In most arid and semi-arid regions of the world, agriculture can only be practiced with irrigation. Based on the delicate water balance in these regions, soils and ecosystems can be easily damaged by inappropriate irrigation. To ensure sustainable and efficient irrigation practices, hydrosolutions GmbH developed the Irrigation Calculator enabling water authorities to calculate the irrigation water demand for different crops, irrigation systems and soils given the local climate. The current application showcases an application in Guantao County, Hebei Province in China.
Guantao County is a county of southern Hebei province, China, bordering on Shandong's Guanxian County and Linqing City to the east, across the Weiyun River (see map below). It is under the administration of Handan City, and has a population of approximately 350,000 residing in an area of 456 square kilometers (176 sq mi). Guantao County represents a typical agricultural county in North China Plain, which heavily relies on groundwater irrigation, causing severe groundwater depletion.
Estimating irrigation water demand is crucial to plan irrigation schedules and to optimize water use efficiency accordingly. This online platform provides a flexible way for Guantao’s stakeholders to quickly look into irrigation water requirements as a function of crop type, soil type and planting date. It allows to add up the individual water demands of all areas with a specific crop and irrigation type to obtain the water requirements of the whole county or a subset thereof in a planning table. The calculation routine is based on FAO's CropWat model (see more information on the Help tab).
This tool was developed by hydrosolutions GmbH in Zurich, Switzerland. For questions or queries please fill the questionnaire under Help tab to contact us. Please also see User Manual and Technical Development Manuals below.
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