~ 1944 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2020; 9(1): 1944-1949 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 www.phytojournal.com JPP 2020; 9(1): 1944-1949 Received: 04-11-2019 Accepted: 06-12-2019 Poornima Ph.D scholar Soil and Water Engineering, Department, College of Agricultural Engineering, University of Agricultural Science, Raichur, Karnataka, India Dr. MS Ayyanagowdar Professor and Head Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Department, College of Agricultural Engineering, University of Agricultural Science, Raichur, India Dr. BS Polisgowadar Professor Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Department, College of Agricultural Engineering, University of Agricultural Science, Raichur, Karnataka, India Dr. M Nemichandrappa Professor Soil and Water Engineering, University of Agricultural Science, Raichur, Karnataka, India Dr. MV Ravi Senior Scientist and Head KVK, Gangavati, Karnataka, India Dr. Lata HS Assistant Professor, (Department of agronomy), College of Sericulture, Chintamani, Karnataka, Karnataka, India Ramesh G Principle scientist AICRP on plastic culture, Soil and Water Engineering, University of Agricultural Science, Raichur, Karnataka, India Corresponding Author: Poornima Ph.D scholar Soil and Water Engineering, Department, College of Agricultural Engineering, University of Agricultural Science, Raichur, Karnataka, Karnataka, India Estimation of crop water requirement and irrigation scheduling of baby corn using CROPWAT model Poornima, Dr. MS Ayyanagowdar, Dr. BS Polisgowadar, Dr. M Nemichandrappa, Dr. MV Ravi, Dr. Lata HS and Ramesh G Abstract Land and water resources are finite and their management is crucial for improving food security in the country. Adoption of drip irrigation proved to be technically feasible and helps in saving significant amount of water and increase the quality and quantity of produce. Now, there is a need to decrease consumption, improve management of water resources and determine the water requirements of the major crops because agriculture is the first consumer of water in India. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) CROPWAT 8.0 simulation software and the CLIMWAT 2.0 tool attached to it have been used in this research to find the crop water requirements (CWRs) and irrigation scheduling for baby corn crop. Baby corn is a unique cereal with high nutritional value. The demand for baby corn is rapidly increasing in urban areas in India. A field experiment was conducted by using a split plot design with four replications, five irrigation intervals, namely, 100 % ET, 90 % ET, 80 % ET and 70 % ET were used. The results revealed that the estimated crop evapotranspiration baby corn is 244.8 mm. Keywords: Crop water requirement, irrigation scheduling, baby corn using CROPWAT model Introduction Land and water management are central to agriculture and rural development, and are intrinsically linked to challenges of food insecurity and poverty, climate change and adaptation and mitigation as well as degradation and depletion of natural resources. Combination of high yielding varieties, enhanced availability of water and fertilizers, the three key inputs in agriculture, transformed India from a country of begging bowl to one with over-flowing granaries (Singh, 2015) [4] . With a food grain production touching an all-time record level of 263 plus million tonnes (Mt) in 2013-14, Indian agriculture has made stupendous progress in ensuring food security to its vast population. Presently agriculture is the largest consumer of water (82.8%) in the country. It is expected that reduction in size in land holding, decreasing per capita water availability, The availability of water for agricultural sector is bound to decrease due to fierce competition from industrial, power and domestic use in urban areas while the same time food production must be increased to meet the food grain requirement of the growing population will seriously affect the sustainable use of water resources and it will make it difficult to accomplish the largest production. Hence, to ensure sufficient availability of food, fodder, fiber and fuel for the present generation without leaving any stress for the requirement for future generation water use efficiency in agricultural production has to be essentially improved at field level. Adaptation of drip irrigation and fertigation proved to be technically feasible and economically viable and helps in saving significant amount of water and increase the quality and quantity of produce. Drip irrigation offers a great potential to improve water management by improving cop yield and quality using less water and by localizing fertilizer and chemical applications to enhance their efficient use and to reduce pollution risk (Fischer et al., 2007) [2] . It can be also called as localized irrigation, to emphasize that only part of the soil volume is wetted (Lamm et al., 2007) [3] . Agriculture is the main consumer of water in India, and the irrigation systems require modernization and good management by evaluating water system prerequisites precisely. It is important to know the crop water requirements (CWRs) and irrigation scheduling to take care of the irrigation demand. Software modeling by programs like AQUACROP and CROPWAT 8.0 is a significant practice used by scientists for the assessment of crop evapotranspiration, CWR, and irrigation scheduling. These software programs were developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as tools to assist irrigation engineers and agronomists in