IRRIGATION EFFICIENCIES POTENTIAL UNDER SURFACE IRRIGATED FARMS IN PAKISTAN

The conventional surface irrigation systems, border, level basin and furrow bed, are inherently inefficient in Pakistan, while the suboptimal field sizes (length and width) are considered as one of the main reasons of poor performance. Addressing these issues, the three surface irrigation systems were evaluated on thirteen fields under routine farmer management in Pakistan. Irrigation performance including application efficiency ( AE ), Potential Application Efficiency ( PAE ), Adequacy ( AD ) and distribution uniformity ( DU ), of 17 irrigation events were evaluated and further potential for improvement by optimising field sizes were identified using surface irrigation evaluation Model WinSRFR 4.1.3. The study revealed poor irrigation efficiencies, AElq (41% to 82%), PAEmin (43% to 95%), ADlq (1.16 to 2.29) and DUlq (80% to 99%), on farms. The average AElq on farm was in the order of; level basin (58%) < border (65%)