Traditional Irrigation Methods Research Articles

EFFECT OF A ROOT‐ZONE INJECTION IRRIGATION METHOD ON WATER PRODUCTIVITY AND APPLE PRODUCTION IN A SEMI‐ARID REGION IN NORTH‐WESTERN CHINA

AbstractWithin the Chinese Loess Plateau, water resources are scarce and irrigation efficiency is a challenging issue. Traditional surface drip irrigation (SDI) methods have failed to improve irrigation efficiency and reduce surface evaporation in the region. An easy‐to‐install and practicable root‐zone injection irrigation (RII) method, with a low risk of emitter clogging and which uses subsurface infiltration‐promoting apparatuses (SIPA) to deliver water directly to the root zone, was designed and tested in an apple orchard over 3 years in northern Shaanxi, China. In the 0–0.6 m soil layer (where the apple roots are concentrated), the RII method produced consistently higher soil water content than the SDI method over all three growing seasons. The soil water content was consistently higher than 60% of field capacity, thus meeting the water requirements of fruit‐bearing apple trees. In addition, the RII method alleviated soil desiccation, significantly increased apple yields and improved fruit quality compared with the SDI method using the same volume of irrigation water. Both irrigation efficiency and water‐use efficiency were improved with the RII method. These results provide a theoretical basis for the utilization of the RII irrigation method in apple orchards in semi‐arid regions, which may improve water conservation and the sustainability of apple production. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Design of Fuzzy Controller Based on Penman-Monteith Equation for Drip Irrigation

The agriculture sector plays vital role in overall socio-economic status of India. The involvement of Indian population in agriculture and associated activities is 54.6% (census 2011). The net cropped area is 43% of entire geographical region of India and area under irrigation is 68 million hectares. However, availability of water is an important for agriculture. The supply of water to agriculture field is known as irrigation, in traditional irrigation method there is wastage of water. The evapotranspiration (ET) is combined technique, in this wetness of soil is lost in the form of evaporation in atmosphere and plants absorbing water from soil is transferred to atmosphere. Evapotranspiration depends on uncertain parameters like radiation of solar, temperature of air, speed of wind and humidity. Thus, in this research work a smart fuzzy control water irrigation system is designed to tackle uncertain situations maintaining proper water level as per requirements of crops.

Effects of micro-sprinkling with different irrigation amount on grain yield and water use efficiency of winter wheat in the North China Plain

It’s very important to guarantee the wheat production and improve water productivity in the North China Plain (NCP). In order to reduce irrigation and ensure the crop production in the NCP, a two-year field experiment of winter wheat was conducted in 2016–2018 using micro-sprinkling irrigation including different irrigation amount treatments (60 mm, MI60; 90 mm, MI90; 120 mm, MI120; and 150 mm, MI150), and the local traditional water-saving and productive flooding irrigation method (TI120) was as a control. The grain yield (GY), dry matter accumulation (DM), root system distribution and water utilization were investigated. The results showed that, the GY of MI60 decreased by 5.1–13.4% compared with TI120; GY of MI90 was comparable with TI120, while that of MI120 and MI150 increased significantly. The higher GY in micro-sprinkling treatments was mainly due to the significant increase of 1,000-grain weight (TGW), which was the result of the significant delay of the senescence in flag leaves during grain filling and then the increase in the post-anthesis DM. In addition, the roots mainly distributed in the 0−60 cm soil profile, and micro-sprinkling ensured the soil water supply in this areas at the critical growth stages; what’s more, micro-sprinkling with reducing irrigation treatments significantly promoted the growth of root system to the deep soil layer, which improved the absorption and utilization of moisture stored in soil. Compared with TI120, the same irrigation amount treatment under micro-sprinkling (MI120) significantly increased water use efficiency (WUE) due to higher GY and lower seasonal evapotranspiration (ET); the 125% irrigation amount treatment (MI150) increased WUE due to higher GY and comparable ET; the 75% irrigation amount treatment (MI90) obtained the similar WUE to TI120; the 50% irrigation amount treatment (MI60) got similar or lower WUE to TI120. Overall, suitable reduction of irrigation amount under micro-sprinkling (MI90) can ensure the grain yield of winter wheat and efficient utilization of irrigation water in the NCP.

