On‐Farm Application System Design and Project‐scale Water Management

Abstract

Project‐scale optimal on‐farm designs considering total water availability and also the variability in the on‐farm parameters are obtained using a two‐stage programming approach in a mode of maximizing the net benefits from the project area. This provides the basis for comparing the consequences of projectscale design and operation under modes of volumetric equity and iso‐efficiency. A methodology to subdivide the project area into different distinct portions is developed. A sample application indicates that there could be a wide variation in flow requirements in all the three modes. Variations in net on‐farm benefits under modes of project‐scale optimality and volumetric equity are also large. The sample study indicates that the iso‐efficiency design results in near‐optimal project‐scale returns with uniform unit benefits in the different areas.