Pressurized Irrigation Systems Research Articles

How are vineyards management strategies and climate-related conditions affecting economic performance? A case study of Chilean wine grape growers

In wine grape production, growers decide between alternative management strategies of the vineyard that have direct consequences on competitiveness. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact on economic performance of four management strategies: training system, reserve quality production, irrigation method, and mechanization of labors. The data used in the study comes from face-to-face interviews to 336 wine grape growers of Central Chile, which was complemented with climatic variables retrieved from Geographic Information Systems. A log-log regression model of total value product (TVP) for the main variety grown in the vineyard was estimated, using production factors, vineyards’ attributes, management strategies and climate-related conditions as explanatory variables. An interesting contribution of this study is the identification of TVP functions for land, fertilizers, fungicides, other agrochemicals, labor, and age of vines. Our results show that the training system has the most impact on TVP, where tendone-trained vineyards demonstrated 63% higher TVP than those vertically trained when holding all other variables constant. Reserve quality production also has a positive effect on TVP, increasing it by 25% compared to vineyards producing varietal quality grapes. In contrast, the use of pressurized irrigation systems and mechanization in harvesting do not present a significant effect on TVP. The findings of this paper represent an advance in the understanding of the economic performance factors associated with wine grape growing and could serve to guide on-farm decisions and sectoral policies in pursuing the competitive development of wine grape growers.

Factors Influencing the Adoption of Pressurized Irrigation Systems in Hazelnut Production and Its Effect on the Water Footprint in the Çarşamba District of Samsun

Factors Influencing the Adoption of Pressurized Irrigation Systems in Hazelnut Production and Its Effect on the Water Footprint in the Çarşamba District of Samsun

Evaluation of Some Uniformity Coefficients for Pressurized Irrigation Systems under Field Conditions in Duhok Governorate (iraqi Kurdistan)

The study was conducted in May–October 2021 within the Duhok University, Iraq, the study was carried out on the land adjacent to the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, in the fields of the “Seajay” village latitude 360 55’ 28’’N, longitude 420 52’ 36’’E and 640 (m.a.s.l), the objective of the study was focus on evaluating different uniformity coefficients proposed on investigating the effects of run time and field conditions on the results obtained utilizing those coefficients, a layout of 144 m2 was designed according to the length of lateral lines, 36 catch cans were positioned in a grid of 2 m apart. determining water distribution efficiency affected by different weather conditions during two- daily runs (morning &evening), and two time periods (May & June-July 2021) under operating pressures of (1.0 - 2.0) bar and riser heights of (1.0 - 2 m), solid site sprinkler with a single nozzle type (5mm) was used. The water caught in Cans was subjected to a three-way (ANOVA) table using (LSD) test, the study concluded that riser heights of 1 m had the optimum (CU & DU%) at 2 bar (operating pressure) to reduce water losses, and the results showed that highly significant differences between the means of (CU & DU%) coefficients in (May 2021) at various run times (morning & evening), in time it was shown highly significant differences between the means of all parameters with (PELQ %) coefficients in the (June –July 2021) period. It is not suggested to run the sprinkler irrigation system at wind speeds of (2.6 - 3.6 ms-1)

Extended Assessment of Sprinkler Irrigation Uniformity in Greenhouses Using GIS and Hydraulic Modeling

Traditionally, distribution uniformity has been obtained by using rain gauges, which makes it a very expensive process. This paper sought to create a simulation strategy using QGIS and EPANET, both free software, that allowed the simulation of the water application results of all the emitters of an irrigation installation. In this way, it was possible to obtain the geospatial representation of the applied water and finally to know the distribution uniformity in the whole installation. The simulation finally fulfilled its objective and was compared with a study of distribution uniformity with rain gauges. The biggest difference between the measured and simulated data was a difference of 5.76% among the sectors. The simulated uniformity was very similar to the measured uniformity, which allowed us to affirm that the proposed simulation methodology was adequate. We believe that the methodology proposed in this article could be very useful in improving the management of sprinkler irrigation systems, particularly those in which distribution uniformity is of special importance. These improvements in management can also result in savings in water and other inputs, which are becoming increasingly important in the current context of climate change and the reduction in the impact of agriculture on the environment. Finally, similar studies could be carried out with the same tools for other pressurized irrigation systems, such as sprinkler irrigation outside greenhouses and drip irrigation.