Spatial Distribution Analysis of Surface Water Quality Index Using Remote Sensing and GIS: A Case Study of Erandol (Maharashtra, India)

Surface water is one of the essential natural resource which support the eco-system to provide a suitable habitat to many living organisms. Monitoring of surface water gives a valuable information to evaluate the water quality problems. The objective of the present study is to evaluate status of surface water quality using drinking water quality index method and spatial distribution techniques using GIS and satellite images of Erandol area (Maharashtra, India). The integrated water samples were collected from different locations and analyzed for 13 physico-chemical characteristics which were compared with the BIS permissible limits. The WQI were calculated by using standard methods of CCMEWQI and WAWQI. The geospatial tools like high resolution multispectral remote sensing data (RESOURCESAT-2, LISS IV), GIS software, and GPS were used to perform the spatial distribution analysis using different water quality parameters. The CCMEWQI and WAWQI method indicated that the both 74% of water samples were found to be in good water quality whereas 22% and 16% of fair to poor water quality respectively. The remaining samples exhibit marginal to very poor water quality. As per WAWQI, 5% of samples found to be unsuitable for drinking and fish culture purpose during monsoon, winter and summer season. The decline in water quality was due to various anthropogenic activities including discharge of untreated sewage, enrichment of water sources through surface runoff and traditional methods of irrigation, and overuse of pesticides and inorganic fertilizer.

Developing a centralized automatic control system to increase flexibility of water delivery within predictable and unpredictable irrigation water demands

Irrigation districts modernization has become a key strategy to address unreliable water resources and improve water use efficiency in irrigated regions. However, improving water use efficiency will be achieved when off-farm water distribution systems are integrated with on-farm practices within irrigation districts. In the present study a modernization alternative for irrigation canal operation, a centralized automated control system, was designed to handle both of known and unknown patterns of demanded water dictating by different irrigation systems in the farms. This alternative was developed in response to on-farm water management transitions from traditional, surface irrigation methods, to modern irrigation systems including the pressurized systems. The capability of Centralized Model Predictive Control (CMPC) was investigated for dealing with a set of complex water distribution test scenarios including predictable and unpredictable ±50% demand variations through the irrigation canal. Altus canal of the Lugert-Altus Irrigation District in southwest Oklahoma, USA is selected as the test case due to the recent challenges occurred in water distribution management in the Altus canal. The transition from traditional irrigation methods (i.e., furrow irrigation) to modern pressurized systems of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) systems in large regions of the district caused the mentioned challenges. The results showed that when the demands were predictable, the controller successfully regulated water levels so that no off-take within the entire canal suffered from inadequate water delivery. Although the changes in the demand were considerable, stable canal operation was provided using the CMPC for this scenario. The designed controller also had an outstanding performance in dealing with extreme, unpredictable irrigation water taking test scenarios. The controller performed well with a quick hydraulic response to the changes, especially in the downstream canal reaches. The developed system started storing extra water within the canal reaches and employed it as a local inline reservoir to compensate delay times of water traveling within the irrigation canal. The stored water within the canal was entirely used after a sudden increase in any unknown demands.

Essentials of Drip Irrigation System for Saving Water and Nutrients to Plant Roots: As a Guide for Growers

