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Irrigation by crop

Irrigation for watermelon

A short summer crop on raised beds, sown in December or January and picked before the monsoon. One drip lateral per bed is the standard layout.

Suits it best

Drip irrigation

Usual row spacing

1.5–2.5 m

Water need

4–7 mm/day

Water need is the crop’s daily use at full cover over Feb–Mar, at weather stations across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh — the spread is the season and the place.

Why drip irrigation

A short summer crop on raised beds. A lateral down each bed waters the vines and leaves the ground the fruit sits on dry.

Inline drip laterals 1.5 m apart, one down each raised bed.

What actually changes the answer

  • Beds 1.2 m wide with a lateral down each, laterals 1.5 m apart — about 2,700 m of pipe an acre.
  • February and March, at full canopy, are the peak. Ease off as the fruit ripens, or the flesh turns watery and less sweet.
  • Plastic mulch over the bed with the lateral beneath it is common — it holds moisture and keeps the fruit off the soil.

How much pipe would watermelon need?

Put in your acres and the estimator works it out against this crop’s layout, then prices the parts from our own catalogue at today’s prices.

Estimate my system

What you’d be buying

Drip IrrigationLDPE Pipes

Spacings and layouts on this page are published package-of-practice and state-scheme figures; water need is FAO-56’s crop-coefficient method on published Telangana and Andhra Pradesh weather records. Neither is a design for your field — soil, slope, water source and pump all move them. Send us your crop, acres and pump details and we’ll confirm the sizing before you commit.

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Where these numbers come from

  • PJTSAU (opens in a new tab)

    Telangana’s state agricultural university — the package of practices crop spacings in the state follow.

  • TNAU Agritech Portal (opens in a new tab)

    Crop-wise spacing, water requirement and drip layout references for southern India.

  • ICAR (opens in a new tab)

    Indian Council of Agricultural Research — crop agronomy and regional package-of-practices.

  • Telangana Micro Irrigation Project (opens in a new tab)

    The state scheme’s guidelines: which crops go on inline drip, online drip or sprinklers, and the spacings it funds.

  • FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56 (opens in a new tab)

    The reference method for crop evapotranspiration and crop coefficients that daily water figures derive from.