The effect of irrigation uniformity on irrigation water requirements

Abstract

Irrigated agriculture is the largest user of water in South Africa. Due to the limited amount of water resources, the efficient and equitable use of water is of paramount importance. This can only be achieved through effective design, maintenance and management of irrigation systems. The uniformity with which an irrigation system applies water has an affect on the efficiency of the system. The uniformity of an irrigation system needs to be high to ensure that the majority of the crop receives an adequate amount of water. This is needed for fields to produce high yields and to have minimal nutrient loss due to deep percolation. The uniformity of application also plays an important role in determining water allocations and the gross amount of irrigation water to apply. The concept of uniformity and calculation thereof are presented in this paper. Results of research of the application uniformity of different irrigation systems in the sugar industry in five sugar-growing regions in South Africa will be discussed in this paper. From this study the average low-quarter distribution uniformity (DUlq) of centre pivot, dragline, micro-irrigation, floppy and semi-permanent sprinkler systems was 81.4%, 60.9%, 72.7%, 67.4%, and 56.9% respectively. The percentage of systems that had an excellent field condition DUlq was 100% for centre pivot, 15.4% for dragline, 30% for micro-irrigation, 0% for floppy, and 14.3% for semi-permanent sprinkler systems. Only three floppy irrigation systems were evaluated during this study, therefore the result for the percentage of systems with an excellent DUlq may not be representative of these systems in general. Irrigation systems that were well maintained and correctly operated generally had a high and acceptable DUlq. The average application efficiencies (AE) were 83.6% for centre pivot, 73.5% for dragline, 76.7% for floppy, and 78.9% for semi-permanent sprinkler systems. WaterSA Vol.28(2) 2002: 235-242