The input data on irrigation, evaporation, and surface runoff are to be specified per season for three kinds of agricultural practices, which can be chosen at the discretion of the user:
:A: irrigated land with crops of group A
:B: irrigated land with crops of group B
:U: non-irrigated land with rain-fed crops or fallow land
The groups, expressed in fractions of the total area, may consist of combinations of crops or just of a single kind of crop. For example, as the A-type crops one may specify the lightly irrigated cultures, and as the B type the more heavily irrigated ones, such as sugarcane and rice. But one can also take A as rice and B as sugar cane, or perhaps trees and orchards. A, B and/or U crops can be taken differently in different seasons, e.g. A=wheat plus barley in winter and A=maize in summer while B=vegetables in winter and B=cotton in summer. Non-irrigated land can be specified in two ways: (1) as U = 1&minus;A&minus;B and (2) as A and/or B with zero irrigation. A combination can also be made.
Further, a specification must be given of the seasonal rotation of the different land uses over the total area, e.g. full rotation, no rotation at all, or incomplete rotation.  This occurs with a rotation index. The rotations are taken over the seasons within the year. To obtain rotations over the years it is advisable to introduce annual input changes as explained
When a fraction A1, B1 and/or U1 differs from the fraction A2, B2 and/or U2 in another season, because the irrigation regime changes in the different seasons, the program will detect that a certain rotation occurs. If one wishes to avoid this, one may specify the same fractions in all seasons (A2=A1, B2=B1, U2=U1) but the crops and irrigation quantities may be different and may need to be proportionally adjusted. One may even specify irrigated land (A or B) with zero irrigation, which is the same as un-irrigated land (U).
Cropping rotation schedules vary widely in different parts of the world. Creative combinations of area fractions, rotation indexes, irrigation quantities and annual input changes can accommodate many types of agricultural practices.
Variation of the area fractions and/or the rotational schedule gives the opportunity to simulate the effect of different agricultural practices on the water and salt balance.