water requirments of differrent crops and animals
by ghulam mohyuddin wani
chief consultant animal husbandry
NRAA, NEW DELHI
Introduction
In our previous treatise in www.article .com we have discussed the water requirements of animals. Here we shall discuss the water requirements of different crops and compare it with the requirements of animals. We will also discuss water use-determinants like soil-moisture, profile in determining the water requirements of a crop along with calculations for evaluating evaporation & transpiration losses during cropping clander & lastly increment for the presence of left moisture of the fallows.
Factors effecting water utilization
Water requirements of a crop are determined by various factors like soil moisture, texture, wind velocity, humidity, rainfall, temperature solar radiation, crop species, variety of as crop, cropping season, & other known and unknown factors both biotic and abiotic. Rice crop utilization is estimated at 640 mm per hac in Pakistan. The similar study estimates for wheat are lower than rice 330 mm. Thus a rice- paddy rotation in Lahore, Punjab is estimated at 970 mm of water. One wonders what the essence e of 970 mm of water is and how mud quantity of water is needed per hectare or per kg of grain. Few reports of Johl, 2002 & others have given different estimates which will be discussed under following heads.
(a) Water requirements per hectare of land for producing various crop variety
(b) Calculation of water requirements- how they are made
(c) Water requirements of animals & a comparison with crops
The water requirements are measured by various methods. We have to consider soil profile, soil moisture stored in the root zone of the planted crop, evaporation rate, humidity, temperature & all those factors described in preceding pages. On an estimated basis different crops need water at following rates (Johl, 2002) table I
Table 1. Total water requirement per hectare
Crop water required in liters/ hac
Rice 60,20,000
Wheat 35,00,000
Cotton 78,50,000
Sugar cane 1,60,00,000
Sunflower 65,00,000
Kharif Maize 46,00,000
Kharif Moong 41,50,000
Gobi Sarsoon 34,50,000
Winter Maize 61,50,000
Herian quoting Johl, 2002, reports the conversion of water in terms of kgs of grains as follows:
Table 1. Water requirement per kg of grain harvested
Grain /Crop water required in liters/ kg
grain produce
Wheat 781
Rice 1131
Kharif Maize 1691
Gobi Sarsson 2851
Suflower 5672
Cotton 6217
Kharif Moong 8645
Summer Moong 10,246
For calculating water requirements of crops, the calculatio0ns are made on the presumptions & a study of NSW department of primary industries as follows; for rice.
The duration of crop growth varies with the variety used. Some of the Australian rice varieties mature in short time. However water requirements differ during different stages of the crop growth. Thus the varietal gestation days & days taken from planting to flowering & from flowering to physiological maturity needs to be taken into consideration.
Water requirements of rice depend upon variety and temperatures around the fields duration of growth is describe as panicle initiation to flowering & from flowering to maturation. For medium grain rice this panicle to maturity cycle duration is around 70-80 day ( white worth, 2006). This period can be broken into panicle to flowering 30-35 days in short & long grain varieties grain in Australia. However it is 5 days less (25-30 days) in whorl season varieties Jerrah. Flowering to physiological maturity days ranges from 35-45 days in all the varieties. The total days of watering rice thus depends on the stage of development and the gestation days of the varieties. We have most of the varieties maturing in 70-100 days in India. These days exceed in temperate climatic conditions. Sometimes cold waves & frost bites hinder ripening and the days of gestation get extended. Therefore it is recommended to have on evaluation pilot study if exact requirements of water by each crop are intended.
Beginning of the planting season in rice starts with requirement of water rice field preparation fill, needs water. This initial requirement differs with type of soil, paddock history & seasonal conditions.
The weather and the ecosystem play a significant role due to different evaporate transpiration rates existing at different locations even within a given ecosystem. Here water transpiration from leaves and stagnant field surfaces has to be considered. Temperature, solar radiation, wind, relative humidity of the air and rainfall play a role in determining water requirements of any crop. Deep percolation is another factor to reckon with in this direction. This is water passing into the soil below root zone. Thus a knowledge base on root zone. Area, percolation percent only gives a true estimate of water requirements by a crop. Drainage losses, rice field permeability and many other factors need to be considered. On a rough estimate NSW department uses 1 mm/ day allowance for deep percolation. A ten days evaporate-transpiration average for less through evaporation water use for paddy cultivation is often measured in mega liters. A 10 cm dept of water in a hectare measures about 1 mega liter of water used. This can be expressed as 100 mm water dept to/hectare. An hectare has 2.47 acres,. So we may decide it by 2.47 i.e. ½.47 cm or 100 mm. The average water use cultivation of rice between 0ct- November is around 5-47 ml per acre. Generally an area of 8 acres is utilized for dairy sheds, had it been under rice, we would need annul 2.5 = 20.0 ML of water for rice cultivation.
