Univerzitet u Beogradu Poljoprivredni fakultet Institut za poljoprivrednu tehniku Naučni časopis POLJOPRIVREDNA TEHNIKA Godina XLI Broj 2, 2016. Strane: 81 – 92 University of Belgrade Faculty of Agriculture Institute of Agricultural Engineering Scientific Journal AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING Year XLI No. 2, 2016. pp: 81 – 92 UDK: 636.085 Originalni naučni rad Original scientific paper IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT FOR NON-MONSOON CROPS IN A MAJOR CANAL COMMAND IN EASTERN INDIA UNDER WATER LIMITING ENVIRONMENT Sanjay K. Raul *1 , Tanaya A. Shinde 2 , Sudhindra N. Panda 2 1 Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Regional Research and Technology Transfer Station, Keonjhar, Odisha, India 2 Indian Institute of Technology, Department of Agricultural & Food Engineering, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India Abstract: Acute irrigation water deficit during the non-monsoon (rabi) season in the Hirakud canal command in Eastern India demands efficient irrigation management strategies (IMSs) to sustain the irrigated agriculture. The study was undertaken to analyse the impact of different IMSs – namely full and deficit irrigation, on water use efficiency of different rabi crops and evolve the most efficient IMSs. Various water balance parameters were estimated on daily basis and stage wise crop production function was applied to compute the actual crop yields of five major rabi crops. The best IMSs for wheat, maize, rice, green gram and mustard were found to be 30% deficit irrigation at 14 days interval, 30% deficit irrigation at 7 days interval, 20% deficit irrigation at 4 days interval, 60 mm of irrigation per application at 21 days interval, and 20% deficit irrigation at 7 days interval, respectively. Realizing the scarce water resources and ever rising population, it is highly essential to implement the generated IMSs with a view to bring more area under cultivation and enhance the production potential of the command area. Key words: deficit irrigation, fixed depth application, soil moisture balance, water use efficiency INTRODUCTION Rapid environmental alteration has adversely affected the agriculture sector [16] owing to limited water availability. Irrigated agriculture is the largest water user at global level, which consumes nearly 80% of the world's developed water resources [27]. On the other hand, ever-increasing urban and industrial sectors place greater pressures * Corresponding author. E-mail: sanjaykraul@gmail.com