A statistical approach for estimating irrigation water usage in western Saudi Arabia

This paper presents a statistical practical approach to the estimation of irrigation water requirement in the western region of Saudi Arabia. The approach describes the variation in water requirements as a function of regional climatic parameters, types of crop grown and irrigation techniques used. Irrigation water requirements are also calculated, for comparison purposes, by Modified Penman and Blaney-Criddle methods, taking leaching requirements and losses into consideration. It is found that irrigation water requirements for vegetables and perennial crops are close to the values estimated by Blaney-Criddle method, while for fodder and cereal they are close to the values estimated by Modified Penman Method.