A Framework for Managing Irrigation Water Requirements under Climatic Uncertainties over Beed District, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

The "water use efficiency" has become a familiar term amongst the researchers and policy makers around the globe. Water use efficiency is of paramount concern for India, as majority of population and land use are dedicated to agriculture. This paper presents a framework for assessing the water demand and irrigation requirements over Beed District (Maharashtra, India), which is notorious for frequent droughts and a very high number of farmer suicides. In this study, standardized precipitation index (SPI) was used to characterize the historical droughts over the district using the long-term rainfall records. Remotely sensed land use maps were obtained and detailed classification was carried out. Additionally, the crop water requirement over the area was estimated by CropWat 8.0 model. From the ground truth verification, it was concluded that the framework is fairly capable in estimating the agricultural water demand over the district. The results were validated for the year 1972, when the district faced a severe water deficit condition. The irrigation network in Maharashtra is ineffectual despite of having highest number of dams in the country. The proposed framework will help to boost the efficiency of agricultural water use and thus, effective planning and management of available water.