Many regions around the world are characterized by limited water resources, where the average annual per capita renewable water is about 1000 -1700 cubic meters. For instance, in china the problems of water supply are widely known globally. Though, China is facing main problem which is how to distribute water, instead of water shortage in itself. Therefore, restricted resources of water are increasingly stressed in the future by many factors such as excessive clouds of water, pollution and climate change. On the other hand, most studies have been indicated that the agricultural sector is one of the sectors that will face a large water deficit in the future due to the high demand for food, competition for water resources, drought and the high consumption of water due to the acquisition of traditional surface irrigation techniques. In spite of introduce modern irrigation methods such as drip irrigation in agriculture by developing irrigation methods and eliminating old traditional irrigation methods, however, its efficiency is related to the qualifying of farms and users of irrigation water, where they are the main users of irrigation water in water resources management. The considerable challenge facing agriculture is to raise irrigation efficiency depending on water-saving irrigation systems to provide water resources for crops. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to provide farmers with important points about using drip irrigation technology, to raise their technical level in using irrigation water, through their guidance to the best techniques and to avoid some common mistakes in design, utilization, management and maintenance of drip irrigation system.

Исследование водно-физических свойств орошаемых лугово-серых почв на опытном участке в условиях Азербайджана

Water-physical properties of the soil are not constant, they often are changed under the influence of natural conditions and agrotechnical measures. Studies show that water-physical properties directly affect the life and growth of plants. In this regard, the main tasks are to study the changes in water and physical properties of the soil under various crops in irrigated areas and to develop the systems of agromeliorative measures. As a result of researches the water-physical properties of irrigated meadow-gray soils of the experimental site at the Salyan plain were studied: physical clay – 48.2...56.79%, density of solid phase – 2.62...2.73 g/cm3, density of dry soil – 1.22...1.46 g/cm3, total moisture capacity – 31.86...43.80%, soil porosity – 46.52...53.44 %, CaCO3 –11.11...14.96%, pH – 8.2...8.6, SO4 in gypsum – 0.077...0.899%, the ratio of absorbed bases – 12.27...15.96 milligram equivalents. Researched soils have a weak and medium degree of water permeability (Kt = 5.51...8.83 cm/h the Kostyakov equation). The traditional and modern methods of irrigation (furrowing, sprinkling, drip, etc.), application of fertilizers (organic, mineral and micro fertilizers, local fertilizers, silt deposits of river waters, etc.) are recommend as agrotechnical measures in accordance with preliminary study of ratio of salts in soil.

Identification of Effective Key Factors on Organizational Unlearning: A Grounded Theory

The present study aims to develop a practical model for identifying effective key factors on unlearning of the North Khorasan province farmers in order to replace the traditional irrigation system with modern irrigation system. The study is based on grounded theory and theoretical sampling, 17 interviews were done with the farmers and experts of the Department of Education of Agriculture Jihad Organization until reaching theoretical saturation. Analyses carried out through continuous comparison showed 300 codes, 42 concepts and 6 categories in actual and theoretical coding process, which led to emergence of a final model focused on the core category, called organisational memory recovery. In conclusion, this study presents effective variables on unlearning about agricultural activities, particularly replacement of traditional irrigation methods with modern methods for optimal utilisation of water resources in the form of a model with an emergent approach. This study develops the first native model of organisational unlearning.

Identification of effective key factors on organisational unlearning: a grounded theory

The present study aims to develop a practical model for identifying effective key factors on unlearning of the North Khorasan province farmers in order to replace the traditional irrigation system with modern irrigation system. The study is based on grounded theory and theoretical sampling, 17 interviews were done with the farmers and experts of the Department of Education of Agriculture Jihad Organization until reaching theoretical saturation. Analyses carried out through continuous comparison showed 300 codes, 42 concepts and 6 categories in actual and theoretical coding process, which led to emergence of a final model focused on the core category, called organisational memory recovery. In conclusion, this study presents effective variables on unlearning about agricultural activities, particularly replacement of traditional irrigation methods with modern methods for optimal utilisation of water resources in the form of a model with an emergent approach. This study develops the first native model of organisational unlearning.

