15. Types of Irrigation Systems and Their Advantages in Agriculture

 Types of Irrigation Systems

Here some irrigation systems are discussed below:

1. Surface irrigation
2. localized irrigation
3. drip irrigation
4. sprinkler irrigation
5. center pivot irrigation
6. lateral move irrigation
7. Sub-irrigation
8. manual irrigation

1. Surface Irrigation:

    Surface irrigation is where water is applied and dispensed over the soil surface using gravity. It is used a long way as the most commonplace form of irrigation during the arena and has been practiced in lots of regions truly unchanged for thousands of years.

    Floor irrigation is often known as flood irrigation, implying that the water distribution is out of control and consequently, inherently inefficient. In truth, some of the irrigation practices grouped underneath this call contain a substantial degree of management. Floor irrigation comes in three predominant sorts; level basin, furrow, and border strip.

Types of Surface irrigation:

• Basin Irrigation 
• Furrow Irrigation
• Surge Irrigation 
• Border Strip Irrigation
• Spate Irrigation

Advantages:

• Control is pretty easy, you do not need any cutting-edge generation. If you have local conventional expertise, you can do it.
• You do now not need high financial assistance. You could be useful with small lands too.
• When you have short time water supplies, then this is the best manner for you.
• In case your drainage device is far, then you just need longer tubes.
• This is a nature-friendly device, you can make use of rainwater.
• It also works effectively with a low filtration charge.
• Low capital and no power value are needed.
• You may use this irrigation procedure in sloping lands and lengthy fields.

2. Localized Irrigation:

    Localized irrigation is a way of applying water that results in wetting handiest a small place of the soil floor and on occasion best part of the basic zone. Water is carried out near the bottom of the plant so that the application is focused in the root quarter. Water is normally implemented at a low drift price, in small amounts, and regularly. The application gadgets can be small tubes, orifices, nozzles, or perforated pipes. The water may additionally either be implemented above or below the soil surface. The primary additives of a localized irrigation system are the water supply, the filtration machine, primary strains, sub-primary lines, laterals, and vendors.

Advantages:

• Fertilizer and nutrient loss are minimized due to localized application and reduced leaching.
• Water software performance is excessive if controlled effectively.
• Discipline leveling is not vital.
• Fields with irregular shapes are without difficulty accommodated.
• Recycled non-potable water may be properly used.
• Moisture in the root area can be maintained at the subject's capability.
• Soil type plays a much less important function in the frequency of irrigation.
• Soil erosion is lessened.
• The weed increase is lessened.

3. Drip Irrigation:

    Detailed discussion about drip irrigation in the previous blog.

4. Sprinkler Irrigation:

    Sprinkler irrigation is the approach of making use of water in a managed manner in a way much like rainfall. The water is distributed through a community which could encompass pumps, valves, pipes, and sprinklers.

Advantages:

• No terracing is required.
• Appropriate to all sorts of soil except heavy clay.
• Suitable for irrigating plants where the plant population consistent with the unit area could be very high.
• Influences more conducive to micro-weather.
• Regions placed at a better elevation than the source can be irrigated.
• Possibility of the usage of soluble fertilizers and chemicals.

5. Center pivot irrigation:

    It is a way of crop irrigation wherein the system rotates around a pivot and vegetation is watered with sprinklers. A round place centered at the pivot is irrigated, frequently growing a circular sample in crops when viewed from above.

Advantages:

• Excessive diploma of automation, which could save a whole lot of labor.
• There's no want to stage the land, saving loads of cash and lowering environmental harm.
• The service life is generally extra than 20 years, and the funding according to the unit region is slight.
• Low working and preservation prices.

6. Lateral move irrigation:

    It's defined as discuss with sprinkler structures with laterals that are not “constant” permanently in a single function as with “stable set structures” but as an alternative are “periodic-circulate” structures.

Advantages:

• Precise application
• Reduce variability
• Lower labor requirement
• Opportunities for fertigation
• Less land forming

7. Sub-irrigation:

    Sub-irrigation applies water below the soil surface to raise the water table into or close to the plant root zone. Sub-irrigation isn't always regularly used in arid or semi-arid irrigated areas where irrigation is often needed to germinate crops. It is typically used at the side of subsurface drainage, or controlled drainage.

Advantages:

• Much less hard work. The maximum time wanted for the setup and operation of an irrigation machine is removed.
• Uniform plant boom. Every plant receives the quantity of water it wishes.
• Less water is wanted. A savings of 50 percent or extra can be found.
• Much less fertilizer is wanted. Without leaching, fertilizer rates can be reduced by 25 to 50 percent.
• Decrease humidity. Because the leaves continue to be dry, there's less evaporation.
• Decrease the incidence of sicknesses. As there may be little water movement among packing containers, the unfold of ailment is confined.
• Accelerated space performance. Tray and floor structures containers may be spaced greater effectively.

8. Manual irrigation:

    Manual irrigation is via some distance the most not unusual form of irrigation as anybody bodily able, can manually irrigate their plants.

    Manual irrigation is moving water from plant to plant. This is very labor and time intensive and is normally done with a hose or bucket, so it's miles handiest appropriate for smaller areas.

Advantages:

• It is a satisfactory approach to irrigation for leveled fields.
• It does not require any technical knowledge.
• This approach is greater useful in soils having lesser infiltration.
• In this approach, rainwater stays in basins, therefore soil erosion isn't always prompted.
• It has lesser financial funding.
• It irrigates a greater place.
• Plants receive enough water.

