Optimization of furrow irrigation system design parameters considering drainage and runoff water quality constraints

Abstract

The design problem of furrow irrigation systems considering runoff and drainage water quality was formulated as an optimization problem, with maximization of net benefits as the objective. A power advance function with an empirically derived relationship between the furrow irrigation design variables and relative crop yield were used in the formulation. The generalized geometric programming technique was used to solve for the optimal values for the design variables that maximized the net benefits from a furrow irrigation system. The optimal efficiency for which the system must be designed under a given set of soil, crop, and economic conditions is not known in advance. In the design, the application efficiency was not specified a priori. It was an output from the optimal design. The analysis suggested that it might not be economical to design surface irrigation systems to achieve a high application efficiency that is specified a priori. In the absence of environmental degradation problems from irrigation, it may sometimes be profitable to design surface irrigation systems to operate at less than the standard application efficiency (55%–90%) that is routinely used in the design. Formulation of the design problem as an optimization problem would yield the optimal application efficiency that would maximize the net benefits to the farmer under any given set of conditions.