Hydrological Cycle

The hydrological cycle is also known as the water cycle, in this cycle water evaporates from the land and ocean however by the precipitation goes back to the land surface. The three major processes in the hydrological cycle are precipitation, evaporation, and condensation. Evaporation in the hydrological cycle is a process of having water present on the earth’s surface gets converted to vapor. Condensation in the hydrological cycle means converting the vapor into the liquid and these processes happen at the ground level. Precipitation in this cycle contains rain and snow that fall on the earth’s surface after the condensation. The considered cycle is important for agriculture as it feeds humans and provides good ecosystem services.

What is a hydrological cycle?

Water consists of three phases: solid, liquid, and gas in the earth’s atmosphere. Water is extremely important for agriculture production and it helps in food security. In agriculture, water is used in irrigation, sustaining livestock, and fertilizer application. The hydrological cycle defines the continuous flow of the water on the surface of the earth by doing three major processes: evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

What is the importance of the hydrological cycle in the agriculture sector?

The considered topic is important for agriculture as it recharges water sources such as rivers, lakes, groundwater, etc and the rain helps in the growth of agriculture. Agricultural products are dependent on water and the agriculture sector is the largest sector that is highly dependent on water. The importance of the hydrological cycle is agriculture to germinate the seeds and to grow the plant’s roots. The water is used as a transporter of the mineral from the root to the plant tissue. The hydrological cycle helps in the conversion of the starch to the sugar that is needed for the growth and development of the plants.

What is the source of the hydrological cycle in agriculture? 

One of the sources of the hydrological cycle is rain; rainwater helps in the growth of the agriculture sector. Rainfall provides the water to the agricultural land through this the nutrition is transported to the crops. The other source is the groundwater; the farmer uses the groundwater in irrigation for the growth of their agriculture. Surface water is also one of the sources of the hydrological cycle in the agriculture sector; the sources are rivers, lakes, wetlands, reservoirs. 

Hydrological cycle and its measurement components

Hydrological measurements are important to signify the water quality data and use in water resources management. The major components of the hydrological cycle are precipitation, convection, evaporation, and collection. In evaporation, the water is converted into the vapor that forms the cloud. In the convection process, the steam water is converted into other forms means the water is condensed. The condensed water after becoming a solid-state then falls into the earth’s surface. The condensed water that falls on the earth’s surface in the form of rainwater is called precipitation. Water that has fallen on the earth’s surface is stored in lakes, rivers, or oceans. The rainwater is also stored in the form of a water reservoir or groundwater or surface water. All the stored water is used in agriculture in the form of irrigation, to transport nutrients from roots to the tissue of the plants and helps in the growth of the plants. 

Hydrological cycle process

The hydrological processes are precipitation, runoff, evaporation, condensation, percolation, interception, transpiration, infiltration; storage in the considered process the first step is the evaporation process, which is the beginning of the conversion of water into the gas. The evaporated water is also known as the water vapor, the hot water after some time becomes a liquid state.  Precipitation is one of the processes that allow rainwater to fall on the earth’s surface. In the interception, the rainwater is unable to reach the surface immediately. Infiltration is a process that allows the rainwater to be shocked by the soil or the water moves into the ground surfaces. Percolation is the process that allows the movement of the water on the soil itself. Transpiration in the hydrological cycle is the process that allows the water present on the surface or the stomata of the leaf to evaporate. One of the processes is runoff which needs to define the pulling of the water by gravity across all the land surfaces. The last process is the storage that is the reservoir; the reservoir is lakes, rivers, snow, ocean, groundwater, and glacier.