Canopy-cooling systems applied on avocado trees to mitigate heatwaves damages

With climate change, spring heatwaves have become frequent in the Mediterranean region. High temperatures combined with wind and low humidity are problematic for subtropical crops adapted to high humidity and mild climate. Avocado is a valuable crop—nutritionally and economically—and many new orchards are planted in Mediterranean areas. Spring heatwaves increase avocado fruitlets dropping, severely decreasing yields. Addressing and solving the problem are necessary to maintain the crop's profitability. This study presents a sprinkler-based canopy cooling method that uses the existing pressurized irrigation system. The study aimed to test the system's performance during spring heatwaves, after the flowering season, in avocado orchards cultivated in a semi-arid region. The experiments examined the effect of various sprinkler types with varying flow rates and installation methods: sprayers, sprinklers and pulsing sprinklers, on foliage temperature, stem water potential, salt accumulation in the leaf, fruitlet survival and yield. The system reduced leaf temperatures by approximately 10 °C, significantly decreasing the trees' drought stress and increasing yields by 8–12%. Using low-quality water is possible, but requires adjustments to avoid salt damage to the leaves. The system can mitigate heat stress, and provides a relatively simple solution for handling spring heatwaves. The evaporative cooling system is modeled for semi-desert and desert conditions; the dry, windy climate contributes to the method's effectiveness.

Automation and control of a pressurized collective irrigation system based on fuzzy logic

Abstract In the irrigated agriculture sector, to increase productivity and profitability, it is necessary to increase efficiency in the use of water and electricity. Thus, the use of operational processes that maximize productivity in the sector, reducing water and electricity consumption, is essential for irrigation development. This work proposes developing an intelligent control system based on fuzzy logic to control the pressure and flow at the entrances to the plots of a collective pressurized irrigation system. The tests were carried out on an experimental bench that emulates an automated water distribution system installed in the Laboratory of Energy and Hydraulic Efficiency in Sanitation at the Federal University of Paraiba. The pressure was controlled by varying the frequency of the pump set, while the flow was controlled by varying the opening of the control valves upstream of the entrance of each of the plots. With the application of the proposed methodology, the system showed a reduction of 8.47% in water consumption and a 42.51% reduction in electricity consumption. The results were found to validate the use of the controller, indicating that the network could control the design flows and pressures with different set points.

Effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide treatments in preventing biofilm clogging in drip irrigation systems applying treated wastewater

The application of treated wastewater (TWW) via pressurized drip irrigation (DI) systems, specifically micro-irrigation, is an effective solution to mitigate water scarcity. TWW contains a higher concentration of nutrients and microbial activity compared to fresh water (FW) and poses a larger danger of fouling and subsequent clogging to DI systems. The goal of this paper was to characterize the effectiveness of chemical treatments, specifically hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in preventing clogging in DI systems utilizing secondary (ST) and tertiary (TT)_TWW. A novel field model was employed to compare the flow rate (FR), fouling accumulation and composition in laterals and emitters of different treatments. Under ST_TWW irrigation, control treatment performance quickly declined while regular low concentration H2O2 treatments exhibited the lowest amounts of fouling and maintained nominal FR and coefficient of variation (CV). Shock treatments, defined as periodical applications of concentrated chemicals combined with lateral flushing, were ineffective in maintaining satisfactory irrigation performance.

Application of gated conduits for fertigation in irrigation systems

Abstract Fertigation involves dissolving fertilizer in irrigation water, and requires uniform water distribution and fertilization. A gated conduit can be used to inject liquid fertilizers or chemicals into a pressurized irrigation system. When the conduit gate is partially opened, a vacuum draws the fluid from the suction pipe into the conduit. An experimental study was conducted to investigate the fluid-injection ratio of gated conduits, which was shown to be high. The density and viscosity of the fluid were the most important parameters affecting the fluid-injection ratio. That ratio increased with increasing Froude number. It decreased as the gate opening proportion increased and with increasing conduit length. A design formula related to the Froude number, and the fluid's density and viscosity is presented to enable estimation of the fluid-injection ratio.

