Performance Of Drip Irrigation Research Articles

Relative performance of drip irrigation in comparison to conventional methods of irrigation in Indian mustard (<i>Brassica juncea</i>) in south-west Haryana

Application of water directly to the root zone through micro-irrigation system can reduce the water, fertilizer and labour requirements by improving their availability and use-efficiency. An experiment was conducted during winter (rabi) seasons of 2019–20 and 2020–21 at the research farm of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Regional Research Station, Bawal, Haryana to study the relative performance of drip irrigation in comparison to conventional methods of irrigation in Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.]. The experiment consisted 7 treatments, viz. two irrigations through flooding (as per state recommendation) at flowering and siliqua formation stage; two irrigations through sprinkler at flowering and siliqua formation stage; three irrigations through sprinkler at flowering, siliqua formation and seed development stage; and 6, 8, 10 and 12 split irrigations were applied from 30 days after sowing (DAS) through drip at 12, 9, 7 and 6 days interval, respectively. Volume of irrigation water under each treatment was same as under recommended practice of two flood irrigations (120 mm). Irrigation applied through drip at 6 days interval in 12 splits and at 7 days interval in 10 splits produced statistically similar seed yield to each other (22.51 and 21.94 q/ha, respectively) and significantly higher than recommended irrigation practice (18.92 q/ha) and sprinkler method of irrigation (18.62 and 19.32 q/ha) during 2019–20. The irrigation through drip in 12 splits (10 mm each) at an interval of 6 days between 30 to100 days after sowing also recorded the highest irrigation water-use efficiency (IWUE) (188 and 181 kg/ha-cm in 2019–20 and 2020–21, respectively). Based on these findings, it can be suggested to apply irrigation in Indian mustard through drip in 12 splits (10 mm depth each) at an interval of 6 days between 30 to100 DAS to get higher yield and water use efficiency.

System Performance Evaluation for Tea Plants Replacing Sprinkler with Drip Irrigation using Water Uniformities in Dooars, India

Tea gardens are facing water scarcity; moreover, their irrigation utilises overhead sprinklers, which lack uniformities and controlled irrigation methods. Evaluating the performance of drip irrigation is an important research area for better water resources management. To address these issues different drip irrigation methods have been experimented with having different combinations of drippers. Two plots are online drip systems while the other two are inline systems operated at the same pressure on water application uniformity while other conditions remain similar. Earlier studies witnessed experimentation of drip irrigation with only the same emitter flow. While in this research, the uniformity coefficient, emission uniformity and performance index are calculated. It is found that due to various dripper discharges and systems the water application significantly changes. Extreme values of discharge variation of the emitters were observed during field operations under the same pressure and length of laterals. From the evaluation of the uniformities and investment cost, the performance of an inline system with a 4 lph dripper at 60 cm with 1-m lateral spacing is found to be the best model for tea irrigation under the specified conditions. Later stage and further research efforts should be aimed at the findings of the efficiencies and yield response of tea under the four drip systems.

Salinity threshold of desalinated saline water used for drip irrigating: The perspective of emitter clogging

High energy consumption of desalinated saline water (DSW) caused a bottleneck, hindering the application of DSW drip irrigation in agriculture. In fact, the appropriate salinity level for agriculture drip irrigation could be much higher than potable water. Therefore, new desalination technology (e.g. capacitive deionization, blended desalinated water), owing its low energy consumption and meet the target salinity threshold removal according to crop requirements, has attracted extensive attentions. However, the DSW target salinity threshold may drastically increase the risk of emitter clogging, and reduce the operational performance of drip irrigation systems. Thus, this study assessed the DSW salinity threshold from the perspective of emitter clogging. The results suggested that the DSW salinity threshold should be kept below 5 g/L to maintain the favorable anti-clogging performance of drip irrigation. Emitter clogging was increased gradually between the salinity 1–5 g/L, while, sharped increase was observed at salinity above 5 g/L. Compared with 5 g/L, the treatments 7–9 g/L, significantly increased calcium fouling (12.5–26.4 mg/cm−2) and silica fouling (5.3–11.9 mg/cm−2), which could be attributed to, the rapid increase of calcium sulfate and calcium phosphate, and the key water quality parameter i.e. Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations, which greatly enhance the flocculation between silica particles and accelerated the polymerization of silicon. Furthermore, 7–9 g/L treatments aggravated the synergistic interactions among calcium fouling and silica fouling. Overall, these findings would provide a new perspective for DSW salinity threshold selection, with potential implications for sustainable development of agriculture water desalination.

