Estimation of Crop Water Requirement of Kharif Maize Crop using CROPWAT 8.0 Model in Bilaspur District

Water is one of the most important elements in this world. No life will exist without water. The main consumer of water is agriculture but due to mismanagement, overpopulation, and climatic changes this valuable natural resource is getting scarce position throughout the world. It has become very important to define appropriate strategies for planning, development, and management of water resources. The main objective of this paper is to the estimation of crop water requirement of Kharif maize crop for effective irrigation management. For proper irrigation management, CROPWAT is the best model suggested by FAO. 16-year climatic data were analyzed with the CROPWAT model, which is based on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) paper number 56 (FAO 56). The Penman-Monteith method was used to estimate reference evapotranspiration (ET0). The model predicted the daily, decadal as well as monthly crop water requirement at different growing stages of maize crop. The average reference crop evapotranspiration (ETc­) during the 16 years was found to be 313.21 mm. It varies from 222.8 mm to 515.9 mm. The average irrigation requirement for maize crops during the period from 25th June to 17th September was 42.01 mm.