To raise 100 cows with a profit of around 2.5 lac per annum needs comparatively much less water than if the same land is used for crops.
Therefore so far water utilization is concerned water requirements of animals are far less than those of crops, vegetable or fruits. The water requirements of dairy animal & other livestock species has been reviewed (Wani, 2009). On an average beef heifers weighing 500-9000 liters or around 200-400 kgs require 4-7 gallons of water per day. This requirement for beef cows is 7-12 gallon of water. Cows with calves need more water than dry cows. (12 vs. 10). Calves need 2-3 gallons of water. Dairy cows in milk need on an average 30 gallon per day. Dry dairy cows need 10 gallon & their calves 3 gallons. Sheep & goats need 2-3 gallons of water. However exact water requirements depend on the exact weight of the animal.
Horse, bison and mules on are average need 10 gallons, poultry needs 0.05 gallons, deer, lames, alpacas need 2 gallon ELK and donkeys 5 gallons, ostrich 1 gallon & human house hold needs are around 60 gallons per day. Thus the comparative use of water favors livestock, who pro0duce a liter of milk on less than ½ a gallon of water, which is comparatively lower than rice, wheat & other crops describe. A liter of milk even if needs gallon of water would be much less than 1 kg of rice or wheat.
Animal body also losses water during evaporation Process. Sheep transpose 725 water taken, goat transpose less than sheep 70%. However with increase in environment temperatures the normal change. The above figures were corroborated when temperature ranged from 21-390C & relative humid ranged between 13-67 5 water intake of sheep & goats is 2-3 gallons. So a goat yielding 2-3 liters of milk will need 10-15 liters of water. This is the minimum required water in comparison to other livestock and crop species. Thereby, goats are preferred viable and sustainable livelihood options in water deficient areas.
Calculation of water requirement (animals)
Ration ale (a) for every kg dry matter we need 6 kgs of drinking water
+
(b) For every liter of milk provide 1 liter of water
+
(C) Give additional allowance as per needs of weather & winds or radiation etc as discussed.
Example: for a cow consuming 18 kg of concentrate feed per day we will need 108 kg of water d18 * 6 = 108 liters of water. This basic maintenance requirement on DM basis, If she produces 20 liters of milk, we will need addition 20 liters of water. If weather is favorable on an average a 20 liter yielder (cow) will require 128 liters of water per day which roughly equals 30 gallons as discussed. Generally thumb rule is 100-150 liters of water per cow per day. In case of temperature crossing 350C we need 200-250 liters per day thus comparing 5 month crop cycle or 120-30 day gestation of paddy- rice crops or paddy-rice rotation for the year make it full location for 8 months, we will need 200 * 200 = 40,000 liters of water for the entire 10 month period for cow in a paddy-rice rotation, a requirement of per liter of milk. A thousand liter estimate incorporating bathing, washing and other uses too put it around 26000 liters of water per 1000 liters of milk thus the figures came to around 26-30 liters of water per liter of milk, which is roughly 0.026 cm2 per liter of mile or 26 cm2 per 1000 liter of milk.
How to calculate water requirements in dairy farms
Surface area
Suppositions 60 * 80 m water level equals 4800m2 of water or say 10m * 10 m water pond can have around 10m2 of water stored in its. If the surface is sloppy and uneven, we generally give conversion factor allowances as: for surface areas of 25,000 – 5000 m2 multiply by 0.6. For a water dept of 1000 – 25000 m2 multiply be 0.45 & for surfaces less than 100 m2 by 0.3.