Pilot electrochemical prevention of reclaimed water irrigation clogging: Function interactions and microbial metabolism

Clogging is a critical issue for unconventional water irrigation. Here, we report an in situ pilot electrochemical device to efficient prevent and control clogging induced from a reclaimed water drip irrigation system. The low-voltage electrochemical up-flow reactor (905 L) was connected with a drip irrigation performance test platform setting up light and heavy clogging degrees for the continuous operation over 624 h. The fluctuation of water quality indicators (pH, alkalinity, hardness, Cl−) displayed positive treatment effect on chemical clogging, and the sterilization rate was as high as 98.42%. Treated water circulated the whole system that maintained a discharge ratio variation (Dra) of 84.7%, and Christiansen uniformity coefficient (CU) of 95.4% in light clogging meanwhile recovered 32.5% and 14.9% in heavy clogging, respectively. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) revealed interactions between water quality indices and microorganisms in reclaimed water. Especially, Cl− was closely related to microorganisms at the initial stage (<336 h) while pH and alkalinity occupied an obvious effect at the 672 h. In addition, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database systematically reflected the metabolic shift of planktonic cells under electrochemical treatment, further revealing antimicrobial and antifouling mechanisms of bio-clogging. Downregulation of biosynthesis of oxidative phosphorylation, ABC transporters and ribosomes indicated the gradually reduced cytoactive of microorganisms. The dramatic downregulation of cell motility evidenced the weakened ability of cells to translocate onto a solid substrate surface.

Performance of Drip Irrigation at Werer, Middle Awash, Ethiopia

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%).

INNOVATIONS IN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN AFRICA†

INNOVATIONS IN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN AFRICA^†

THE BLIND ANGLE: PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF DRIP IRRIGATION IN USE IN A LARGE‐SCALE IRRIGATION SCHEME IN MOROCCO

AbstractThe need for lasting returns on the large investment in state‐sponsored drip irrigation projects and the ambitious objectives aimed to achieve requires thorough and continuous assessment of the performance of irrigation systems in use. However, few studies have evaluated the performance of systems once they have been installed, leading to overestimation of actual drip irrigation performance. This study focuses on the Tadla Irrigation Scheme, where a 10 000‐ha drip irrigation project had two objectives: improving water productivity and reducing pressure on groundwater resources. The results of the study show a satisfactory but progressively declining distribution uniformity at field level, after 3–4 years of functioning, pointing to potential dysfunction if the equipment is not renewed. The current over‐irrigation of crops results in hefty water bills and debts of farmers, no water savings at the field scale, some savings at the scheme scale, but increased tension concerning water delivery. Farmers continued to use groundwater after converting to drip irrigation to avoid surface water shortage. The challenge is to ensure that groundwater is only tapped in exceptional cases to avoid overexploitation. The first step is ensuring more efficient irrigation practices, underlining the need for continuous performance assessment. © 2019 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Using the step by step models to evaluate field application uniformity of subsurface drip irrigation systems

Compared to other irrigation methods, drip irrigation systems (DI) are considered one of the most efficient form of irrigation. Subsurface drip irrigation allowed reducing water losses by evaporation, runoff, and deep percolation comparing to other irrigation systems supplying water on soil surface. Field evaluation of Uniformity of water applications and its stability, however, are still a matter of controversy and deserve more investigation, since the collection of water discharged needs to excavate the soil around the emitters. Experiments carried out at the Department of Rural and Agrifood Engineering of Polytechnic University of Valencia allowed describing a methodology to assess the performance of drip irrigation through hydraulic characterizations and an emission uniformity coefficient, using the step by step models. Calculations evidenced that operating pressures on emitters ranged between 127.6 kPa and 131.7 kPa, whereas the corresponding flow rates varied from 4.00 L/h and 4.07 L/h, with an average value of 4.02 L/h. Variability in the emitters’ flow rate resulted very limited due to the short length of the lateral (25.6 m). However, more attention should be paid to this for a longer field dimensions. Consequently, the value of emission uniformity coefficient was equal to 96.3%, testifying the uniform water distribution within the sub-plot.

