How Many Catch Can Measurements Are Required to Evaluate the Hydraulic Performance of Drip Irrigation Systems?

Drip irrigation is an effective water-saving technology that reduces water and energy consumption when adequately designed and managed. This study evaluated the hydraulic performance of a drip irrigation system under field conditions at the Sylhet Agricultural University research farm. The system was tested under three operational conditions: 1/2 th of the lines open at a time, 1/3 th of the lines open at a time, and 1/6 th of the lines open at a time. The key performance indicators, including average flow rate, standard deviation, emitter discharge variation, and efficiency metrics, were analyzed using field data. The results indicated that operating one-sixth of the lines only provided the best hydraulic performance set by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers standards. The coefficient of manufacturer’s variation, emission uniformity, emitter flow variation, uniformity coefficient, distribution efficiency, and application efficiency were 0.11, 85%, 30%, 89%, 90%, and 82%, respectively. These findings highlight the potential of drip irrigation in enhancing irrigation uniformity, optimizing water use, and improving agricultural productivity, particularly for dry season vegetable farming. The study emphasizes the importance of proper system design and operation to achieve maximum efficiency and sustainability. Implementing drip irrigation can contribute to water conservation, food security, and increased farmer income by maximizing yield with available water resources.

The co-application of water, fertilizer, and air is a new water-saving irrigation method based on drip irrigation technology, which can effectively alleviate the phenomenon of soil rhizosphere hypoxia, improve water and fertilizer utilization efficiency, and inhibit the clogging of irrigation equipment in drip irrigation systems. The performance of drip irrigation systems is one of the important factors affecting the effectiveness of the co-application of water, fertilizer, and air. However, the impact of factors such as the aeration method, fertilization device, and working parameters on the performance of drip irrigation systems for the co-application of water, fertilizer, and air is still unclear. Therefore, based on two typical aeration methods, i.e., micro-nano and Venturi aeration, the performance of a drip irrigation system under the co-application of water, fertilizer, and air was studied by comparing and analyzing the effects of different aeration methods, working pressures of the drip irrigation system, and the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of fertilizer irrigation on the spatial distribution uniformity of water, fertilizer, and air in the drip irrigation pipeline network. The results showed that the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of fertilization irrigation had no significant impact on system performance, while the working pressure significantly affected system performance. Compared with the effective effect of Venturi aeration on system performance, micro-nano aeration can significantly affect drip irrigation system performance and effectively improve drip irrigation system performance. The micro-nano-aerated drip irrigation system with the co-application of water, fertilizer, and air under a working pressure of 0.1 MPa has better system performance. The research results are of great significance for revealing the mechanism underlying the impact of the co-application of water, fertilizer, and air on the performance of drip irrigation systems and constructing efficient drip irrigation technology for the co-application of water, fertilizer, and air.

The performances of drip irrigation systems used by farmers engaged in tomato cultivation were measured in the study. For this purpose, the technical performance of some drip irrigation systems in the villages of Ankara province Ayaş district in the Central Anatolia Region was measured. To measure the performance of drip irrigation systems, 4 lateral drip points on each manifold and 4 dripper points on each lateral were selected. In the study, the Application Efficiency (Ea) 29,5-63,6%, Uniformity Coefficient (CU) 81,4-94,3%, Distribution Uniformity (DU) 62.8-91.4%, Emission Uniformity (EU) 58,4-87,7%, Actual Application Efficiency of Lower Quarter (AELQ) 33,4%- 61,2% and Potential Application Efficiency of Lower Quarter (PELQ) 52,5-78,9% was determined. According to the findings obtained in the research, it was determined that there were design problems in the system in all tested areas.

The study was conducted to evaluate the hydraulic performance of drip irrigation system with four emission devices viz dripper, micro-tube, drip-in and drip tape. The different hydraulic measures viz uniformity coefficient. emission uniformity, coefficient of variation and coefficient of manufacturing variation at different spacing and at different operating pressure head were determined by measuring discharge of different emission devices. At a particular spacing, the uniformity coefficient and emission uniformity increased while coefficient of variation decreased as the operating pressure head increased for all emission devices. The coefficient of manufacturing variation was lowest for micro-tubes and highest for drip tape. The suitability/unsuitability of different emission devices was discussed. The micro-tube was not suitable for close spacing. A computer software for hydraulic performance evaluation of drip irrigation system was also developed.