The depth of the pond is to be calculated by multiplying with depth a pond of 60 m wide, 80 m long equals 4800 m2 of water. Multiply depth it will become 4800 * 5 = 24000 m2 if depth is 5 meters. In case of a circular pond, we have to measure depth and calculate surface area as:
(a) Measure diameter of the pond & divide by 2 to get radius
(b) Square the radius and multiply by a factor of 3.1416 to get the surface area of the pond.
If the pond is not even but has a slope, the surface area calculations shall be made as follows:
(a) If the radius is between 25-50 m2 multiply by factor 0.6
(b) If pond radius ranges between 15-25 meters 2 multiply by 0.45
(c) If pond radius is less than 10m2 multiply by 0.3
Water requirement of paddy-wheat rotation
(a) Traditional Rice-Wheat cropping system will breed 60,20,000 liters of water for paddy and 35,00,000 liters for wheat per hectare. Thus for a Paddy-Rice rotation system in a year total water requirement is 95, 20,000 liters of water. If a hectare produces 3t of paddy (against 2.4 t national average) and 3t of wheat/hectare. We will thus have 6 t / hectare production. This will mean 1000 * 6 = 6000 kgs. Dividing 9520/6 we need 1587 liters of water per kg of Rice-Wheat or paddy- wheat rotation.
(b) Water table decline figures
It is said over a period of few years a decline of water table by 2 ft / annum has been registered (water table decline) needs further data collection. The water recharging process per annum has to be evaluated.
(c) Requirement of rice per annum per hectare is around 60 20 0000 liters. Or roughly 620 mm per hectare per year. The total rainfall in Punjab is around 800 mm. Thus with paddy-rice combination consumption of 620 + 330 mm comes to around 950 mm of water. Thus roughly we have a deficiency of 150 mm per years, which may be responsible for the decline of the water tables.
4. Index of diversification from Rice –Wheat combine. The net profit per acre of hectare is never more than 100,000-1.5 Liter under Paddy- wheat rotation. It still exists as remunerative, one because of its support price and FCI as its assured marketing link. More remunerative diversification options like see production, fruits, vegetable, sunflower etc could not sustain larger interest because of low marketing network. The advantage in dairy lies in firstly its low water use, second its profits going around 25 % (Wani, 2009) with very low requirement of water. Thirdly, the fodder (Maize) is new available as a contract farming option. Fodder maize just around flowering needs certainly half the amount of water than the grain production. Fourth important factor in favor of dairy industry goes due to assured marketing channels like Milk fed & other milk processing firm like JK industries, Johnson and Johnason etc.
Commercial dairy farming is gaining momentum because of:
(a) Low water need. A kg of milk needs maximum 50 liters of water as against 15000 liters of Rice-Wheat combination. The other crop needs are much higher.
(b) The economic benefits of 25% profits with daily income assured and marketing channels at door step gives dairy an added impetus.
(c) It has added a new social dimension, a dairy farmer is more or less an executive job with less on the farm engagement. This provides him a social impetus & clubbed with profits, he seems better off.
(d) the use of manure for fortification of soil & coupling organic vegetable or grain farming in the land connected to the dairy farms of Punjab shall help to further economize dairy farming. The housing pattern simplified it doubled with automatic rechanneling of urine & dung to the fields shall give rise to a rehabilitation of distorted soil profile with more marketing preference.
Interventions need are
(a) Feed block preparation. This own formulas to be improved
(b) Disease cover, initial testing and housing system need rechannalizaion & innovation.
(c) Water pond like swinging pool facility, sprinkle of water and other cooling options need study
(d) Make calf utilization as breeding stock or establishment of semen banks needs exploration. Private sector investment in semen * embryo collection needs incentive
(e) Vaccination, disease diagnostic using 3rd generation DNA Technolgy is recommended to assure quality milk production incorporating all necessary international zoo-sanitation measure. Checks and controls.
(f) The use of agriwaste, leaf biomass, preflowing crop yield as fodder supplements needing more water need trails.
(g) Cheap and effective innovative housing system are needed.
(h) Insurance cover is to be streamlined to the exact value of the animal.
(i) Pre –testing for communicable disease should be a must to avoid future losses.
(j) Interaction & export of high valued semen from aboard be allowed & the male born used to provide semen to the other states.
(k) A private- public policy & planning translate or centre be formulate in prepare policy papers, reports & data base.
DARMINDER SINGH