HYDRAULIC AND INFILTRATION CHARACTERISTICS OF PERIYAR VAIGAI COMMAND AREA SOILS AS RELATED TO SOIL PROPERTIES

摘要

THOROUGH understanding of hydraulic properties viz., hydraulic conductivity (HC), infiltration rate (IR) of soils of the command area are prerequisites for scientific management of an irrigation system. These properties are useful for water movement through soil, root water extraction, contribution of ground water table, crop water use and irrigation scheduling and monitoring several soil water related problems, such as runoff, soil erosion, nutrient loss etc. The present study was carried out to investigate the factors that are most important in affecting hydraulic properties and to compare the variability of HC and IR in soils belonging to five major soils subgroups of Periyar Vaigai command area.