Automatic Identification of Center Pivot Irrigation Systems from Landsat Images Using Convolutional Neural Networks

Being hailed as the greatest mechanical innovation in agriculture since the replacement of draft animals by the tractor, center pivot irrigation systems irrigate crops with a significant reduction in both labor and water needs compared to traditional irrigation methods, such as flood irrigation. In the last few decades, the deployment of center pivot irrigation systems has increased dramatically throughout the United States. Monitoring the installment and operation of the center pivot systems can help: (i) Water resource management agencies to objectively assess water consumption and properly allocate water resources, (ii) Agro-businesses to locate potential customers, and (iii) Researchers to investigate land use change. However, few studies have been carried out on the automatic identification and location of center pivot irrigation systems from satellite images. Growing rapidly in recent years, machine learning techniques have been widely applied on image recognition, and they provide a possible solution for identification of center pivot systems. In this study, a Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) approach was proposed for identification of center pivot irrigation systems. CNNs with different structures were constructed and compared for the task. A sampling approach was presented for training data augmentation. The CNN with the best performance and less training time was used in the testing area. A variance-based approach was proposed to further locate the center of each center pivot system. The experiment was applied to a 30-m resolution Landsat image, covering an area of 20,000 km2 in North Colorado. A precision of 95.85% and a recall of 93.33% of the identification results indicated that the proposed approach performed well in the center pivot irrigation systems identification task.

Effects of mulching on soil temperature and moisture variations, leaf nutrient status, growth and yield of pistachio trees (Pistacia vera.L)

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the response of leaf nutrients concentration, growth and yield of pistachio trees affected by changes in soil moisture and temperature as a result of different mulching. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with five replications in Feyzabad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran, for two years in 2014 (‘off’ year) and 2015 (‘on’ year). Treatments included sub-soil plastic (SPM1 and SPM2), up-soil plastic (UPM), woodchips (WM), barley residue (BM) mulches and control (CK). Treatment of SPM2 recorded the highest shoot growth and nut splitting, and lowest bud abscission in ‘off’ year. However, in ‘on’ year, maximum bud abscission was found in SPM2. Treatments of BM and WM were effective in decreasing flower bud and fruit abscission than other treatments during ‘on’ year. Mulching affected leaf P concentration in ‘off’ year and N, P and Mg in ‘on’ year, with the highest rate of these nutrients recording in BM treatment. Yield variations were not significantly affected by treatments in ‘off’ year, but in ‘on’ year, SPM2, WM, BM and SPM1 treatments increased yield by 29.2%, 28.7%, 19.8% and 10.5% compared to CK, respectively. Unlike other treatments, UPM had negative effect on leaf N concentration, and yield during ‘on’ year. This difference is attributed to high soil temperature in this treatment, so that yield reduced in soil temperature ranges over 36–37 °C in mean depth of 20–60 cm. In general, sub-soil plastic mulches, despite increasing yield in ‘on’ year, could not control flower bud abscission in that year. Thus, due to the increase of leaf nutrient concentration, regulation of alternate bearing phenomenon and improvement of yield, organic mulches are better options in arid and semi-arid regions with traditional irrigation methods.

Comparison of Flooded and Furrow-Irrigated Transplanted Rice ( Oryza sativa L.): Farm-Level Perspectives

AbstractThe traditional irrigation methods used in rice cultivation result in a huge quantity of water loss. Exploring ways to produce more rice with less water is essential for food security. A tw...

The Efficiency of using Irrigation Water Supply in Wheat Crop Cultivation in The New Valley Governorate

