Question

Given below are two statements:
Statement (I): Water storage efficiency becomes important when water supplies are limited or when excessive time is required to secure adequate penetration of water into the soil.
Statement (II): Water application efficiency decreases as the amount of water applied during each irrigation increases.
In light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below.

• A. Both Statement (I) and Statement (II) are correct.
• B. Both Statement (I) and Statement (II) are incorrect.
• C. Statement (I) is correct but Statement (II) is incorrect.
• D. Statement (I) is incorrect but Statement (II) is correct.

Hint:

Think about what happens to extra water once the root zone is already at field capacity.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Water storage efficiency compares the water actually stored in the root zone with the water needed to bring the root zone up to field capacity. When water supply is scarce, or when the soil is slow to let water penetrate so that irrigation takes a long time, storing the applied water efficiently in the root zone matters a great deal, so Statement (I) is correct.
Step 2: Water application efficiency is the ratio of water stored in the root zone to the total water applied. As more water is applied in one irrigation than the root zone can hold, the extra water is lost to deep percolation and/or surface runoff, so the efficiency ratio falls. Statement (II) is therefore also correct.
Both statements are correct, so the answer is option 1.