Characteristic of crop and farming system affecting irrigation management

Artificial application of water

1. PRESENTED BY Ramnath Potai Ph. D. Scholar Department of Agronomy CHARACTERISTIC OF IRRIGATION AND FARMING SYSTEM AFFECTING IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT     INDIRA GANDHI KRISHI VISHWAVIDYALAYA RAIPUR College of Agriculture, Raipur Session- 2022-23

2. Contents What is Irrigation Factors to consider when selecting and planning an irrigation system Irrigation methods and Characteristics Farming System affecting Irrigation management Basic components of farming systems affecting irrigation Soil Topography Water resources Selection of crop Selection of livestock's Labor availability Economic condition 

3. What is Irrigation ? Irrigation is artificial application of water in crop field to fulfill the water requirement of crop; supplementing effective rainfall, soil profile and groundwater contribution to meet the crop water requirements for optimum growth. Irrigation is the application of controlled amounts of water to plants at needed intervals. Irrigation helps to grow agricultural crops, maintain landscapes, and revegetate disturbed soil in dry areas and during periods of less than average rainfall

4. Factors to consider when selecting and planning an irrigation system are: Slope and topography of the field;  Crops to be grown - water requirements, tolerance to salt, moisture stress, wetness of surface, water logging, value of the crop, crop height, and cultivation required; Field size and shape; Soil texture, structure, depth, infiltration characteristics, water-holding capacity, erosivity , and variability within a field; Soil and water salinity;  Availability and quantity of water, and availability of time; Amount and intensity of rainfall; Economics - initial costs, amortized costs, operating costs (fuel, labor , water maintenance), availability of capital, marketability of crop, and net profitability; and  Farmer, social, and institutional constraints.

5. Irrigation methods and Characteristics 1. Surface - water is spread over the land surface; 2. Manual irrigation 3.Drip, Sprinkle or Low Volume Irrigation - water is applied as artificial rainfall; 4. Automatic Irrigation 5.Sub-irrigation - water is supplied to the root zone of the crop by maintaining a high water table.

6. I. Surface irrigation Widely used and well-known. Can be operated without high-tech applications but it is labour intensive. Proper design of irrigation area (e.g. size, slope, levelness) and knowledge about soil type (e.g. texture, intake rate). (HILL 2008) Capital costs (levelling fields, construction of reservoirs) might be expensive. Operational costs are low. Irrigation efficiency – 60-65%

7. Basically three systems: Basin Irrigation Border Irrigation Furrow Irrigation Basin Irrigation System Field must be levelled and encompassed by a dyke. It is favoured by moderate to slow intake soils and deep-rooted, closely spaced crops. Effective method of leaching salts from the soil profile into the deeper groundwater. Can be automated with inexpensive flow controls at the basin inlet. Dikes must be well maintained to eliminate breaching and waste. It is difficult and often infeasible to incorporate the use of modern farm machinery in small basins (hand or animal cultivation).

8. Border Irrigation System Expansion of basin irrigation for crops, which do not tolerate flooding. Long, rectangular or contoured field shapes and longitudinal but no lateral slope. Field is divided into strips (width of 6 to 30 metres) separated by border ridges. Stripes between ridges are flooded during irrigation. Used for tree crops or crops as alfalfa or small grains.

9. Furrow Irrigation System Constructing small channels (furrows) along the primary direction of water movement. Can be used in conjunction with basins and borders to overcome topographical variation and crusting. More labour intensive than border or basin systems. Smaller wetted area can reduce evaporation loss. Salinity hazards, limited machinery mobility and increased erosion potential. Well adapted to row crops and orchards or vineyards.

10. Manual irrigation Basic Irrigation Principles High labour input and high self-help compatibility Require no technical equipment, therefore they are cheap water cans Low-Cost Drip Irrigation System Pitcher Irrigation Bottle Irrigation Porous and Sectioned Pipes Perforated Plastic Sleeves

11. Water Cans Very basic and creates a lot of work on large fields, but widely used. Water can be added on very specific points. Carry poles across the shoulders and a water can at each side facilitates the irrigation work. A rose added to the water can creates a sprinkler effect (see picture). Low-Cost Drip Irrigation System Low-cost plastic pipes laid on the ground and irrigate crops. Small holes in the pipes allow a water to drip out. A water tank on a higher level distributes water by gravity. No waste of water (e.g. evaporation, wind), specific irrigation at the root zone.

12. Pitcher Irrigation Placing porous clay jars (or pots) in shallow pits and soil is packed around. Water can seep slowly out through the porous walls and reach the roots of the plants. Jars can made locally or sweet monkey orange fruit after drying can be used. Jars should be filled regularly and have to be replaced if there are big cracks Bottled Irrigation Similar to pitcher irrigation. The bottle is first filled and than place up side down next to plant. Water is released slowly directly beside the roots. No evaporation or water loss due to wind

13. DRIP IRRIGATION Water is conveyed under pressure through a pipe system to the fields. It drips slowly onto the soil through emitters or drippers which are located close to the plants. Only the root zone is wetted. There are very technical systems but also self-made designs. It requires relatively small amounts of water, but it is very effective. Pre-treated waste water or urine can be added as a fertiliser. Used in highly technical and industrial farming. Filters are installed to prevent clogging. Fertiliser and chemicals often are mixed into the irrigation water The system can be flushed to clean it. Irrigation efficiency- 90-95%

