IWE-10306 Irrigation and Water Management

Course

Credits 6.00

Teaching methodContact hours
More days excursion42
Lectures24
Practical intensively supervised21
Tutorial24
Course coordinator(s)dr. ir. GE van Halsema
Lecturer(s)dr. ir. HP Ritzema
prof. dr. LF Vincent
ing. H Boesveld
dr. ir. GE van Halsema
Examiner(s)prof. dr. LF Vincent

Language of instruction:

English

Continuation courses:

IWE-21312; IWE-30806

Contents:

Introduction to Irrigation and Water management:
- water and irrigation in global perspective;
- irrigation occurrence around the world;
- the irrigation system and the watershed;
- irrigation typologies;
- irrigation system management and governance;
- waste water use in irrigated agriculture;
- problems and risks in irrigated agriculture;
- solutions offered in contemporary water management debates.
Plant - soil - water - atmosphere relationships:
- water transport through the plant;
- crop water requirements;
- irrigation water requirements;
- irrigation requirements of irrigated rice;
- yield response to water;
- irrigation scheduling, depth and interval.
On-farm Surface Irrigation:
- field irrigation methods;
- description of surface irrigation methods;
- comparison of irrigation methods;
- hydraulics of surface irrigation;
- field design and operation of surface irrigation;
- evaluation of surface irrigation performance.

Learning outcomes:

After the course, participants will have knowledge on and insight in:
- the relationship between irrigation and (food) production on global, regional, field and farm level, especially related to crop-water use and water-use efficiencies;
- the occurrence of irrigation at world level, in relation to the used technology and its background;
- the relationship between irrigation technology and its social and institutional context;
- the relationship between irrigation and other forms of water use. Paying attention to water availability, water quality, nutrients and use of (treated) wastewater in an environmentally safe manner;
the relationships in the plant-water-soil-atmosphere system.
After the course, participants will be able:
- to calculate crop water requirements and irrigation water demands;
- to design and evaluate field irrigation schedules and irrigation practices;
- to use the software about design and evaluation of field irrigation, crop water use and irrigation scheduling;
- to investigate the specific characteristics and hydraulics of different field irrigation methods and the different factors determining the choice for a specific irrigation method and its evaluation and corroborate these through field experiments.

Activities:

Lectures, laboratory and field practical, the making of exercises and assignments, usage of calculation programmes. Preparation, participation and reporting of the excursion.
As an alternative for the excursion, non BIL students will carry out an assignment (1,4 credits) consisting of a literature review and writing of article summary to answer a special question or to deepen one of the course themes of their own choice.

Examination:

Written exam, assignments, report of the practical exercises and literature review.

Literature:

Lecture notes and excursion guide.

ProgrammePhaseSpecializationPeriod
Compulsory for: BILInternational Land and Water ManagementBSc1MO
MinorPeriod
Compulsory for: WUILWBSc Minor International Land and Water Management1MO