Drip irrigation is widely used in a range of different farming systems. Farmers generally adapt drip irrigation systems to their specific conditions. Irrigation performance is usually related to the hydraulic parameters of drip irrigation, and is usually expressed as a single static value. We developed a comprehensive approach to account for irrigation performance as a dynamic process, which evolves continuously due to changes in the way farmers schedule irrigation and renew irrigation equipment. The performance of drip irrigation systems used for greenhouse horticulture was evaluated in south‐east Algeria in the 2012–2013 growing season. Two indicators were evaluated—distribution uniformity and water stress level. The approach was applied to 25 greenhouses owned by 13 farmers. Results revealed that the performance of drip irrigation systems is a dynamic process. We showed that farmers have integrated certain irrigation performance indicators such as distribution uniformity and water stress levels in their practices, as they have visible effects on crop production. Conversely, the relative irrigation supply does not directly interest the farmers, and was consequently not incorporated in their irrigation practices. We conclude that measuring drip irrigation performance must be accompanied by a broader understanding of the farming systems in which drip irrigation is used. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The experiment was conducted during 2018 in the greenhouse of the Horticulture Department of the Ministry of Production and Economic Resources, Kassala State, Kassala, to evaluate the effect of fertigation methods on hydraulic performance of drip irrigation system under greenhouse conditions. Drip irrigation system including fertigation units was installed. Four types of fertigators viz: ordinary closed tank, venturi, centrifugal pump and new method (simple way) were tested for efficiency and uniformity of drip irrigation system compared to drip irrigation without fertigation as standard method. Each type of fertigation was tested for 30 minutes. Treatments were arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The results showed that the highest values of field emission uniformity and absolute emission uniformity were recorded under centrifugal pump, the new method compared to venturi and closed tank. The best values of uniformity coefficient and distribution uniformity were recorded under new method and centrifugal pump compared to venturi and closed tank. The highest value of application efficiency was recorded under new method while the lowest under closed tank.

In this study, a field evaluation was performed for the drip irrigation system. The results indicate that the average Christiansen's coefficient of uniformity (CU) for the drip up-stream of the plot system had a coefficient of uniformity (CU) value of 97.0% while the drip mid-stream was next with 96.0% and the least was the drip down-stream of 76.0% of (CU). Hence, the systems performed well. The average soil infiltration rate observed was 160.25 mm/ h. The crop water productivity of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) grown under drip irrigation was determined as 22.31 kg/m3 for the mid-stream, followed by 21.98 kg/m3 for the up-stream and down-stream was the least of 16.48 kg/m3.

This study was carried out to evaluate the performance of drip irrigation systems on the production of okra (Hibiscus esculentus) in southwestern, Nigeria. Application of water to crops in an area of scarcity of water is very important to meet the food demand of the ever-increasing population and modified irrigation techniques that can assist the okra farmers to have affordable irrigation systems that will get them great yields at the end of the season was evaluated in this paper. A field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research farm of Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering Department, School of Engineering Technology, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado, Ekiti - State, Nigeria. The field area of 150 mby 400 m was properly cleared, stumped, ploughed and harrowed. The topography of the land was flat with its suitable soil structure, texture, retention capacity and loamy clay soil. The cultivated area of land was divided into three and on each experimental plot, high yield and disease resistant okra variety seeds obtained from a research institute (IITA) were carefully selected and planted at a regular interval of 0.6 m. Drip laterals were laid in between rows of okra plants with inline drippers at a spacing of 20 cm. The parameters measured include okra seed germination, plant height, stem girth, number of leaves and yield production. The study also includes soil properties, crop water requirement and crop water use efficiency. There were no significant difference in the okra agronomic parameters at each experimental plots under drip irrigation system. The water applied to crop was greater than the actual crop water requirement and the efficiency of the drip irrigation was 68.5%. There is high in seed germination percentage in with 3.5%, 3.6% and 3.8% at each experimental plot respectively. The selected okra agronomic parameters showed that okra performed very well under drip irrigation systems. Based on the results, water application through drip irrigation has a positive impact on growth and vegetative development of okra.