The New Valley Governorate is one of the largest governorates in Egypt with an area of about 4400 km2, equivalent to 44% of the total area of the Arab Republic of Egypt and 66% of the Western Sahara. The groundwater is the only available water resource for all purposes (drinking, industry, agriculture). The agricultural sector is considered to be the most important productive sector in the economic structure of the governorate. Due to the importance of the wheat crop as a strategic crop used in human food, it is considered a source of animal nutrition. It is one of the most important field crops cultivated in the governorate. The area is about 158.8 thousand feddans in the 2015/2016 season. Of the total area cultivated with winter field crops. The problem of research was that although the New Valley Governorate is characterized by the availability of arable land of about 3.3 million feddans, of which about 158.8 thousand feddans are actually cultivated, In addition to the use of traditional irrigation methods and the consequent depletion of this resource. In addition, the main factor in agricultural exploitation was the water and not the land, which led to a decrease in the quantity of irrigated crops for arable crops. The research aimed at shedding light on the economics of wheat production in the New Valley governorate as one of the most important for field crops and maintain that using deep groundwater and surface using modern and traditional irrigation methods, and by studying the effect of different groundwater source and method of irrigation on the efficiency of the use of indicators alone water for the cultivation of this crop. The results of the research showed that the quantity of the main output of the wheat crop reached a maximum of 16.77 ardab. Irrigation in surface wells (spraying) while the irrigation system in the two wells together(irrigation by flooding) reached 12.15 ardab. The secondary yield of the wheat crop was the lowest in the Irrigation in surface wells (spraying irrigation) 9.88 load, while the surface irrigation system (Irrigation by flooding) was about 5.65 load. As a result, there were statistically significant differences in irrigation water unit productivity, net revenue from water unit, irrigation unit cost, To produce the output unit, the ratio of irrigation costs to total costs, where a Wheat cultivation using surface wells (spraying irrigation) came first in terms of productivity of the water unit, while wheat cultivation using deep wells (irrigation by flooding) came in first place in terms of net revenue from the water unit, and wheat cultivation using the two wells together (Irrigation by flooding) was ranked first in terms of the cost of irrigating the production unit. In terms of quantity of water needed to produce the output unit, wheat cultivation using both wells (irrigation by flooding) came first, while wheat cultivation using both wells the first place in terms of proportion of the cost in irrigation for total costs.

EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AUTOMATIC SPRINKLING SYSTEM FOR SHALLOT CULTIVATION IN VINH CHAU DISTRICT, SOC TRANG PROVINCE

Shallot is one of the main crops in Vinh Chau district, Soc Trang province where farming techniques are still simply and mainly based on traditional irrigation types. In the district, groundwater is the main water source for daily uses of the local and farming activities. However, this water source increasingly becomes scarity due to over-exploitations. Therefore, this study aims to save water in agricultural production by applying automatic sprinkling irrigation model (Sprinklers system) in shallot farming and Vinh Chau district is selected as the research site. In this study, the amount of irrigation water for Shallot will be determined by CropWat model and the irrigation time will be measured by a soil moisture device (Takemura DM -15). The results show that the automatic sprinkling system model has saved by 43 - 59 % water amount and 85-91 % time of irrigation per 1000 m2 compared to traditional irrigation methods. The input costs of automatic sprinkling system are estimated at about 8 million VND/1000 m2 and it can be applied for many types of plants with its span of 4 years (depending on users’ uses). In conclusion, the automatic sprinkling irrigation model can alter traditional methods of famers in order to improve productivity, reduce negative impacts on groundwater source, and to adapt to water shortage due to climate change impacts.

Changing Furrow Irrigation to Increase Efficiency and Feasibility Study of Reusing Surface Runoff

To improve irrigation techniques and the utilization of available water resources in Iran, a first steps re evaluation of traditional irrigation methods. To assess the efficiency of furrow irrigation, a 4-ha plot (87 furrows) cultivated with sugarcane was evaluated in Khuzestan Province. The quantities of inflow, outflow runoff, soil moisture before irrigation, depth of root development and depth of water infiltration were measured and thus the values of water use efficiency, uniformity coefficient, and distribution uniformity were determined for the selected plot. Using Geographical Information System, in ArcView, the irrigation efficiency of its levels were analyzed using two furrow irrigation methods: open and closed-end. The results showed that the irrigation efficiency, uniformity coefficient and distribution uniformity for the open-end than the closed-end method. The prevention of deep infiltration losses (approximately 30% lower than for closed-end) and allowing outflow of end runoff, and depending on water quality, the riffle can be considered ideal for irrigating other surfaces.

