See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/334821576

ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF IRRIGATION SYSTEM IN THE DOMINANT

PADDY RICE REGION OF THE VU GIA THU BON DELTA

Article · July 2019

CITATIONS READS

0 128

5 authors, including:

Karl Schneider Lars Ribbe

University of Cologne Technische Hochschule Köln
116 PUBLICATIONS 1,650 CITATIONS 102 PUBLICATIONS 1,008 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Alexandra Nauditt Duc Phuoc Vo

Technische Hochschule Köln The University of Danang, University of Science and Technology
31 PUBLICATIONS 276 CITATIONS 7 PUBLICATIONS 2 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

LUCCi Vietnam View project

Nile Research Partnership (NiRep) View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Duc Phuoc Vo on 01 August 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Agriculture & Food Journal of International Scientific Publications
ISSN 1314-8591, Volume 7, 2019 www.scientific-publications.net

ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF IRRIGATION SYSTEM IN THE DOMINANT

PADDY RICE REGION OF THE VU GIA THU BON DELTA
Thi Ngoc Uyen Nguyen1,2*, Karl Schneider1, Lars Ribbe2, Alexandra Nauditt2, Phuoc V.N.D3
1
Geography Institute, University of Cologne, Cologne 50923, Germany
2
Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics, Cologne
University of Applied Sciences, Cologne 50679, Germany
3
University of Science and Technology, The University of Danang, Danang, Vietnam

Abstract
Assessing irrigation performance plays an important role in improving irrigation efficiency and water
resource management in the low land of Vu Gia – Thu Bon river basin where traditional irrigation
practices are applied to a predominantly paddy rice cultivation. Relative Water Supply (RWS) and
Relative Irrigation Supply (RIS) were selected as relevant indicators to assess the relationship
between water supply and water demand of the irrigation system. About 120 primary and secondary
pumping stations were visited during field trips. 13 large primary pumping stations were chosen to
validate the actual irrigation supply. Annually there are two crops Winter-Spring and Summer-
Autumn being cultivated in this region. Monthly RWS and RIS were calculated for 13 irrigation
management schemes during the two crops in the years 2004 - 2005. The obtained results differ from
scheme to scheme and were analysed individually. The result presents an under - irrigation supply at
six irrigation management schemes including Tu Phu, Tu Cau, Xuyen Dong, Bich Bac, An Trach, Ai
Nghia in both crop seasons Winter – Spring and Summer – Autumn, especially from February to July.
Both RWS and RIS are high in December and August implying that there is considerable potential to
save and use water more effectively during this period. At Ai Nghia and Chau Son irrigation
management schemes, RIS values are zero while RWS is relatively high in May demonstrating that
rainfall variability plays an important role in changing RWS and RIS. Reducing the irrigation supply
should be considered for those periods, so that effective irrigation management can be achieved.
Keywords: Water management, Water demand, Water supply, Irrigation performance, Relative Water
Supply (RWS), Relative Irrigation Supply (RIS)

1. INTRODUCTION
Irrigated agriculture is the major user of freshwater globally, accounting for 70% of total fresh water
consumption (Fischer et al., 2007). To meet the demand of the increasing population, water
development for agriculture is a priority (Geleto et al., 2019). With limited freshwater resources and
increasing competition between different water users, irrigated agriculture efficiency needs to be
improved (Molden et al., 1998). Therefore, assessment of irrigation performance is significantly
important for improving irrigation water management (Abuzar et al., 2017), reducing competition in
scarce water resources and enhancing food security.
The increasing population has also made the efficient use of irrigation water crucial, particularly in
developing countries, where the economy mainly relies on agriculture (Beshir & Bekele, 2008). It is
formidable to assess the performance of irrigation system since there are many factors that influence
the performance of irrigation agriculture such as infrastructure, inputs, management, climatic
conditions, socio-economic factors (Molden et al., 1998). Molden et al., 1998 also proposed a set of 9
indicators including Output per cropped area, Output per unit command, Output per unit irrigation
supply, Output per unit water consumed, Relative water supply, Relative irrigation supply, Water
delivery capacity, Gross return on investment, Financial self-sufficiency to assess the performance of
irrigation system. These indicators allow the comparative analysis of irrigation performance across
irrigation systems in term of land, water, production, finance. A relative comparison of values helps to
examine how well the system is performing in relation to others. Input data collection for these

