Krueng Baro Irrigation is focused on increasing the productivity of food crops in Pidie District, Aceh Province, Indo-nesia. However, due to the age of the irrigation infrastructure (more than 30 years) and its large networks, it is necessary to investigate the actual water conveyance efficiency. This study aimed to evaluate the conveyance efficiency of primary and secondary channels of the irrigation system, as well as to create a water balance model based on the actual water convey-ance efficiency. The model by using Excel Solver with its objective function is to maximize the area of the irrigated land. Based on the optimization model of the water balance, the design condition can irrigate an area of 9,496 ha (paddy-I), 4,818 ha (paddy-II), and 11,950 ha (onion). The measurement results reported that the actual efficiency of Baro Kanan and Baro Kiri was 56% and 48% smaller compared to the efficiency of the designs (65%). The water loss was due to the damage to the channel lining and channel erosion resulting in the high sedimentation, leakage, and illegal water tapping. These lead to a decrease in the area of the irrigated land. Based on the optimization model of the actual water balance, the irrigated land was reduced to 7,876 ha (paddy I) and 3,997 ha (paddy-II) while it remained the same for onion. Therefore, to increase the efficiency, the regular maintenance and operations are required by fixing the damaged irrigation structure and channels, the maintenance of sedimentation, and the strict regulation of illegal water tapping.

Satellite-based irrigation performance is a valuable tool for improving yields in irrigated areas across the world and requires adequate land for long-term development. This study aimed to increase irrigation performance and yield gap variation of rainfed crops using the database of FAO’s Water Productivity Open Access Portal (WaPOR) and the Global Yield Gap Atlas. The evapotranspiration ( ET) performance of irrigation is expressed in equity ( CV of ET), reliability, adequacy ( CV of ET), and water productivity (kg∙m^-3</p>). The rainfed crops are interpreted in terms of metric tonnes/ha. Specifically, 20,325 km²</p> of suitable pastoral land across eight sub-classes was converted to rainfed rice, sugarcane, maize, and vegetable crops. Results showed that the R²</p> value was 0.97 at Baro Itang and –0.99 at Sor Metu, with the Baro Gambella sub-catchment having the largest yield gap of 4.435.2, 8.870.4, and 10.080∙106 kg when the yield increased by 1/3, 2/3, and 3/4. On the other hand, Gumero Gore had the smallest yield gap of 10,690, 29,700, and 33,750 kg, respectively. The management regime was 2.87, 0.87, and 0.35 kg∙m^-3</p> for growers in the estate, farmer association, and individual, respectively. The study concludes that no single irrigation technique can be considered the best, and a thorough analysis of spatiotemporal variation of the irrigation performance indicators and the yield gap in the water-scarce lower Baro watershed is required.