Sprinkler Irrigation

SPRINKLER IRRIGATION:

Water is applied as a spray or as rain over the crop.

Rate of water delivary is more than 1000 litre/hour 

It operates at pressure of more than 2.5 atm & throw water as a spray upto the distance of more than 10 metre.

MERITS:

1) No Conveyance losses. The loss of water in surface irrigation is 15-20% in well - Irrigated areas and 30-35% loss in canal and tank irrigated areas. 

2) Uniform application of water.

3) Irrigable area is increased by 1.5 to 2 times with the same amount of water.

4) Saving of water from 25 to 50% for different crops .

5) Saving of 10-16 % land

6) No risk of Runoff and erosion, inundation.

7) Suitable for sandy soils , shallow soils where land levelling is difficult, steep slopes and Rolling topography and undulating land .

8) Suitable for the areas where is water and labour Scarcity

9) Suitable for Saline soils to leach salts 

10) Sprinkling of water before Frost occurrence helps in maintaining higher temp and minimizing frost damage.

DEMERITS:

1) Not used under high wind velocity

2) Not suitable for areas with hot dry winds

3) Power requirements are usually high since it operates at a pressure of 0.5 - 1.0 kg/metre Square.

4) High Intial cost

5) More Spreading of diseases .

•DRIP/TRICKLE IRRIGATION:

Discovered in Israel 

• Discharge rate of water per dripper is generally 1-4 L/ h 

• Consists of 

Main line , Submaims , laterals and emitters 

•Irrigation interval is 1-4 days , it saves 50-70% water and even more.

MERITS:

1) Well suited to areas of acute water shortage.

2) Deep percolation, surface runoff , evaporation losses are minimum.

3) Water is maintained at field capacity all through.

4) Salt concentration is less even in salty soils due to high moisture content.

5) No land leveling is necessary.

6) Herbicides and fertilizers are applied to the crop by solublising into the irrigation water i.e. Herbigation( Herbicide+ Irrigation) and 

Fertigation ( Fertilizer application through irrigation).

7) Energy requirement is less.

8) Less disease and weed infestation

DEMERITS:

1) Clogging of emitters 

2) Damage to lateral system due to rodents and other animals

3) Salt accumulation near plants due to lack of sufficient water for leaching

4) Inadequate root development

5) Frequent installation and retrieval of the system for annual crops

6) High Intial cost

7) Due to limited wetting zone , the entire soil volume is not exploited.

Most suitable for widely spaced crops ;

Orchard trees and vegetables like apples 🍎, 🥭, Lemon🍋 , tomato 🍅, Brinjal , cotton 

*Typhoon system of Drip Irrigation is an efficient drip irrigation for Sugarcane.

It uses less than 50% of water needed 

to raise the crop by conventional Irrigation methods;developed in Israel for irritating row planted crops .

It is used in Hawaiian plantations.

MICRO- IRRIGATION:

CHARACTERISTICS:

Water is applied at...

1) a low rate 

2) Over a long period of time

3) at frequent intervals

4) Directly into the plant 's root zone

5) Via a low - pressure delivery system

•Following types of irrigation are categorised under Micro- Irrigation

a) Drip irrigation

b)Micro- jet irrigation:

Water leaves the jets at a pressure of nearly one bar , throws water at the distance of 1-4 m water discharge is 5- 160 L/h

c)Micro Sprinkler: Water discharge 28-223 L/h ; Operating pressure 0.8 to 4 bar and throw distance: 0.9 to 4 m , suitable for forest trees.

d) Bubbler irrigation: Vertical risers are anchored to stakes or posts and their heights are so adjusted that they deliver water at the rate desired. Water bubbles out of open vertical tubes practiced in mango , coconuts 

Pudding: Irrigation before sowing of crop is known as Pudding.

✍️Agricoss Vaishnavi Nimkar

( Gunji, Dhamangaon Railway, Amravati)

Mob No. 7666441799