14. Sprinkler Irrigation Widely used and well-known. Water is distributed through a system of pipes (usually by pumping) and spray heads at the outlets distribute the water over the entire soil surface. This system, especially large ones, are mostly automated. It can be found in small vegetable gardens up to large crop fields. Therefore several systems were developed: Sprinkler heads Linear Move Travelling Big Gun Side Roll Irrigation efficiency - 80%

15. Types of sprinkler system On the basis of arrangement for spraying irrigation water 1. Rotating head (or) revolving sprinkler system 2. Perforated pipe system

16. AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION Once it is installed, the irrigation system has not to be controlled all the time. Modern big scale systems operated by one (skilled) labour. Very technical components required. There even high-tech solutions using GIS and satellites to measure water needs. Time Based System Volume Based System Open Loop Systems Closed Loop Systems Real Time Feedback System Computer Based Irrigation Control Systems There also simple methods such as clay pot irrigation networks.

17. Sub surface drip irrigation Is conveyed under pressure through a pipe system and applied to the roots below soil surface. No surface crusting or evaporation loss, thus highly efficient irrigation method. Fields can still be worked when irrigation systems are installed and application of fertiliser can optimise plant growth

18. Farming System affecting Irrigation management Farming system represents an appropriate combination of farm enterprises (cropping system, horticulture, livestock, fishery, forestry, poultry) and means available to farmer to raise them for profitability. it interacts adequately with environment without dislocating the ecological and socioeconomic balance on one hand and attempts to meet the national goals on the other.

19. Basic components of farming systems affecting irrigation such as Soil Topography Water resources Selection of crop selection of livestock's Labor availability Economic condition

20. Soil Texture Fine textured soil have more water holding capacity than course textured soil, hence irrigation methods will vary according to soil texture.

21. 2. Structure Different soil structure have different infiltration rate i.e. platy soil structure have lower water infiltration rate than crumb or spherical soil structure.

22. Topography Topography is the slope of the ground and how much uneven or leveled it is and which method of irrigation should apply on field totally depends upon the topography of particular given area. If the slope is from 0.4 to 8 percent, corrugation surface method is suitable. If the slope is more than the above limit, sprinkler method has been considered more suitable for soils which are shallow and permeability is fast. Drip or sprinkler system is more appropriate irrigation method than basin or furrow method of irrigation in undulating land.

23. Water resources The sources of irrigation and the chemical composition of the water also affect the irrigation method. At the time of irrigation by tube wells, the sprinkler method or drip irrigation method is suitable, but in canal irrigation, flood method is selected. Water conservation is the demand of the day when the whole world is facing water crisis. Hence, such a method of irrigation should be adopted which uses minimum water but provides maximum humidity to the plants. Sprinkler method and drip irrigation method are the best from the view point of water conservation.

24. Selection of crop The irrigation method is selected according to type of crops and pattern of its sowing. Different crops require different quantities of water. Growth of plants and their height are also affected. In taller plants, check basin irrigation method is more suitable as compared to sprinkler method.

25. Cropping system affecting irrigation management 1. Mixed cropping- Finger millet + Cowpea 2. Intercropping- Wheat : Mustard 3. Relay cropping- Rice- Lathyrus , Maize- potato 4. Multistoried cropping- Coconut + Guava + termeric 5. Cropping sequence- Rice- vegetable- greengram 6. Crop cultivation method- 1.) DSR, lehi rice, transplanted rice 2) Berseem - dry sowing, wet sowing 7. Crop management practices- Fertilizers application, weed management etc.

26. Selection of live-stocks Flood irrigation methods can give the benefit of taking other farm enterprises such as duckery or fisheries in the same field. So, if integrated farming is practiced, surface method of irrigation can be adopted as it will give benefit to both enterprise. Also the waste of one enterprise can be effectively utilized by other, thus makes an efficient utilization of irrigation system available.

27. Labour availability Availability of labour is an essential factor in selecting an irrigation system. As compared to sprinkler or drip irrigation method, check basin method of irrigation requires more labour. So, depending upon the availability of labour, a particular irrigation method is adopted along with other factors. So, if there is shortage of labour, mechanised or hi-tech irrigation methods can be selected, provided money is not an issue.

28. Economic condition While selecting any method of irrigation, the economic condition must be kept in mind as many irrigation methods require heavy initial investment but lesser investment later on. A Farmer’s economic condition is the prime factor which affects on adopting a particular irrigation management system. Generally poor or small scale farmer’s fail to adopt machine driven irrigation systems due to high cost and thus they depend more on cheaper methods as manual or surface methods in their small farms. Wells, ponds and rivers are the major irrigation resources. However, a large scale farmer adopting large scale enterprise of farming system selects sprinkler or drip irrigation system as they have sufficient cost of production and monetary resources are available to him and thus gains a long term profit through good quality and higher productivity. Surface irrigation methods require continuous investment

29. Reference 1. Sarkar , D. and haldar , A.1997. Applied pedology , pg-151-152. 2. Gupta U.S (Ed.) Production and Improvement of crop drylands . 3. Mishra , R. R.&Ahmad,M.1987. Manual on Irrigation and Agronomy, Oxford IBH. 4. Singh, S.S. 2006. Principle and practices of Agronomy. Kalyani publication.