Effect of climate change on water requirements of crops and adaptative water strategies in Krishna upper Basin

Climate change effects the irrigation demand of crops and supply by water resources which are highly dependent on pattern of rainfall and temperature. Any imbalance between the demand and supply of soil moisture may lead to adverse effect on crop yield and productivity. It is very essential to focus on water management plans and adaptation strategies to minimize the adverse effect of climate change on crop production. The present study was carried out in Krishna Upper subbasin of Krishna basin with an aim of study the impact of climate change on crop water and irrigation water requirement of crops grown in that region and adaptation strategies to cope with the climate change. It is projected that the net irrigation requirement of crops during kharif season is expected to decrease in future because of expected increase in monsoon rainfall. Crop water requirement and net irrigation requirement of crops during rabi and summer season is expected to increase for all the sub basins based on climate change scenarios of CNRM climate model. Adaptation strategies includes creation of additional storage for water resources, altering the sowing dates and deficit irrigation strategies. It is found that sub basin wise additional volume of water need to be increased to match with the irrigation requirements in future. Early sowing of crops by 10 days in rabi season may save the crops from additional irrigation requirement and match with the baseline periods. Deficit irrigation strategies during non-sensitive stages of crops with 0.9 ETc, 0.8 ETc and 0.7 ETc and full irrigation during sensitive stages for all the sub basins can be adopted to manage irrigation sources in the study area in future.