Root length density distribution and associated soil water dynamics for tomato plants under furrow irrigation in a solar greenhouse

Furrow irrigation is a traditional widely-used irrigation method in the world. Understanding the dynamics of soil water distribution is essential to developing effective furrow irrigation strategies, especially in water-limited regions. The objectives of this study are to analyze root length density distribution and to explore soil water dynamics by simulating soil water content using a HYDRUS-2D model with consideration of root water uptake for furrow irrigated tomato plants in a solar greenhouse in Northwest China. Soil water contents were also in-situ observed by the ECH2O sensors from 4 June to 19 June and from 21 June to 4 July, 2012. Results showed that the root length density of tomato plants was concentrated in the 0–50 cm soil layers, and radiated 0–18 cm toward the furrow and 0–30 cm along the bed axis. Soil water content values simulated by the HYDRUS-2D model agreed well with those observed by the ECH2O sensors, with regression coefficient of 0.988, coefficient of determination of 0.89, and index of agreement of 0.97. The HYDRUS-2D model with the calibrated parameters was then applied to explore the optimal irrigation scheduling. Infrequent irrigation with a large amount of water for each irrigation event could result in 10%–18% of the irrigation water losses. Thus we recommend high irrigation frequency with a low amount of water for each irrigation event in greenhouses for arid region. The maximum high irrigation amount and the suitable irrigation interval required to avoid plant water stress and drainage water were 34 mm and 6 days, respectively, for given daily average transpiration rate of 4.0 mm/d. To sum up, the HYDRUS-2D model with consideration of root water uptake can be used to improve irrigation scheduling for furrow irrigated tomato plants in greenhouses in arid regions.

DRIP IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT FOR WHEAT UNDER CLAY SOIL CONDITIONS

Egypt has been suffering from severe water scarcity in recent years. Uneven water distribution, misuse of water resources and inefficient irrigation techniques are some of the major factors playing havoc with water security in the country, so maximizing water productivity is one of the most important strategies in developing countries like Egypt. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the management of drip irrigation of or wheat grown under clay soil conditions to persuade farmers to use drip irrigation systems in their clay soil fields, at best management, as a tool for maximizing crop yield, increasing water productivity (Water Use Efficiency, WUE) and saving water to irrigate new areas. A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of drip irrigation lateral arrangements (double irrigation lateral lines and single lateral line per bed) and irrigation intervals (4, 8, and 12 days) on yield and water productivity of wheat crop. Results revealed that the grain yield was slightly affected by irrigation intervals under double and single line per bed. However, the highest grain yield was 3.438 ton/fed at 8 days irrigation interval with double irrigation lateral lines. Also, the grain yield obtained at 8 and 12 days intervals with single lateral line (2.914 and 2.802 ton/fed, respectively), were higher compared with 4 days under single line treatment. The highest value of water productivity (Water Use Efficiency, WUE) for grain yield was (1.835 kg/m3) achieved for treatment of 4 days intervals with double lateral lines, meanwhile the lowest value was 1.25 kg/m3 at 12 days intervals under single lateral line.Data also revealed that water saving for 8 days under double lines was 13.44% comparing with 12 days under single line per bed. It can be concluded that the drip irrigation treatment of 8 days irrigation interval with double lateral lines showed an effective and recommended way for drip irrigated intensive field crops (wheat), under clay soil conditions in old land of Egypt. As well as, applying drip irrigation resulted in 49.2 % of water saving, and WUE increased by 243 % compared with traditional surface irrigation method.

