exact amount of water required by different crops in a given set of climatological condition of a
region is vital in planning and effective management of irrigation scheme, irrigation scheduling and so on. This paper
proposes the effect of different climatological variables on reference evapotranspiration (ETo) and water uses in agriculture
in the Seonath basin located in Chhattisgarh State. The study area has 24 meteorological stations. Results of
analysis of annual temperature time series showed a rise of 0.9702 °C over a period of 51 years (1960–2010). The
increasing trends in ETo were more pronounced. Annual analysis of the ETo series indicated an increasing trend in
almost all the districts except Bilaspur district. The percentage change in annual ETo was maximum for Raipur
(1.72%) and minimum for Bilaspur (–1.41%). The analysis of the impacts of meteorological variables on the trends
of ETo revealed that the main driving force associated with the increasing trend of ETo in the Seonath river basin
was temperature and relative humidity. Overall, the results of this study showed an increase in irrigation water
requirement, because of projected increase/change in meteorological variables (viz., rainfall, Tmax and Tmin, relative
humidity and wind speed). Therefore, changing irrigation demand appraisals presented in this paper would be useful
for future irrigation management systems for the Seonath river basin.