The drip irrigation process has been designed to reduce water losses, and to combine irrigation, with the supply of fertilizers. However, in drip irrigation systems, the clogging of emitters is a major problem that significantly reduces the performance of drip irrigation systems. The water used in these systems is generally loaded with suspended matter, which might cause clogging of the emitters. This work was carried out in order to evaluate the clogging rate in three different types of emitters with roughly similar flow rates, tested in an experimental drip irrigation system, using water pumped from the Sebou River. Thus, a compensating‐pressure emitter named E1 and two non‐compensating‐pressure emitters named E2 and E3 were tested. Each dripper was subjected to 112 irrigations, which lasted 397 h and were spread over a period of 2 months. To evaluate the hydraulic performance of the emitters, the following three coefficients were used to measure the effect of clogging: (i) the variation of the flow ratio (Dra), which reflects the degree of clogging; (ii) the emission uniformity coefficient (EU); and (iii) the Christiansen uniformity coefficient (CU). No emitters became completely clogged during the experiment. However, as the clogging rate increased, the average flow rates measured in some emitters at the end of the test had decreased by 89% compared to the initial flow rates. During the experiment, flow fluctuations were observed during the evolution of the clogging, which could come from a partial recovery of flow.

Agriculture is the main contributor of the Ethiopian economy as it accounts for about 55% of the GDP, 60% of the foreign exchange earnings and provides livelihood to 85% of the population. The field experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of drip irrigation systems werer agricultural research station, middle awash, Ethiopia. Middle awash is largest irrigated part of the country. It is well gifted with the land, sunshine and highly fortune in available water resources. Drip irrigation has greater water economy over other systems in arid and semi-arid regions characterized by high evaporation rates and it has the potential to increase yields of crops even with reduced irrigation water application. The performance of drip irrigation system was evaluated on the basis of parameters like emitter flow variation (q_var), distribution uniformity (DU), application uniformity (Ea), coefficient of variation (CV), statistical uniformity (SU) and Christiansen uniformity coefficient (UCC). High values of uniformity coefficient and uniformity of distribution are attributed to the effect land levelling. The hydraulic performance of drip irrigation result shows the emitter flow variation (0.07%), emission uniformity (92.2%), coefficient of variation (0.07%), Christiansen uniformity coefficient (90.8) and application efficiency of (85%).

O café representa a principal fonte de renda dos produtores rurais de São Roque do Canaã, porém o município apresenta restrição hídrica ao cafeeiro devido à baixa e irregular distribuição de chuvas. Fato que implica na adoção de sistemas de irrigação para suprir as exigências hídricas do cafeeiro, onde é utilizado principalmente do tipo localizada por gotejamento. Porém, identifica-se a ausência de limpeza, manutenção e avaliações nestes sistemas de irrigação, o que reduz a eficiência e uniformidade de aplicação de água. Diante do exposto, objetivou-se com a realização deste trabalho, avaliar o desempenho de sistemas de irrigação localizada por gotejamento no município de São Roque do Canaã, visando determinação da uniformidade e eficiência de aplicação de água. Foram avaliados sistemas de irrigação em dez propriedades no município. Com base nos resultados obtidos, foram determinados e classificados o Coeficiente de Uniformidade de Christiansen (CUC), o Coeficiente de Uniformidade de Distribuição (CUD), Coeficiente de Uniformidade Estatística (Us) e Eficiência de aplicação (Ea). Os sistemas de irrigação localizada por gotejamento apresentaram baixa uniformidade de aplicação de água, sendo necessário que algumas práticas de manutenção preventiva e corretiva sejam adotadas para que os sistemas operem com maior uniformidade, e em consequência, com maior eficiência no uso da água.

