Performance-Based Optimization of Land and Water Resources within Irrigation Schemes. II: Application |
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Authors: | Ian K. Smout Sunil D. Gorantiwar K. Vairavamoorthy |
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Affiliation: | 1Director, Water, Engineering and Development Centre, Institute of Development Engineering, Loughborough Univ., Leicestershire LE11 3 TU, U.K. (corresponding author). E-mail: i.k.smout@lboro.ac.uk 2Associate Professor, Mahatma Phule Agricultural Univ., Rahuri 413722, India; Academic Visitor, Loughborough Univ., Leicestershire LE11 3TU, U.K. E-mail: s.d.gorantiwar@lboro.ac.uk/ sunilgorantiwar@yahoo.com 3Senior Lecturer, Water, Engineering and Development Centre, Dept. of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough Univ., Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, U.K. E-mail: k.vairavamoorthy@lboro.ac.uk
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Abstract: | The area and water allocation model which uses simulation–optimization technique for optimum allocation of land and water resources to different crops cultivated in different allocation units of the irrigation scheme was modified to include both productivity and equity in the process of developing the allocation plans for optimum productivity and/or maximum equity. This paper illustrates the potential of this approach with the help of a case study on Nazare medium irrigation scheme in India. The allocation plans were developed for optimization of different performance parameters (productivity and equity) for different management strategies based on irrigation amount and irrigation interval and cropping distribution strategies of free and fixed cropping. The results indicated that the two performance objectives productivity and equity conflict with each other and in this case, equitable water distribution may be preferred over free water distribution at the cost of a small loss in productivity. Though these results relate to one case study, they show the value of the approach of incorporating productivity and equity in the allocation process with the help of the simulation-optimization model described in the companion paper. |
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Keywords: | Performance characteristics Water resources Irrigation Optimization Crops Agriculture |
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