Abstract
The crop water requirements of three major crops grown in the Lower Indus Basin namely wheat, cotton and sugarcane were determined at different water-table depths and the groundwater contribution to the total water requirement was quantified. The study was conducted in drainage type lysimeters of size 3.05 m x 3.05 m x 5.18 m constructed at the Drainage Research Centre Tandojam, Pakistan. Three different water-table depths of 1.5, 2.25 and 2.75 m were maintained during the study. The evapotranspiration (ET) was more at shallow water-table depths and it decreased with increase in water-table depths. The maximum wheat yield was obtained at water-table depth of 2.25 m whereas the maximum cotton and sugarcane yields were observed at 1.5 m depth. The groundwater contribution to wheat crop was, 19, 6 and 4%, to cotton crop, 20, 4 and 1% and to sugarcane crop, 21, 5 and 1% at the three water-table depths, respectively. At 1.50 m depth, the water productivity of wheat was 8-22%, cotton 27-30% and sugarcane 34-57% higher than at 2.25 and 2.75 m depths. Therefore, there is a need to exploit the shallow water table to reduce the surface water applications and to improve the water productivity.

Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Ishtiaque Rao, Hafiz Abdul Salam, Ahmad Zeeshan Bhatti. (2018) DETERMINING WATER REQUIREMENTS OF MAJOR CROPS IN THE LOWER INDUS BASIN OF PAKISTAN USING DRAINAGE-TYPE LYSIMETERS, , Volume 55, Issue 4.
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