Applying Partial Irrigation in Pakistan

Abstract

Partial irrigation is supplying less water than a crop needs for full production. Partially irrigating crops is intended to stretch water supplies and increase total crop production and profit. Pakistan is short of water and so partial irrigation is widely practiced. Selecting crop varieties or determining proper irrigation schedules requires applying partial irrigation principles. Only a small part of the irrigation research done in Pakistan considers the effects of partially irrigating crops. All the reviewed mathematical models used to optimize irrigation avoided nonnumerical aspects of irrigation management. These simplifications tend to ignore some costs while fully accounting for all benefits, resulting in poor model performance when compared to actual system management. The most effective actions to implement partial irrigation are improving system reliability, developing and disseminating simple water management rules, and continuing current programs to improve watercourses and level fields. While a sophisticated partial irrigation scheduling program would be difficult technically, socially, and logistically, partial irrigation principles must be used to understand and direct conventional water conservation programs.