IRRIGATION EFFICIENCIES OF SUGAR CANE YIELD UNDER DIFFERENT FURROWS LENGTHS IN UPPER EGYPT

The research field experimental work was conducted at the farm of El-Mattana Research Station of the Agricultural Research Center, Luxor Governorate, Upper Egypt during growing season 2012&2013 in clay soil on sugarcane crop. The objective of the herein research trial are to study surface irrigation system performance through using gated pipe system technique under different furrows irrigation lengths treatments L125 (125m) L100 (100m). L75 (75m) and land slope 0.1 % comparing with the traditional irrigation methods under the same condition and treatments. The consequent effects of applying such methods on advance, recession and opportunity time, total water applied, yield, water application efficiency and water use efficiency for sugar cane was considered. The Results showed that the total head losses due to friction was increased gradually until reached 8.4% of the original pumping pressure head measured. The flow variation through 18 meters apart of the gated pipe system was about 13.9 %. Therefore the uniformity distribution of flow through outlets along the gated pipe system was about 86.1 %. On the other hand pressure head variation was about 9.42 %. The result revealed that the traditional methods received more amounts of irrigation water than gated pipe system in the three cases of furrow lengths. The highest values water saving were achieved by using irrigation gated pipe technique with leveling by laser technique 0.1% slope. The traditional irrigation (T1) gave lower water application efficiency than irrigation using gated pipe system (T2) The maximum value of sugar cane yield was achieved in case of using irrigation gated pipe at L100 with 0.1 % slope treatment. On the other hand, the minimum value of sugar cane was achieved in case of irrigation traditional method at L 75 treatment. The average values of sugar cane yield were 55 and 42 ten/fedan under gated pipe and traditional irrigation method respectively. The irrigation with gated pipe improved yield WUE for sugarcane crop under three treatments furrows lengths compared to traditional irrigation.

Performance Evaluation of Hose-Reel Sprinkler Irrigation System

In Pakistan, surface irrigation methods are commonly used to grow crops to meet the demand of ever-increasing population. The practicing methods of agricultural water applications usually result in excessive losses of water due to non-uniformity, over irrigation etc. To combat such a situation, present-day application methods need to be replaced by efficient ones. Sprinkler is one of methods of irrigation water applications that can bring in more efficiency. However, the sprinkler too needs to be suitably designed and managed under different site-specific conditions. The performance evaluation of a system is the primary need to determine the suitability of a system under a specific crop-growing environment. In order to meet the primary requirement, a hose-reel system was selected and evaluated under this study. In addition to its technical performance parameters, the adoptability by small farmers, ease and simplicity in operation and maintenance etc. were also studied. Application and distribution uniformity were the main parameters, which were determined by adopting standard methods of evaluation. Thus, the major variable was the operating pressures under which the system was operated and results were compiled. Application efficiency and distribution uniformity of hose-reel sprinkler system were found to be varied from 71 to 76% and 66 to 74% with the respective base pressure range of 0.38–0.46MPa, respectively. This sprinkling system has higher efficiency than the traditional flood irrigation methods by saving water more than 30%. It is easy to move and operate, is cost effective, and is suitable for all soil types and small land holdings.

Maximising water productivity of wheat crop by adopting drip irrigation

The research work was carried out at ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal during 2011–14. The data were collected using standard procedure and were analyzed by using Fisher's analysis of variance technique of RBD. Initial interest in the use of drip irrigation for row crops like wheat was motivated by its very low water productivity with traditional methods of irrigation. Maximizing water productivity is one of the most important priorities in developing countries like India, where the ground water levels are at alarming stage. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate the wheat yield in response to change in drip emitter spacing and compare the water productivity and water saving with conventional irrigated systems. Five irrigation treatments were considered in the present experiment. The treatment details were: T1: Conventional practices, T2: System of wheat intensification, T3: System of wheat intensification with drip emitters spaced at 20 cm, T4: System of wheat intensification with drip emitters spaced at 30 cm and T5: System of wheat intensification with drip emitters spaced at 40 cm. The greatest plantheight, number of tillers per metre square, number of effective tillers, chlorophyll content and root length were recorded under SWI with drip irrigation at 20 cm emitters spacing (T3). Yield and yield contributing parameters were also higher with T3 as compared with conventional practice (T1) viz., number of grains per earhead, average earhead length, average earhead weight, average grain yield, straw yield and harvest index. Among the drip irrigation treatments, however, there was no significant difference of grain yield between T3 and T4 treatments indicating the drippers spaced at 30 cm could be recommended to lower the cost of the drip system in wheat crop.