Discharging Performance in Length of Hard Labyrinth and Pressure of Cylinder Type Drip Irrigation Hose

The performance of drip irrigation devices depends on flow uniformity related to the function of pressure compensation. The flow uniformity can be secured when the internal fluid pressures at the positions of the flow holes are maintained uniformly. The pressure compensation effect of the drip irrigation devices can be optimized with the combination of soft silicon and labyrinth structures. However, for a drip irrigation devices composed of only hard labyrinth structures, the flow rate is changed largely with the length and the internal geometry of the labyrinth structure. Although a drip irrigation devices with only hard labyrinth structures can be fabricated simply, the changes of flow rates with internal fluid pressures are much larger than those of the drip irrigation devices with soft silicon. Because the drip irrigation devices with only labyrinth structures can be utilized widely through the optimization of the fluid pressure, the length of the structures, and the cross-sectional area of them, the study on the optimization can play an important role for enhancing the performance of the drip irrigation devices. In this study, experimental and numerical studies for investigating the performance of the drip irrigation devices had been conducted. In the experiments and numerical calculations(CFD), the variable parameters were the lengths of the labyrinth structures(#1~#8) and the fluid pressures(0.5~3.0 bar).

Connecting Drip Irrigation Performance to Farmers’ Practices: The Case of Greenhouse Horticulture in the Algerian Sahara

AbstractDrip 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 &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Influence of drip irrigation on soil moisture content, water requirement and water use efficiency of peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.) cv. Redhaven

A field experiment was conducted during the year 2015–2016 at Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India, to study the comparative performance of drip irrigation and basin irrigation on soil moisture content, water requirement and water use efficiency of peach cv. Redhaven. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized block design with five treatments viz. drip irrigation at 100% ETc, 80% ETc, 60% ETc, basin irrigation at 100% ETc and rainfed (control) and each treatment were replicated five times. The results suggested that trees irrigated with drip irrigation at 100% ETc recorded highest average soil moisture content (23.09 and 23.25%, during 2015 and 2016, respectively), followed by trees irrigated with basin irrigation at 100% ETc, in comparison to other drip irrigation treatments and control. The total quantity of irrigation water applied per tree was maximum (76.35 and 96.64 cm during 2015 and 2016, respectively) in trees subjected to drip and basin irrigation at 100% ETc treatment in comparison to control and the highest total water requirement (93.23 and 108.78 cm/tree) was in trees subjected to basin irrigation at 100% ETc treatment in comparison to control. However, the maximum water-use-efficiency (0.15 and 0.20 Kg/tree/cm during 2015 and 2016, respectively) was found in trees irrigated with drip irrigation at 80% ETc and the minimum water-use-efficiency of 0.11 Kg/tree/cm was observed in control during the year 2015 and 0.14 Kg/tree/cm in trees irrigated with basin irrigation at 100% ETc.

Effect of drip and furrow irrigation on yield and physiological performance of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) cv. Chandler

A field trial was conducted during 2010 and 2011 to study the comparative performance of drip irrigation and conventional furrow irrigations on yield and physiological performance of strawberry. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with five irrigation treatments, viz., (T1) drip irrigation at 120 % ETc (crop evapotranspiration), (T2) drip irrigation at 100 % ETc, (T3) drip irrigation at 80 % ETc, (T4) drip irrigation at 60 % ETc and (T5) furrow irrigation with ‘V’ volume of water, and each treatment was replicated five times. The results revealed that drip irrigation at 120 % gave significantly higher fruit yield compared with drip irrigation at 80 and 60 % ETc and furrow irrigation. Similarly, the photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, number of stomata and size of stomata were higher in drip irrigation at 120 % ETc, followed by drip irrigation at 100 % ETc. Although the physiological performance was slightly better under 120 % ETc in comparison to 100 % ETc drip irrigation, but there was 16–30 % increase in yield in case of 100 % ETc irrigation treatment over furrow irrigations treatment. Besides drip irrigation at 100 % ETc also provided better physiological performance over furrow irrigation.

