TITLE:
Modeling crop land soil moisture and impacts of supplimental irrigaiton in a rainfed region of Bangladesh
AUTHORS:
Pramod K. Pandey, Sagor Biswas
KEYWORDS:
Rainwater Harvesting; Rainfed Crop Land; Supplemental Irrigation; Crop Yield
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment,
Vol.3 No.1B,
January
16,
2014
ABSTRACT: A robust water
balance model has been tested for predicting soil moisture levels and supplemental
irrigation requirement of a rainfed region of Bangladesh. The predictions were
used for improving the understanding of the impacts of rainwater harvesting on rainfed
agriculture. The climate data (i.e.,
rainfall, temperature, evaporation, and evapotranspiration) were used as inputs
for predicting the variations in soil moisture. Soil moisture levels under
rainfed and supplementary irrigation conditions were compared. Results showed
that rainwater harvesting i.e., rain
water storage tanks during rainy seasons can be potentially useful for storing rainwater,
which can be utilized for enhancing crop land soil moisture during dry seasons
for enhancing crop yield. The study presented here will be useful for
improving and disseminating rainwater harvesting approaches for enhancing water
availability in rainfed regions.