* Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Zonal Research Station for Kandi Area, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Online published on 20 March, 2012.
In Punjab, border and basin irrigation method is used to irrigate most of the field crops. Accurate design and high quality optimization of the basin irrigation system is necessary for efficient and judicious use of water resources. BASDEV (a computer software) was used for the design and evaluation of basin irrigation system under different conditions: soil type - light, medium and heavy; stream size-10, 20, 30 and 60 Ips; length - 60, 120, 150 and 240 m. The outputs of BASDEV provided optimum field dimensions for irrigating the small-drilled grain crops. Rectangular basins of 60 m length and 5–8 m width should be preferred for different flow rates in light soils. In medium soils, basin lengths of 90 m at lower flow rates and 120 m for higher flow rates should be selected. Maximum water application efficiency can be achieved in heavy soils. Square basins should be preferred only in heavy soils.
Application efficiency, Basdev, Basin irrigation, Surface irrigation, Water management