Page 128
Agriculture & Food Journal of International Scientific Publications
ISSN 1314-8591, Volume 7, 2019 www.scientific-publications.net

indicators is feasible and they present sufficient information about the output of system. In the context
of water scarcity, this study focuses only on the efficiency of water use by the irrigation system based
on the two most important factors which are the availability of water supply and water demand
(Sakthivadivel et al., 1993)
The Vu Gia Thu Bon (VG-TB) is the fifth largest river basin in Vietnam with 10.350 km2 of
catchment area (MARD 2009). With a current population of approximately 3 million, the VG-TB is
one of the most important food-producing regions in central Vietnam (Pedroso et al. 2017). The region
is characterized by wide-scale paddy rice area in downstream and a strong development of
hydropower in upstream. Thus, there is a conflict between water users in the region. As existing
traditional irrigation practice is the largest water consumer in this region, it is critical to assess the
relation between water supply and water demand in the irrigation system (Nauditt & Ribbe, 2017).
Relative Water Supply (RWS) and Relative Irrigation Supply (RIS) are relevant indicators which
highly illustrate the relationship between supply and demand (Al Zayed et al., 2015), and thus they
were chosen as basic indicators to apply in this study. Furthermore, the performance of an irrigation
system can be analysed and interpreted for different time intervals such as annual, seasonal, monthly
or special periods, as well as to compare the performance of different systems within a region
(Sakthivadivel et al., 1993). While RWS represents the condition of water abundance or scarcity, RIS
represents how irrigation water supply is met (Levine, 1982).
The objective of this study is to assess the performance of the traditional irrigation practice in the low
land of VG - TB river basin in order to understand the relation between water demand and supply in
the context of water scarcity and conflict. The study has the potential benefit of improving irrigation
efficiency and water resource planning for the region.

2. STUDY AREA
This study was conducted in the low land of the VG - TB (Figure 1). The total irrigated agriculture
area is 16,084 ha, mainly for paddy rice, followed by maize and peanut (Pedroso et al. 2017). There
are two crops being cultivated per year. The Winter-Spring Crop is usually from the middle of
December to the middle of April and Summer-Autumn Crop is from middle of May to beginning of
September. The irrigated agriculture area is categorized into 13 irrigation management schemes (IMS)
according to their characteristics such as soil type, irrigation demand, topography, climatic impacts
including, but not limited to weather events; salt intrusion; and flooding. The traditional irrigation
practices are applied with 120 primary and secondary pumping stations installed along the rivers. The
irrigation canal system is used to convey water to each scheme. The average temperatures vary from
20°C in December to 34°C in July (Firoz et al. 2018) and the annual rainfall ranges from 2000mm in
the flood plain to 3500mm in the mountain area. About 80% of rainfall happens in the wet season
from October to December (IMHEN 2010). The driest period is from February to April with only 3-5
% of the total annual rainfall (Souvignet et al., 2013), causing severe water shortages and problems
with salt water intrusion in this area (Viet, 2014).

Page 129
Agriculture & Food Journal of International Scientific Publications
ISSN 1314-8591, Volume 7, 2019 www.scientific-publications.net

Figure 1. (a) VG-TB Delta, irrigation management schemes, pumping stations and river network
(b) Location of VG-TB Delta in Vietnam

3. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data
Data used for estimating performance indicators were collected for the period of 2004 - 2005. Rainfall
data from 5 other stations (Da Nang, Ai Nghia, Cau Lau, Cam Le and Hoi An) which cover the basins
lowlands was also obtained and analysed.
Meteorological parameters applied to compute Reference Evapotranspiration (ETo) in CROPWAT
model were latitude, longitude and altitude of the station, maximum and minimum temperature ( oC),
relative humidity (%), wind speed (km/day) and sunshine hours. This data was provided by the
Regional Centre for Hydro-Meteorological (RCHM).
Daily operation data from 13 large primary pumping stations for the calculated year were provided by
Irrigation Management Company (IMC) during the field research to estimate the total irrigation water
abstract.
The crop schedules, cultivated area, soil types, land-use data and crop yield data were obtained from
Department of Agricultural and Rural Development (DARD)
Those data were validated for quality in the scope of the research project “Land Use and Climate
Change Interactions in Central Vietnam” (LUCCI) from 2010 to 2015.

Page 130
Agriculture & Food Journal of International Scientific Publications
ISSN 1314-8591, Volume 7, 2019 www.scientific-publications.net

Figure 2. Area of Irrigation Management Schemes in the VG – TB delta

Methods
Water supply and water demand are two critical factors for assessing the performance of irrigation
scheme. Relative Water Supply (RWS) and Relative Irrigation Supply (RIS) were selected to apply in
this study. They are useful to analyse and interpret the performance of irrigation system for different
spatial and temporal (Sakthivadivel et al., 1993). In this study, we calculated monthly RWS and RIS
for 13 different irrigation management schemes in the low land of the VG – TB and the results were
analysed and interpreted.
Relative Water Supply is defined as the ratio of the total water supply to the total water demand as
originally defined by (Levine, 1982). Higher values of RWS indicate that there is excess water for
supplying.
Total water supply
Relative water supply = (1)
Total crop water requirement

The total water supply is actual irrigation water supply by pumping system via irrigation canals plus
the total rainfall.
In this study, the term crop water requirement is defined as the amount of water needed to compensate
the evapotranspiration loss from the cropped field for a specific time (USDA Soil Conservation
Service 1993). Crop water requirement is estimated by CROPWAT model simulation (Allen et al.,
1998). It uses the FAO (1992) Penman - Monteith equation for estimating reference crop
evapotranspiration. The input data for this model is presented in section 3.1.
Relative irrigation supply is defined as the ratio of irrigation supply to irrigation demand (total
demand less effective rainfall) and it is the inverse of irrigation efficiency.
Irrigation supply (2)
Relative irrigation supply =
Irrigation demand

Irrigation supply is actual irrigation water abstracted and supplied by pumping systems via irrigation
canals. During the field research, we decided to select 13 large primary pumping stations which
represent 13 irrigation management schemes. The actual irrigation water supply is calculated using the
daily operational data of these pumping stations.
Irrigation demand is understood as the net irrigation water requirement and calculated as below:
NIWR = CWR − Peff (3)
Where: Peff is effective rainfall. CWR is the crop water requirement.

Page 131
Agriculture & Food Journal of International Scientific Publications
ISSN 1314-8591, Volume 7, 2019 www.scientific-publications.net

The method used to compute effective rainfall was United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
soil conservation service (Smith, 1991) following below equations:

125−0.2Ptot
Peff = Ptot × for Ptot < 250mm (4)
or 125

Peff = 125 + 0.1 × Ptot for Ptot > 250mm

Where Peff denotes the effective rainfall; Ptot the measured (or generated) total daily rainfall.
By that definition, effective rainfall in some period of times can be equal to or exceed the crop water
requirement. In cases where effective rainfall equals or exceeds crop water requirement, there is no
irrigation water requirement and the RIS value is zero and the higher RIS, the lower irrigation
efficiency of system.
When the irrigation water supply equals the crop water demand, both RWS and RIS have a value is of
1.00. This implies 100% irrigation efficiency, which is not possible under field conditions (Salvador
et al., 2011). The Irrigation Management Company in charge of pumping and irrigation in the area
defines irrigation efficiency at about 60% (RIS ≅1.7). Therefore, an RWS or RIS value below 1.7
implies under-irrigation, whereas a value above 1.7 implies over-irrigation for surface irrigation
systems.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Results
Figure 3 presents the monthly RWS and RIS of 13 irrigation management schemes in the region. The
results differ from scheme to scheme. To understand the performance of each irrigation system, the
results were analysed individually. It can be seen that six irrigation schemes including Tu Phu, Tu
Cau, Xuyen Dong, Bich Bac, An Trach, Ai Nghia suffered from under water supply most of the time
during crop seasons. In December and August both RWS and RIS are high, except in some cases the
RIS values are zero and RWS relatively high such as Tu Phu, Dong Ho, Cam Van, Vinh Dien, Cam
Sa, Ai Nghia, La Tho, Chau Son, Xuyen Dong. At Ai Nghia and Chau Son in May, RIS values are
zero while RWS relatively high.

