| dc.description | Agriculture is by far the largest water use at global level. Irrigation of agricultural lands accounted
for 70% of the water used worldwide. In several developing countries, irrigation represents up to
95% of all water uses, and plays a major role in food production and food security. Future
agricultural development strategies of most of these countries depend on the possibility to
maintain, improve and expand irrigated agriculture. On the other hand, the increasing pressure on
water resources by agriculture faces competition from other water use sectors and represents a
threat to the environment. Water is a resource that may create tensions among countries down and
upstream. Irrigated agriculture is driving much of the competition since it accounts for 70-90% of
water use in may of these regions (Siebert et. al 2010).
Water used for agriculture comes from natural or other alternative sources. Groundwater is an
important source of freshwater for agriculture, drinking and domestic uses in many regions of the
world including Bangladesh. Demand of groundwater has been increasing day by day for
irrigation by bringing more area under cultivation. Availability of groundwater for irrigation has
contributed to manifold increases in crop productivity in Bangladesh. Increasing population, food
insecurity, growing economics and poor water management are putting unprecedented pressure on
the world’s freshwater resources (UNCSD, 2012). | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | An investigation was carried out to assess the suitability for irrigationpurposes of 50 groundwater
samples collected from different locations of Sadar Upazilla of Rangpur district. Analyses
included pH, EC, TDS (total dissolved solids), cations (Ca2+, Mg2+
, Na+
, K+
, Cu2+, Mn2+
, Fe3+)
and anions (HCO3
-
, SO4
2-
, PO4
3-
and Cl-
). Several computed variables such as SAR (sodium
adsorption ratio), SSP (soluble sodium percentage), hardness (HT), permeability index (PI),
Kelly’s ratio, and potential salinity to evaluate the suitability of groundwater supply for specific
uses. Some correlations and compositional relations were also evaluated. Almost all the water
samples were within the recommended pH value for irrigation and had a great impact on crop
production. According to Wilcox, 14 samples were excellent, 36 samples were good for irrigation
purposes in respect to EC. For TDS all samples except seven samples were considered as
‘freshwater’ for irrigation.Based on SAR values, all samples were classed as ‘excellent’
categories for irrigation. On the basis of Ca, K, Fe and Cu, content the entire water samples can
safely be used for irrigation and would not affect the soils. The SAR and SSP of all waters were
under ‘excellent’ class. In the present study, some samples were considered ‘Hard’ while others
were ‘moderately hard’ and few samples were ‘soft’ for irrigation usage. The results also provided
data for water quality of groundwater resources of study region to match national and
international standards for agricultural requirements. | en_US |