Performance of drip irrigation on growth and development of horticultural crop at Ranwadi water shed

The micro irrigation is one of the water saving method of irrigation being employed at large in various countries. Government of Maharashtra has given more emphasis to micro-irrigation system and adopting them on large scale to save water. Drip irrigation is a novel irrigation method in India. The advantage of drip irrigation is that liquid fertilizers can be added in the irrigation water. It also diminishes leaching of nutrients. The installation costs are too high for the production of most annual crops but the production of high value perennial crops is economically profitable. An experiment was conducted at Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Sindewahi, distt. Chandrapur, to study the performance of drip irrigation on growth and development of horticultural crops viz., mango, sapota and cashew nut at Ranwadi Water shed during the year 2002-03 to 2004-05. The result revealed the effect of drip irrigation treatment on growth and development of mango, sapota and cashew nut. It was found that the treatment 40 litres water day-1 plant-1through drip was found superior than all other other treatment in respect of height (30.33), canopy (1043) and diameter (2.92) stem of mango plant. In respect of sapota plant, treatment 60 litre waterday-1plant-1 was found satisfactorily superior in respect of height (28.4), canopy (787) and diameter (2.82) stem of sapota plant. In respect of cashew nut plant the treatment 60 litre of water alternate day-1 plant-1 were found statistically significant and they were at par in case of height (33.70), canopy (1341) and diameter (3.18) stem of Cashew nut plant.

English

The different parameters such as water, soil and climate have an important effect in the decision making and performance of pressurized irrigation systems. The underground and surface water resources in per region have no unique quality and quantity. The Kerman Plain, which has about 7500 km2, is located in the Kerman Province. The irrigation of this plain is done with using the underground water resources which are facing drop in the water level, due to over exploitation. Accordingly, the pressurized irrigation is suggested in order to the prevention of drop the loss trend and increasing irrigation efficiency. The aim of this research&nbsp;is to identify&nbsp;suitable lands for performance of pressurized irrigation system, with&nbsp;the help of remote&nbsp;sensing techniques and geography information&nbsp;system (GIS), in Kerman&nbsp;plain of southeast of Iran.&nbsp;In this research, 2 methods of site selection: logical overlay method &ndash;Boolean method- and Arithmetic overlay - proportion percent method are compared and evaluated. On the basis of Boolean site selection model 5% of desert lands for performance of sprinkle irrigation and 25% of lands for drip irrigation and on the basis of arithmetic overlay 15% of lands for performance of sprinkle irrigation and 20% of them for performance of drip irrigation reasonably were recognized. The comparison of these 2 methods with considering the condition of regions showed that arithmetic overlay site selection model is more suitable for recognizing the suitable zones for performance of pressurized irrigation systems. &nbsp; Key words: Pressurized irrigation, geography information system (GIS), boolean model, proportion percent model, site selection.

Making the user visible: analysing irrigation practices and farmers’ logic to explain actual drip irrigation performance

The actual performance of drip irrigation (irrigation efficiency, distribution uniformity) in the field is often quite different from that obtained in experimental stations. We developed an approach to explain the actual irrigation performance of drip irrigation systems by linking measured performances to farmers’ irrigation practices, and these practices to the underlying logic of farmers who operate these systems. This approach was applied to 22 farms in Morocco. Four sets of variables helped explain the gap between the actual irrigation performance and the performance obtained in experimental conditions: (1) farmers have agro-economic motivations or want to improve their social status, and for them, irrigation performance is at best an intermediate objective. (2) Irrigation performance is not a static value, but a rapidly evolving process, related to the (perceived) ability of farmers to change irrigation practices and renew irrigation equipment, but also to farmers’ aspirations. (3) The social network of farmers, supporting the introduction and use of drip irrigation, determines how farmers may share experience, information and know-how related to drip irrigation. (4) Today, there is no social pressure to irrigate carefully to save water; only the state explicitly links the use of drip irrigation to saving water. Making the drip user visible in research and policy studies would lead to more realistic assessments of irrigation performance and draw the attention of policy makers to the actual conditions in which drip irrigation is used, and as a consequence help incorporate ‘saving water’ as an objective for drip irrigation users.