Page 132
Agriculture & Food Journal of International Scientific Publications
ISSN 1314-8591, Volume 7, 2019 www.scientific-publications.net

Page 133
Agriculture & Food Journal of International Scientific Publications
ISSN 1314-8591, Volume 7, 2019 www.scientific-publications.net

Figure 3. Monthly Relative Water Supply (RWS) and Relative Irrigation Supply (RIS) for Irrigation
Schemes in the Vu Gia – Thu Bon Delta

Discussion
Analysing the RWS and RIS calculated from the results, six irrigation schemes including Tu Phu, Tu
Cau, Xuyen Dong, Bich Bac, An Trach, Ai Nghia reveals that these irrigation schemes suffered from
under water supply. This implied an under-irrigation supply in both seasons Winter – Spring and
Summer – Autumn, especially from February to July. Salt-water intrusion occurred early in February
and heavily in May, June and July. The research on salt-water intrusion by (Viet, 2014) revealed that
the operation of those pumping stations was seriously affected during this period of time.
Generally, RWS and RIS follow the same trend (Al Zayed et al., 2015) except in some cases where the
RIS value is zero and RWS relatively high. This can be explained by understanding that during this
timeframe the system is in a condition of water abundance, and effective rainfall is equal or greater
than crop demand. For example RWS and RIS of Ai Nghia, Cam Van and Chau Son soared to a peak
in May as a high rainfall was reported that month at Ai Nghia station with 128mm compared to less
than 20mm of previous months. The result also demonstrates that rainfall variability plays an
important role in changing RWS and RIS. Reducing the irrigation supply should be considered for
those periods, so that effective irrigation management can be achieved.
Both RWS and RIS are high in December and August. In some cases, the RIS values are zero and
RWS relatively high such as Tu Phu, Dong Ho, Cam Van, Vinh Dien, Cam Sa, Ai Nghia, La Tho,
Chau Son, Xuyen Dong irrigation management schemes in December. This can be explained by high
rainfall and land preparation stage for the winter-spring growing season. Similar to December, August
also was reported with high rainfall in the whole region. The values imply that there is considerable
potential to save and use water more effectively during this period.

Page 134
Agriculture & Food Journal of International Scientific Publications
ISSN 1314-8591, Volume 7, 2019 www.scientific-publications.net

5. CONCLUSION
Two indicators RWS and RIS were calculated for two crops of the year 2014 – 2015 in the VG – TB
delta. The results were deeply analysed for the better understanding of the irrigation system
performance. The interpretation of the results was also presented. The intermittent shortage of water
and inefficient irrigation system are revealed after analysing 2 indicators RWS and RIS. The
efficiency of water use in this irrigation system is presented. The results can be used by local
stakeholders to improve irrigation water management over schemes as well as enabling water planners
and policy makers better rely on in their integrated water resource planning. The irrigation schedule
adjusting and efficient rainfall using could be considered to enhance the irrigation system efficiency.

