Abstract: Appropriate accounting for irrigation water is gaining a high attention in prevailing irrigated agriculture. It remains inevitable to judge & establish region specific paradox of irrigation efficiency (both for traditional & micro irrigation systems). Dynamic behaviour of canal-based irrigation water inflows & outflows is evaluated at micro scales in pre-identified micro commands of three sub-minors under prestigious Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) irrigation project in Gujarat India. Magnitudes as well as ranges of various elements & indicators of physical canal systems, cropping systems, and irrigation water operations are critically evaluated to derive ground based factual values of Water Use Efficiencies (WUE), crop productivities, and canal water losses. WUE values were worked out to be as 10.02 kg/ha/mm for maize crop, 8.15 kg/ha/mm for caster crop and 4.37 kg/ha/mm for cotton crop. The overall trends, patterns of variations, interconnectivities, and location specific actual values of several end deliverables (dynamics of irrigation water fronts during their advancement & recession phases, soil water losses, canal conveyance losses, WUE, crop productivities, irrigation operating indicators etc) are reported herein. Relative comparison of overall system performance and operative indicators in micro commands for study sub-minors (namely Sankheda, Umara-Jabusar and Kadadara-Vehlal during their 1st phase of execution i.e. 2010-11 Rabi season) are presented, along with certain food for thought on futuristic interventions on theme of this writeup.

Keywords: Sub-minors, Water Use Efficiency, Conveyance Losses, Micro-Irrigation, Infiltration Rates

| DOI: 10.17148/IARJSET.2018.5107