How Surface Irrigation Contributes to Climate Change Resilience—A Case Study of Practices in Mexico

Climate change has brought increased temperatures and decreased rainfall on a global scale; however, population growth requires greater volumes of water and food each year that must be supplied in one way or another. In Mexico, application efficiencies in gravity irrigation are below 50%. Although in recent years the decision has been made to change to pressurized irrigation systems to increase the efficiency of water use, border or furrow irrigation is still the most widely used in agriculture. In this work, we show that with a methodology developed and applied in these systems, application efficiencies greater than 90% were obtained, while the Water Use Efficiency (WUE) increased by 27, 38 and 47% for the three crops where it was applied: sorghum, barley, and corn, respectively. Irrigation times per hectare and applied irrigation depths decreased by more than 30%, representing increased irrigation efficiencies and WUE. Finally, the water savings obtained can mitigate water scarcity in cities.

A deep learning model for mapping the perturbation in pressurised irrigation systems

Nowadays, the management of pressurised irrigation networks requires plenty of information to provide an efficient and reliable service to farmers. Perturbation is the propagation of pressure waves through the networks pipes which could expose the network to a serious risk that could cause components damaging. Several computational codes were developed to simulate such phenomenon. The most recent ones are efficient enough to provide a good image of the perturbation occurrence through different indicators, but they are time and computationally expensive. For real time decision making and more flexible management, there is a need for faster models to be developed. In this study the directly programmed models were used as big data generators to train a developed deep learning model. This approach was applied on a pressurised on-demand irrigation system located in south of Italy that consists of 19 hydrants (service outlets) and covers 57 ha. Two thousand configurations (operational scenarios) were simulated using a predeveloped directly programmed model and fed to train a deep learning model with the objective of forecasting the maximum pressure occurred due the perturbation at each section. The occurred pressure is represented as classes according to the case sensitivity and the required precision. In the present work, scenarios for 1, 2 and 3 bars steps were simulated. The model proved to be significantly time saving compared to previous approaches as the results are produced instantaneously with a forecasting accuracy of 85 %. Furthermore, from the called confusion matrix, the error committed by the model is of one class lower or higher that may be considered tolerable according to the system sensitivity. Thus, modelling the perturbation in the on-demand pressurised irrigation networks would add a significant contribution to provide practical recommendations for real-time decision-making processes.

Effects of Different Nozzle Orifice Shapes on Water Droplet Characteristics for Sprinkler Irrigation

In common irrigation systems, sprinklers are mounted with circular nozzles, but innovative noncircular nozzles can save water and energy by improving fragmentation in a low–intermediate pressure irrigation system. In order to investigate the effects of nozzle orifice shapes (circular, square, and equilateral triangular) on droplet characteristics, experiments using high-speed photography and water droplet spectrum measurement were performed. Using ImageJ to observe with the overlapped droplets and using the self-compiled programs of MATLAB to observe the morphology of droplets, we extracted the outlines of droplets. In addition, several empirical formulas for the prediction of droplets were obtained by way of a regression analysis of the experimental data. In particular, the shape coefficient of the nozzle orifice and the operating pressure of the nozzle were added to these formulas as variable factors to make them applicable to a variety of nozzles and working conditions. The results show that with the increase in shape coefficient, the jet atomization intensifies, and the droplets breaking from the jet will be dense and uniform. The velocity distribution of the droplets conforms to exponential functions (R2 > 0.7). The prediction formulas of diameter and kinetic energy were established with coefficients of determination exceeding 0.95. In low pressure conditions, the specific power multiplies at the end of spraying, and the maximum is proportional to the nozzle orifice coefficient. The impact-driven arm compensates for the disadvantage of the noncircular nozzles with the high irrigation-specific power, by producing a wider diameter gradient of droplets. Therefore, innovative sprinklers based on noncircular nozzles can be applied in a low–intermediate pressure system to increase water use efficiency, reduce energy consumption, and reduce costs.

Study on Wetted Soil Geometry of a Negative Pressure Irrigation (NPI) System

The limited water resource is a main constraint on agricultural production in arid and semi-arid regions like Saudi Arabia. The Negative Pressure Irrigation (NPI) is one of the attractive irrigation systems since it consumes less water, leads irrigated water down up to root zone, minimizes evaporation and prevents deep percolation than other traditional irrigation systems. The aim of this paper is to get information on the soil water dynamics, which is very essential for the design and operation of the NPI system. With this view, the water balance experiment was carried out in the NPI system for different time intervals for three different negative pressures ( Pn = -0.02m, -0.07m and -0.10m). After finishing the experiment, the dry soil was removed from the column to measure the configuration of wet soil. This geometry of wetted soil represents the soil water dynamics and the wetted soil volume represents the water stored in soil at different negative pressures and elapsed time. A good relationship was obtained between the wetted soil geometry, time and negative pressure. This study reveals that for a certain negative pressure and time interval, the depth, width and volume of wetted soil can be predicted.