Closure to “Assessing Pressure Changes in anOn-Demand Water Distribution System on Drip Irrigation Performance—CaseStudy in Italy” by A. Daccache, N. Lamaddalena, and U. Fratino

Closure to “Assessing Pressure Changes in anOn-Demand Water Distribution System on Drip Irrigation Performance—CaseStudy in Italy” by A. Daccache, N. Lamaddalena, and U. Fratino

Discussion of “Assessing Pressure Changes inan On-Demand Water Distribution System on Drip Irrigation Performance—CaseStudy in Italy” by A. Daccache, N. Lamaddalena, and U. Fratino

Discussion of “Assessing Pressure Changes inan On-Demand Water Distribution System on Drip Irrigation Performance—CaseStudy in Italy” by A. Daccache, N. Lamaddalena, and U. Fratino

Application of design theory for restoring the black beach degraded rangeland at the headwater areas of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Emitter clogging is one of the most important factors that affect the performances on drip irrigation systems. Emitter clogging, which is formed in a short time due to irrigation systems’ running under an inadequate pressure or owing to water quality, not only negatively influences uniformity of water distribution but also causes inadequate irrigation. In this survey, the clogging level determination of the emitters used in drip irrigation systems of some agricultural farms situated in Canakkale and their effects on irrigation performances were observed. The emitters were obtained from different farms in the investigated area, and were tested under the pressures of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 kPa in hydraulic laboratories. The clogging extend of emitters, flushing of clogging increased pressure and also performance values as coefficient of variation (Cv) under 100 kPa pressure, statistical uniformity (Us), emission uniformity (Eu) and Christiansen’s uniformity coefficient (Cu) were established through the tests. Acquired performance values must be matched with emitter performances that have not been used in irrigation. As a result of the study it was determined that some emitters are plugged on laterals used for 2 or 3 years in consequence of the tests. It as also determined that emitter coefficient of variation varied in the ranges of 0.43 and 0.63, 0.43 and 0.69, 0.48 and 0.58, 0.56 and 0.73 for unused emitters, for one year, for two years and for three years used emitters. Coefficient of variation between emitter flows remained within the limit of 5% in all laterals, except for one of the laterals used for one year. Coefficient of variation of emitters along two of the laterals used two years and all of those used three years remained out of 5% limitation. Similar results to CVm (manufacturing variation coefficient) were determined for performance parameters in respect of statistical uniformity (Us), emission uniformity (Eu) and Christiansen’s uniformity coefficient (Cu). Key words: Drip irrigation, emitter clogging, drip irrigation performance.

Assessing Pressure Changes in an On-Demand Water Distribution System on Drip Irrigation Performance—Case Study in Italy

The hydrant pressure head in an on-demand water distribution system can be subject to high fluctuation depending on the discharge flowing inside the pipes, with consequent impacts on the performance of on-farm irrigation systems. In this work, an Italian water distribution system was analyzed using the AKLA model at upstream discharges of 1,200 and 600 L⋅ s−1 to estimate the range of hydrant pressure variation. A computer model was developed, calibrated, and used to evaluate the performance of a drip irrigation system by relating the on-farm network with the hydrant characteristic curve at a certain operating status. The flow regulator within the hydrant played an important role in stabilizing the performance of the network at hydrant pressures higher than 27 m. At lower hydrant pressures, to apply the same amount of water, irrigation time must be extended by 17 and 95% for pressure heads of 20 and 12 m, respectively. These approaches described have great utility to ensure adequate irrigation management w...

Water Distribution in Laterals and Units of Subsurface Drip Irrigation. II: Field Evaluation

The performance of drip irrigation and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) laterals has been compared. Two emitter models (one compensating and the other noncompensating) were assessed. Field tests were carried out with a pair of laterals working at the same inlet pressure. A procedure was developed that recorded head pressures at both lateral extremes and inlet flow during irrigation. Both models showed similar behavior and soil properties affected their discharge. On the other hand, the performance of a field SDI unit of compensating emitters was characterized by measuring pressures at different points and inlet flow. Finally, the distribution of water and soil pressure in the laterals and the unit were predicted and irrigation uniformity and soil pressure variability were also determined. Predictions agreed reasonably well with the experimental observations. Thus, the methodology proposed could be used to support the decision making for the design and management of SDI systems.