Abstract
Agricultural drainage plays an important role worldwide in food production and conservation of soil resources, while safeguarding investments in agricultural production and irrigation projects. It can improve crop yields and land productivity, especially on poorly drained soils and in cases of prolonged waterlogging. Both the subsurface drainage materials and the installation techniques used have a long history dating to prehistoric times. Over time, new subsurface drainage materials, installation techniques and modernized equipment were being developed continuously to take advantage of technological advances provided through research and development, while the planning and organization of the implementation process were improved. Today’s new materials and improved installation methods can offer solutions to problems still unsolved, while sometimes creating new ones. This paper considers the evolution of basic subsurface drainage materials and their installation techniques as they developed and adapted over time as well as possible future trends in drainage system design and application.
Highlights
The importance of adequate drainage of agricultural lands has long been recognized, given the fact that drainage is probably as old as agriculture itself, dating from antiquity
This review study is organized as follows: Section 1 is an introductory one; Sections 2–4 present the evolution of drainpipe materials, envelope technology, and installation technology through the centuries; Section 5 refers to the drainage system design/installation effects on drain-water quality; Section 6 addresses the alternative drainage technique to control waterlogging and salinity and in particular, biodrainage; Section 7 deals with the general observations about how drainage has evolved and its importance to agricultural production
Since the 1980s, corrugated high density polyethylene (HDPE) and corrugated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes are the preferred standards for drainage pipes [13,39]
Summary
The importance of adequate drainage of agricultural lands has long been recognized, given the fact that drainage is probably as old as agriculture itself, dating from antiquity. In the second case (subsurface drainage), the removal of excess water from the root zone is achieved by lowering the groundwater level and it is accomplished by means of open ditches, by tube drains or by a combination of both At first, this technique was called “tile drainage” because cylindrical tiles were laid end to end in a trench. This review study is organized as follows: Section 1 is an introductory one; Sections 2–4 present the evolution of drainpipe materials, envelope technology, and installation technology through the centuries; Section 5 refers to the drainage system design/installation effects on drain-water quality; Section 6 addresses the alternative drainage technique to control waterlogging and salinity and in particular, biodrainage; Section 7 deals with the general observations about how drainage has evolved and its importance to agricultural production
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