Comic - What is Irrigation?

What is Irrigation?

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of 
agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and re-vegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and 
periods of inadequate rainfall.

Types of Irrigation Systems

The following Wordle depicts different types of Irrigation Systems

Types of Irrigation Systems

Pictorial View - Types of Irrigation Systems

Center Pivot Irrigation

Drip Irrigation

Flood Irrigation

Furrow Irrigation

Gravity Irrigation

Gravity Irrigation

Rotational Irrigation 

Layout of a Sprinkler Irrigation

Sub-Irrigation 

Supplemental Irrigation

Surface Irrigation 

Travel Gun Irrigation

Three Common Irrigation System

Three Common Irrigation System used by farmers are:

1)Surface irrigation consists of a broad class of irrigation methods in which water is distributed over the soil surface by gravity flow. The irrigation water is introduced into level or graded furrows or basins, using siphons, gated pipe, or turnout structures, and is allowed to advance across the field. Surface irrigation is best suited to flat land slopes, and medium to fine textured soil types which promote the lateral spread of water down the furrow row or across the basin.

Advantages:

·         Easy construct & operate

·          Person can irrigation more compares to check basin.

·         If properly designed use uniform distribution & high water use efficiency.

·         Large streams can be effectively used.

·          If can provide excellent drainage (surface) if have proper outlet facility at the lower end.

    Disadvantages:

·         Required precise land leveling

·          Required large irrigation streams.

2)Sprinkler irrigation is a method of irrigation in which water is sprayed, or sprinkled through the air in rain like drops. The spray and sprinkling devices can be permanently set in place (solid set), temporarily set and then moved after a given amount of water has been applied (portable set or intermittent mechanical move), or they can be mounted on booms and pipelines that continuously travel across the land surface (wheel roll, linear move, center pivot).

Advantages:

·         It can be used for almost crops expect paddy & jute.

·         System can be adopted under varied topographic condition and especially suitable to steep-slope and irregular topography.

·          Soils-method is particularly suited for sandy soils having high infiltration rate.

·             It can eliminate surface run off  of irrigation water (run off elimination)

·         To protect the crop against frost & high temp.

·         To reduce labour cost for irrigation as compared with surface method.

·          Savings in land construction of channel to the field.

·         It saves fertilizer & water as ferti-irrigation can be carried out.

·          Land leveling is not essential for sprinkle irrigation.

·            Gives higher water use efficiency.

DISADVANTAGES

·         Not suitable for very fine texture soil (<4mm/her)

·          Uneven distribution of water due to distortion by high water.

·           More evaporation losses.

·           Require clean, water free from debris sand slit & clay particles.

·         Saline water can not be used

·         Initial cost is high.

·           High operating power is high (5-10kg/cm)

·         Unsuitable climate condition sprinkling may be encouraging spread of disease.

·          Ripening softy fruits need protection from the spray

3)Drip/trickle irrigation systems are methods of microirrigation wherein water is applied through emitters to the soil surface as drops or small streams. The discharge rate of the emitters is low so this irrigation method can be used on all soil types.

Advantage

·         Water saving is up to 40 to 60%

·            Enhance the plant growth & increases the crop yield

·          Savoring in level & energy most. Suitable for poor soil.

·         Weed infestation is minimum

·          Economy in cultural practices & easy operations.

·           Chance of using saline water.

·          Improve efficiency of fertilizers.

·         Very flexible in operation

·         No soil erosion.

·         Easy installation, no land preparation.

·         Minimizing quantity of produce.

·         Enhances the maturity of the crop.

Disadvantages

·         High maintenance requirement.

·         Salinity hazard

·         Economy limitations (40,000Rs/ha)

·         High technical know-how is required.

Real Life Experiences

Here's a Real Life Situation: 

It is the dry season and mixed crop farmer Halak is in crisis again. Over the years Halak has experienced the following:

• mini droughts because his pond dries up early in the season
• farmer Edgar damming the river upstream
• the water truck coming 5 sometimes 8 days late, long after he paid them to fill his tanks
• no response from the fire services emergency response unit.

This dry season shaping up to be his driest ever. He owns 30 acres of mainly flat land and very gentle slopes which he plants in 5 acre plots. He has access to water via a pond in the north, a river, running east to west, dividing the 30 acres into a larger 3/4 block and a smaller 1/4 block and now in 2015 WASA finally pass and put water on the main road just off the southern entrance of his property. Halak wants to design an irrigation system for him to ensure that his 30 acres are watered this dry season. He decides togoogle options and comes across information from you in the form of a video, blog or powtoon. Given his situation, you are required to design a video, blog or powtoon to educate Halak about the options available to him along with the advantages and disadvantages of each irrigation system available.

QUESTION:

What will you recommend? 

Would one irrigation system solve his problem?

Sketch of Farmer Halak's Farm

Sketch of Farmer Halak's Farm

Answer to Question

The type of irrigation recommended to the aforementioned question is Drip Irrigation

This is because in drip irrigation the required quantity of water is applied by means of mains, sub mains, manifolds & plastic laterals in the with equally spaced emitters usually laid on the ground surface at low pressure & at low discharge at the root zone of the crop. Seeing that the WASA line is not too far from the land. The water pressure would not be to low and by running the pipe or hose through the field, this will ensure that the crops on the land will be fully irrigated. 

The Drip Irrigation is ideal for this situation because it means that it doesn't require any other irrigating measures after Halak introduced this irrigating system on his farm. 

In addition to the this problem, the farmer must also take into consideration the components of the management system that must be managed on his farm. This management practices can be broken down into 
1. Irrigation
2. Drainage
3. Conveyance to and from fields
4. Water Storage
5. Release of water from the confines of the farm
6. Water sources and sinks 

Introduction to Drip Irrigation

PowToon

The following link is a simple graphic introducing drip irrigation.
Click the link below:
https://www.powtoon.com/show/bES7mLNW7xd/introduction-to-drip-irrigation/

Youtube Animated Video - Drip Irrigation

The following Link leads to an animated video found on Youtube about drip irrigation.

Click the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDInwYWk8-E

References

References 

Facebook logo. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from https://www.facebook.com/l.php?

u=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YDnX9dA2a8&h=IAQF2Szmj


Irrigation Water Management: Irrigation Methods. (2001, March 14). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from 

ftp://ftp.fao.org/agl/aglw/fwm/Manual5.pdf 


Northeast Region Certified Crop Adviser (NRCCA) Study Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved April 

9, 2015, from http://nrcca.cals.cornell.edu/soil/CA3/CA0324.php


Some irrigation methods. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from 

https://water.usgs.gov/edu/irquicklook.html


Walker. J., 2015, Physical Properties of Soils, Soil Drainage and Conservation. Soil Water 

Management Principles and Processes.