Innovative technology that uses ultrasonic sound to clean drip pipes was developed to embrace the efficiencies offered by drip irrigation in order to preserve precious water resources and to get a return on the investment. The technology known as Greendrum technology uses only sound for cleaning and maintenance of drip irrigation pipes. It uses ultrasonic sound in a small body of water to effectively and quickly clean drip irrigation lines and pipes with ease. It is environmentally friendly and does not use any chemicals.Through testing by the Agricultural Research Council–Institute for Agricultural Engineering (ARC‐IAE), results were obtained and analysed that gave some insight into the performance of drip irrigation systems under field conditions and how effective the cleaning process of the Greendrum technology was.There was a tendency that the emission uniformity (EU) and coefficient of variation (CV) as measured in the field of all the dripper types, deteriorated over time.Greendrum dripline cleaning machine results showed that there was a 73% positive change in the CV of the dripper line from a bad CV of 10.6% to an excellent CV of 2.85%. As the drippers could not be cleaned in any other way, the Greendrum ultrasonic sound way was extremely effective and totally restored the drippers. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

There are some pressurized irrigation projects launched in Ethiopia. Yet, there are no more research works on the performance evaluation of pressurized irrigation systems because of researchers believe that pressurized system has good performance. But practically, it is not true especially in developing countries such as Ethiopia, which has poor water resource management system. So to fill this gap, this research was studied on performance evaluation of Hormat Golina– 4 drip irrigation systems in Kobo Girana Valley. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of Kobo Girana pressurized irrigation, specifically Hormat Golina-4 drip irrigation. The emitter discharge and soil moisture content were collected from seven experimental plots fields. The emitter flow was collected by using a total of 63 catch cans, 9 catch can per plot area and measured by using graduated cylinder. Hydraulic performance indicators such as application efficiency (Ea), irrigation adequacy (Pa), equity performance (PE), dependability performance (PD), delivery performance ratio (DPR) and distribution uniformity characteristics; percent of clogged emitters (Pc), emission uniformity (EU), emitter flow rate variation (qvar), coefficient of variation (Cv) and uniformity coefficient (Uc) were evaluated accordingly. The average values of the above discussed parameters in the scheme were found that Ea (61.41%), Pa (41.52%), PE (0.33), PD (0.23), DPR (2.21), Pclog (33.33%), EU (47.71%), pvar (71.03%), CV (45.31%) and UC (53.42%), respectively. Results showed that the overall performance level of Hormat Golina – 4 drip irrigation systems is low and poor.KeywordsPerformanceEvaluationPressurized irrigationDrip systemKobo GiranaHormat Golina –4

This study was conducted at Laman Sayur, Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS), to investigate the hydraulic performance of a small-scale drip irrigation system. The modelling was carried out using EPANET software to understand how the drip irrigation system is operated. Model results show that the errors are small, i.e., 2.2% and 3.0% for pressures, and 1.7% for discharge in lateral pipe 1 and lateral pipe 2. The root mean square error (RMSE) and the mean bias error (MBE) for discharge were recorded at 0.04 L/h and 0.03 L/h for lateral pipe 1 and 0.04 L/h and 0.02 L/h for lateral pipe 2. RMSE and MBE for pressure were recorded at 0.61 m and 0.68 m for lateral pipe 1, and 0.79 m and 0.68 m for lateral pipe 2, respectively. These results show that the model yields good performance. For hydraulic performance, the field measurement was conducted with four operating pressures: P1 (15.3), P2 (20.4), P3 (25.5), and P4 (28.6) meters. The hydraulic parameters evaluated were the coefficient of uniformity (CU), the emission uniformity (EU), the coefficient of variation (CV), and the emitter flow variation (EFV). The operating pressure during the measurement is constant according to the specified pressure. The results show that CU, CV, and EU are in the excellent classification, and values of CU and EU have more than 95% efficiency. The value for CV is below 0.03, which is excellent. The EFV is 10% when operating at 25.5 m and 15.3 m and is considered desirable. On the other hand, for the 28.6 m and 15.3 m operating pressures, the EFV parameters were recorded at 13.6% and 10.29%, respectively, and are classified acceptable. This study concluded that the operating pressures, P2 (20.4 m) and P3 (25.5 m), were performed under excellent classification for all hydraulic parameters evaluated. Based on the outputs from the model, it is inferred that the existing drip irrigation system at Laman Sayur MAEPS is operated in an over-powered state. With the current pump power consumption, the irrigation system could be operated at a minimum of four times the capacity of the existing irrigation system. To reduce the power consumption, it is suggested that the system is operated at a lower pumping power. This would minimize the operating costs especially for the development of a new drip irrigation system that has the same capacity as the drip irrigation system that is currently being operated at Laman Sayur, MAEPS Serdang.