References:

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14. Drip Irrigation in Agriculture

 Drip Irrigation

Definition:

    Drip irrigation or trickle irrigation is a micro-irrigation device that can store water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plant life, both from above the soil floor or buried under the surface.

By watching this video you can easily understand how to set up drip irrigation. 1

Goals:

    He intends to immediately add water to the foundation area and decreases evaporation. Drip irrigation structures distribute water thru a community of valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters. Depending on how nicely designed, set up, maintained, and operated, a drip irrigation gadget can be greener than different irrigation structures, including surface irrigation or sprinkler irrigation.

Ancient History:

Primitive drip irrigation has been used considering that ancient instances. Fan Shengzhi shu, written in China all through the first century BCE, describes using buried, unglazed clay pots full of water, occasionally called Ollas, as a way of irrigation.

Modern development according to the different countries:

In Germany:

Modern drip irrigation started its improvement in Germany in 1860 when researchers began experimenting with subsurface irrigation using clay pipe to create aggregate irrigation and drainage device.

In the USA:

In America, the first drip tape, Dew Hose, evolved through Richard Chapin of Chapin Watermatics in the early 1960s. The evolution of drip tape which made drip tape adopted and used at a tremendous scale became the advent of T-Tape in 1987 through PlastroIrrigation, which had the primary slit outlet and a laminar waft tune that later advanced into a turbulent drift regulating flow music. Chapin Watermatics was received by Jain Irrigation in 2006 and is housed below its US subsidiary Jain Irrigation.

First delivered in California in the overdue Sixties, only 5% of irrigated land used this system through 1988. Using 2010, 40% of irrigated land in California used this device.

In Australia:

The use of plastic to keep and distribute water in drip irrigation was later developed in Australia using Hannis Thill.

Components:

• Pump or pressurized water supply
• Water filter(s) or filtration structures: sand separator, Fertigation structures (Venturi injector), and chemigation system.

• Backwash controller
• Strain control valve
• Distribution strains Hand-operated, electronic, or hydraulic manage valves and protection valves
• Smaller diameter polyethylene tubes
• Poly fittings and add-ons (to make connections)
• Emitting gadgets at vegetation

Advantages:

• Fertilizer and nutrient loss are minimized because of localized software and decreased leaching.
• Water application performance is excessive if managed efficiently.
• Subject leveling is not necessary.
• Fields with abnormal shapes are accommodated without difficulty.
• Recycled non-potable water can be effectively used.
• Moisture in the root sector can be maintained at area ability.
• Soil type performs a much less important role in the frequency of irrigation.
• Soil erosion is lessened.
• Weed growth is lessened.
• Water distribution is highly uniform, and managed using the output of each nozzle.
• Labor cost is less than other irrigation strategies.
• Variance in delivery can be regulated by using regulating the valves and drippers.
• Fertigation can without difficulty be covered with minimal waste of fertilizers.
• Foliage stays dry, decreasing the threat of sickness.
• Normally operated at decreased strain than other varieties of pressurized irrigation, decreasing strength prices.

Disadvantages:

• Preliminary costs can be more than overhead systems.
• The sun can affect the tubes used for drip irrigation, shortening their lifespan. The risks of degrading plastic affect the soil content material and meal crops. With many sorts of plastic, when the solar degrades the plastic, inflicting it to grow to be brittle, the estrogenic chemical compounds (this is, chemical substances replicating woman hormones) would motivate the plastic to preserve flexibility had been launched into the encircling surroundings.
• If the water isn't always nicely filtered and the equipment is no longer well maintained, it could result in clogging or clogging.
• For subsurface drip the irrigator can not see the water this is implemented. This can result in the farmer both making use of an excessive amount of water or an inadequate amount of water, this is specifically not unusual for those with less enjoyment of drip irrigation.
• Drip irrigation could be better if herbicides or pinnacle-dressed fertilizers want sprinkler irrigation for activation.
• Drip tape reasons for extra cleanup charges after harvest. Users want to plan for drip tape winding, disposal, recycling, or reuse.
• Waste of water, time, and harvest, if no longer mounted nicely. These structures require careful study of all the applicable factors like land topography, soil, water, crop and agro-climatic situations, and suitability of drip irrigation machine and its components.
• In lighter soils, subsurface drip may be not able to wet the soil floor for germination. Calls for careful attention to the set-up depth.
• Most drip structures are designed for excessive efficiency, which means a tiny leaching fraction. Without enough leaching, salts implemented with the irrigation water may increase inside the root sector, generally at the edge of the wetting pattern. Then again, drip irrigation avoids the high capillary capacity of conventional floor-carried-out irrigation, which could draw salt deposits up from deposits below.
• The % pipes often are afflicted by rodent harm, requiring alternative of the entire tube and increasing fees.
• Drip irrigation structures can't be used for damage control through nighttime frosts

Uses:

    Drip irrigation is utilized in farms, commercial greenhouses, and home gardens. Drip irrigation is adopted appreciably in regions of acute water scarcity, particularly for plants and timber consisting of coconuts, containerized panorama bushes, grapes, bananas, eggplant, citrus, strawberries, sugarcane, cotton, maize, and tomatoes.

    Drip irrigation kits for home gardens are increasingly famous for owners and encompass a timer, hose, and emitter. Hoses that might be 4 mm in diameter irrigate flower pots.

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