Enhancement of Photovoltaic Pressurized Irrigation System Based on Hybrid Kalman Fuzzy

Enhancement of Photovoltaic Pressurized Irrigation System Based on Hybrid Kalman Fuzzy

Double Q-PI architecture for smart model-free control of canals

Nowadays, pressurized irrigation systems have been developing in farms to increase water use efficiency that are successful when the inflow is accurately supplied from water sources. In large irrigation networks, water conveyance and distribution systems are mainly open channels facing several uncertainties. Therefore, water delivery to farms is of the most important tasks that should be done accurately to supply sufficient water to pressurized irrigation farms, causing desired performance of pressurized systems. To this end, regulating structures within irrigation networks should be controlled. Artificial intelligence, as robust and new technology, has been employed for controlling complex systems in the industry. In this research, a new and robust algorithm, namely Double Q-PI (DQ-PI), was developed with the aim of water management in irrigation canals by controlling water depth. It uses a traditional Q-learning algorithm and a double update matrix to tune PI (Proportional-Integral) gains for controlling check gates. It improves its performance using the receiving signals from the irrigation canal model. The approach was tested using several scenarios and evaluated by standard performance indicators. The results showed acceptable accuracy and a reasonable ability in controlling water depth within the canal’s reaches. The maximum and average errors were 11.6% and 10.5%, respectively, resulting in significant improvement in water management. With this degree of accuracy at the canal level, the pressurized systems work properly, and the expected efficiency can be achieved.

Application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in a multi-criteria selection of agricultural irrigation systems

The integrated Structure-Actor-Water framework (iSAW) was used to develop a set of indicators to select an irrigation system according to its sustainability impact on agriculture. The analysis hierarchical process (AHP) was used to explore the views of 60 agricultural water stakeholders, such as specialists, extension experts, agricultural NGO staff, and farmers across Ardabil Province in Iran. Participants were selected using the snowball method and interviewed using a 42-item questionnaire to measure the relative importance of nine indicators for choosing the best irrigation system. The results reveal that (i) all groups of stakeholders preferred pressurized irrigation systems (PISs) (69%) with respect to agricultural sustainability; (ii) indicators of employment and income had a relative weight of.26, productivity.20, improved quality of life.16, and agricultural expansion.14, when it comes to making decisions regarding irrigation systems; and (iii) with the exception of specialists, the other participants - farmers, NGO staff, and extension experts - made similar decisions when choosing the best irrigation systems. The results show the usefulness of iSAW as a decision-making framework and the proposed methodological approach to decision-making concerning water issues in highlighting the socio-economic aspects that must be closely coordinated in order to meet sustainability objectives for the irrigated agriculture sector.

Adaptation of smallholder farmers to climate risks: Remittances and irrigation investment in the Republic of Moldova

Drought is one of the main limiting factors affecting crop production in many areas in the world. Pressurized irrigation systems enable more efficient use of water compared to surface irrigation systems but are rarely used by small farmers due to higher initial investment and energy costs. The main question investigated in the study is if remittances affect investment in pressurized irrigation (drip or sprinkler irrigation systems). A quantitative questionnaire survey was conducted among 234 small-scale farmers in the Republic of Moldova in 2016. The main result of the binary probit regression model revealed that remittances increased the likelihood of utilization of pressurized irrigation facilities in the study region. This study further contributes to a better understanding of factors that affect farmers’ adoption of pressurized irrigation systems. This knowledge helps policy makers and development organizations shape proper measures to increase the diffusion of this technology and thus the adaptation of smallholder farmers to climate risks. • The use of pressurized irrigation among small farmers is limited in the study area. • High investment and maintenance costs are unaffordable for the majority of farmers. • Remittances facilitate the adoption of pressurized irrigation infrastructure. • Remittances replace a not very well functioning credit market.

