Quantification and Assessment of The Virtual Water Content of Rice Crop: A Case Study of Mysore District, India

Abstract

Agriculture is the largest consumer of freshwater among all sectors. Currently, there are minimal studies to quantify a crop's water consumption and virtual water content of crops in India, especially using geospatial products. To address this issue, the current study employed a geospatial approach to quantify and assess the virtual content of rice crop. The actual evapotranspiration, NDVI and crop yield datasets are used in this study to quantify the virtual water content (VWC) of rice crops in the Mysore district from 2015 to 2019. The results show that the rice crop's water consumption (CWC) and VWC are higher in Kharif than in summer. The rice crop yield in Mysore is reducing, but the CWC was increasing with respect to time during the study period. The maximum VWC was observed in the 2018 Kharif season, i.e., 5228.9 m3/ton, and the lowest VWC (962.7 m3/ton) was observed in the summer of 2016. The findings will make it easier to comprehend how much water rice crops need over the course of various seasons and years, allowing for more effective water management. It will also assist officials and water planners in determining which seasons to minimise supply to achieve sustainable water management, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. © 2023 IEEE.