The increasing worldwide shortage of water and rise in cost of irrigation are leading to an emphasis on developing methods of irrigation that minimize water use. The webinar on ‘Linear Programming Approach for Sustainable Irrigation Scheduling: A Case Study’ was a small initiative towards generating awareness for such novel methods.

The speaker of the session, Dr. Hazi Azamathulla is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad. He has a degree in Civil Engineering from SKD University (India), Masters degree in Water Resources from Devi Ahilya University (India) and a Doctorate in Hydraulic engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He has been a member of the editorial board of several high ranked Journals like Water Science and Technology, Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering – ASCE, Dam Engineering Journal.

The speaker introduced the concept of real time monitoring and it’s applications in the context of irrigation engineering. A case study of the Chiller reservoir project of Madhya Pradesh was discussed to facilitate understanding of real time operations and understand the crop-soil-water atmosphere system under this system. He also showcased the conceptual model developed for performing the linear programming and the solutions which have been developed. The different softwares used in linear programming were also talked about during the session. It was an immensely interactive session.