Introduction: An appropriate water resources management and planning is necessary due to the scarcity of water resources and rapidly growing world population. In this regard, selecting appropriate methods for irrigation is one of the most important issues. Drip irrigation is a recent advanced irrigation method in which fertilizers can be efficiently applied along with irrigation water. Drip fertigation, however, can potentially cause clogging of emitters. Various factors such as clogging increase manufactures’ coefficient of variation and water temperature and pressure changes could alter emitter discharge and water distribution uniformity. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of fertigation on clogging of emitters and the performance of drip irrigation systems. Materials and Methods: This study was performed as a laboratory experiment at the University of Zabol. The experiment was done in the form of factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications in the hydraulics laboratory, the University of Zabol. The first factor was fertilizer type including: F0 (control), F1 (ammonium nitrate) and F2 (urea) and the second factor was the emitter types including one-nozzle on line (A), six-nozzles in line (B) and eight-nozzles on line (C). The tap water was used for irrigation. The system included 9 laterals, 3 m each with 18 emitters on each lateral. Fertilizer solution with known concentrations of 0.08 grams per liter was entered into the system from a plastic tank. Fertilizer tank was covered to avoid water evaporation even in a small amount. The experiment lasted for 60 days with 12 operating hours per day. The emitter discharge was measured every three days at the end of day. In order to evaluate the degree of emitter clogging, the percentages of discharge reduction (Qt), Christiansen’s coefficient of uniformity (CU), distribution uniformity (DU) and discharge coefficient of variations (Vm) were calculated as follows: (1) (2) (3) (4) where qa, qm and qt are the average, primary and secondary emitter discharges (L/hrs), respectively, qi is the individual emitter discharge (L/hrs), Sm is the standard deviation of discharge (L/hrs) and n is the number of measurements. Results and Discussion: The results indicated that both fertilizer and emitter type have significant effect on reduction of emitter discharge and distribution uniformity as well as on increase of emitter coefficient of variation. The Duncan test for comparing means showed that the A type emitters had the highest clogging while the B type emitters had the lowest clogging. The percentages of discharge reduction for emitters A, B and C were about 18, 24 and 22, respectively, for treatment F0 (control); 24, 39 and 30 for treatment F1; and 34, 44 and 32 for treatment F2. The results indicated that the emitter clogging increases with altering fertilizer from F0 to F2. F2 (urea fertilizer) had the worse effect on emitter clogging than F1 (ammonium nitrate fertilizer) which could be due to more nitrate produced by urea fertilizer. Also, the results showed that the emitter clogging and discharge coefficient of variation are increased by increasing the elapsed time. Urea and ammonium nitrate fertilizers are hydrolyzed in water and partly converted to nitrate, which is consumed by algae and other microorganisms causing slime accumulation. Bacterial slimes can be a direct cause of clogging for emitters. Conclusion: According to the results, both fertilizer and emitter types may significantly change the hydraulic properties of emitters. The smallest clogging belonged to emitter of type A when fertilizer F0 was applied as it results in discharge reduction of 18.44%. The largest clogging belonged to emitter of type B when fertilizer F2 was applied (discharge reduction was about 44%). In general, it could be said that fertigation may influence emitter discharge depending on fertilizer treatments (e.g. fertilizer type and concentration), water properties and emitter type. The clogging problems must be attended more specifically as it may reduce farmers’ willingness for drip irrigation implementation and makes them do surface irrigation which may result in more water losses. This study showed that the quality of water used in drip fertigation increases the clogging made by fertilizer application. So, the quality of irrigation water should be investigated every few days. The use of nitrogen fertilizer may cause biological clogging of emitters, so when such fertilizer are used, the type of emitter should be considered.