REFERENCES
Abuzar, M., Whitfield, D., & McAllister, A., 2017. Farm Level Assessment of Irrigation Performance
for Dairy Pastures in the Goulburn-Murray District of Australia by Combining Satellite-Based
Measures with Weather and Water Delivery Information. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-
Information, 6(8), 239. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi6080239
Al Zayed. et al., 2015. Spatio-temporal performance of large-scale Gezira Irrigation Scheme
Agricultural Systems, 133, pp.131–142. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2014.10.009.
Allen, R.G. et al., 1998. Crop evapotranspiration - Guidelines for computing crop water requirements -
FAO Irrigation and drainage paper 56, pp.1–15.
Beshir, A., & Bekele, S., 2008. Analysis of irrigation systems using comparative performance
indicators: a case study of two large scale irrigation systems in the upper Awash Basin. Impact of
Irrigation on Poverty and …, 77–92.
Doorenbos J, Pruitt WO., 1977. Crop water requirements. FAO irrigation and drainage, paper no. 24,
Rome, Italy, 144 pp.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). 1992. Cropwat: A Computer Program for Irrigation
Planning and Management: Irrigation and Drainage Paper. No. 45. FAO, Rome
Firoz, A.B.M., Nauditt, A., Fink, M., Ribbe, L., 2018. Quantifying human impacts on hydrological
drought using a combined modelling approach in a tropical river basin in central Vietnam, pp.547–
565.
Fischer, G., Tubiello, F.N., Van Velthuizen, H., Wiberg, D.A., 2007. Climate change
impacts on irrigation water requirements: effects of mitigation, 1990–2080.
Technol. Forecasting Social Change 74, 1083–1107.
Geleto, M., Dananto, M., & Tadele, D., 2019. DISCOVERY Performance evaluation of selected
surface irrigation schemes in Kacha Bira Woreda, SNNPRS, Ethiopia. 15.
IMHEN. 2012. Climate change, sea level rise scenarios for Vietnam. Hanoi.
Levine G. 1982. Relative water supply: An explanatory variable for irrigation systems. Technical
Report No.6; The Determinants of Irrigation Project Problems in Developing Countries. Ithica , NY:
Cornell University.
MARD, 2009. 10 largest river basins in Vietnam, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
Molden, D., Sakthivadivel, R., Perry, C. J., & Fraiture, C. De., 1998. Indicators for
ComparingPerformance of Irrigated Agricultural Systems. Research Report.
Nauditt, A., Ribbe, L. eds., 2017. Land Use and Climate Change Interactions in Central Vietnam:
LUCCi, Singapore: Springer Singapore.
Pedroso, R., Tran, D.H., Thi, M.H.N., Le, A.V., Ribbe, L., Dang, K.T., Le, K.P., 2017. NJAS -
Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Cropping systems in the Vu Gia Thu Bon river basin, Central

Page 135
 Agriculture & Food Journal of International Scientific Publications
ISSN 1314-8591, Volume 7, 2019 www.scientific-publications.net

Vietnam : On farmers ’ stubborn persistence in predominantly cultivating rice. NJAS - Wageningen

Journal of Life Sciences, 80, pp.1–13. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2016.11.001.
Salvador, R., Martínez-Cob, A., Cavero, J., Playán, E., 2011. Seasonal on-farm irrigation
performance in the Ebro basin (Spain): crops and irrigation systems. Agric. Water
Manag. 98 (4), 577–587.
Sakthivadivel, R., Merrey, D. J., & Fernando, N., 1993. Cumulative relative water supply: A
methodology for assessing irrigation system performance. Irrigation and Drainage Systems, 7(1), 43–
67. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00880908
Smith, M., 1991. CROPWAT: Manual and Guidelines. FAO of UN, Rome, Italy
Souvignet, M., Laux, P., Freer, J., Cloke, H., Thinh, D.Q., Thuc, T., …, Ribbe, L., 2013. Recent
climatic trends and linkages to river discharge in Central Vietnam. Hydrological Processes, 28(4),
pp.1587–1601.
USDA Soil Conservation Service, 1993. Irrigation water requirements. National Engineering
Handbook NEH, Part 623, chapter 2, National Technical Information Service.
Viet, T.Q. 2014. Estimating the impact of climate change induced saltwater intrusion on agriculture in
estuaries- the case of Vu Gia Thu Bon, Vietnam (Dissertation, RUHR University Bochum).

Page 136

View publication stats