Evaluation of variable speed pumps in pressurized water distribution systems

In pressurized water distribution systems, a constant speed pump is often used because of its simplicity. However, constant speed pumps are not easily able to deal with changing demands in water flows. When the demand for the discharge differs from the design discharge, the required demand (discharge and head) could be met by changing the pump speed without making any special changes in the system. Using an electronic drive circuit, the electrical frequency can be changed, and the rotation speed of the pump motor can thus be modified. In this study, the application of variable speed pumps in pressurized irrigation systems is investigated. Two pumping station scenarios including a fixed speed pump and a variable speed pump are considered. The selected pump station includes a real sprinkler irrigation system near Tabriz city, Iran, with 3 lateral pipes and 600 m length of main pipe. The diameter of the main pipes is 8 and 6 inches. The results show that using a variable speed pump increases the average pump efficiency by 18.7%. In addition, the variable speed pump system reduces the electrical consumption 57.6% compared to a fixed speed pump. Therefore, the use of variable speed pumps in pressurized systems is recommended. Step-by-step calculations for a sprinkler irrigation system design are the contribution of this study. This information helps engineers who are not familiar with commutation process.

Determination of Pipe Diameters for Pressurized Irrigation Systems Using Linear Programming and Artificial Neural Networks

Pressurized irrigation systems have gained more attention lately, among other alternatives, in Mediterranean countries. Since the initial investment costs of pressurized irrigation systems are quite high, it is crucial to determine design parameters such as pipe diameter. Most of the current optimization techniques for pipe diameter selection are based on linear, non-linear, and dynamic programming models. The ultimate aim of these techniques is to produce solutions to problems with less cost and computation time. In this study, a novel approach for determining pipe diameter was proposed using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) as an alternative to existing models. For this purpose, three pressurized irrigation systems were investigated. Different ANN architectures were created and tested using hydrant level parameters of the irrigation systems, such as irrigated area per hydrant, hydrant discharge, pipe length, and hydrant elevation. Different training algorithms, transfer functions, and hidden neuron numbers were tried to determine the best ANN model for each irrigation system. Using multilayer feed-forward ANN architecture, the highest coefficients of determination (R2) were found to be 0.97, 0.93, and 0.83 for irrigation systems investigated. It was concluded that pipe diameters could be determined by using artificial neural networks in the planning of pressurized irrigation systems.

Improved sprinkler irrigation layouts for smallholders

Pressurized irrigation systems are economically justifiable for medium- to large-scale farms, while fewer choices are available for smallholders. The current research work provides additional options for small plots, as the only income source for low-income farmers in poorer countries, which produce a considerable portion of the agricultural products in some regions of the world. In this research, two novel layouts of a semipermanent sprinkler irrigation system, namely, clock hand (CH) and corner pivot (CP) lateral designs, were designed for a lighter irrigation system to lower the cost requirement. The new techniques were based on a quadrant/full circle movement pattern of manually pivoting laterals, with no/shorter main pipe requirements, which causes a higher system efficiency. These retrofitted layouts were examined in different farms with areas of 0.20 hm2, 0.81 hm2, 1.62 hm2, and 3.24 hm2 in Guangxi, China. This study introduced, analyzed, and compared the layouts with the widespread traditional split lateral method on technical planning, components, implementation, operation details, size optimization, performance evaluation, and economic advantages. In comparison with the traditional system, CH and CP were found to be more user-friendly and cost-effective but slightly complicated in design with higher required manual work. The results revealed a distribution uniformity (LQDU) of 81.0% to 84.0% via the catch can method, lower capital costs (35.0%-45.0%), and lower annual expenses (6.5%-9.8%) for CP and CH, respectively, compared to the split lateral method. The 0.81 hm2 and 1.62 hm2 farms were found to be the optimum farm sizes for implementation of the new methods for a 25-year project time horizon. The outcomes of this experimental work can encourage small farm owners with limited capital to apply pressurized systems for efficient irrigation and water resource sustainability. Keywords: sprinkler irrigation layout, semipermanent, smallholder, cost-effectiveness DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20221502.6363 Citation: Rad S, Gan L, Dai J F, Zhang S P, Huang L L, Pan L Y, et al. Improved sprinkler irrigation layouts for smallholders. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2022; 15(2): 30–38.

Performance analysis by pressure-driven model to increase reliability of water services in pressurized irrigation systems

Performance analysis by pressure-driven model to increase reliability of water services in pressurized irrigation systems