UNIT II

IRRIGATION METHODS

Tank irrigation – Well irrigation – Irrigation methods: Surface and Sub-Surface and
Micro Irrigation – design of drip and sprinkler irrigation – ridge and furrow irrigation-
Irrigation scheduling – Water distribution system- Irrigation efficiencies

TANK IRRIGATION
An irrigation tank or tank is an artificial reservoirof any size, mainly in India. (The
words agar refers to a large lake, usually man-made).It can also have a natural or man-made
spring included as part of a structure. Tanks are part of an ancient tradition of harvesting and
preserving the local rainfall and water from streams and rivers for later use, primarily for
agriculture and drinking water, but also for sacred bathing and ritual. Often a tank was
constructed across a slope so to collect and store water by taking advantage of local mounds and
depressions.

Merits of Tank Irrigation

Most of the tanks are natural and do not involve heavy cost for their construction. Even
an individual farmer can have his own tank. Tanks are generally constructed on rocky bed and
have longer life span. In many tanks, fishing is also carried on. This supplements both the food
resources and income of the farmer.

Demerits of Tank Irrigation

Many tanks dry up during the dry season and fail to provide irrigation when it is needed
the most. Silting of the tank bed is a serious problem and it requires desilting of the tank at
regular intervals.

Much water is evaporated from the large expanse of shallow water and is thus not
available for irrigation. Tanks cover large areas of cultivable land. In many areas, other sources
of irrigation have been adopted and the dry beds of tanks have been reclaimed for agriculture.
Moreover, lifting of water from tanks and carrying it to the fields is a strenuous and costly
exercise which discourages the use of tanks as a source of irrigation.

WELL IRRIGATION
 A well is a hole dug in the ground to obtain the subsoil water. An ordinary well is about
3-5 metres deep but deeper wells up-to 15 metres are also dug.

This method of irrigation has been used in India from time immemorial. Various methods
are used to lift the ground water from the well for irrigation, drinking, bathing and for other
purposes.

Merits of Well Irrigation:

1. Well is simplest and cheapest source of irrigation and the poor Indian farmer can easily
afford it.

2 Well is an independent source of irrigation and can be used as and when the necessity
arises. Canal irrigation, on the other hand, is controlled by other agencies and cannot be used at
will.

3. Excessive irrigation by canal leads to the problem of reh which is not the case with
well irrigation.

4. There is a limit to the extent of canal irrigation beyond the tail end of the canal while a
well can be dug at any convenient place.

5 Several chemicals such as nitrate, chloride, sulphate, etc. are generally found mixed in
well water. They add to the fertility of soil when they reach the agricultural field along with well
water.

6. The farmer has to pay regularly for canal irrigation which is not the case with well
irrigation.

Demerits of Well Irrigation:

1. Only limited area can be irrigated. Normally, a well can irrigate 1 to 8 hectares of land.

2. The well may dry up and may be rendered useless for irrigation if excessive water is
taken out

3. In the event of a drought, the ground water level falls and enough water is not available
in the well when it is needed the most.
 4. Tube wells can draw a lot of groundwater from its neighboring areas and make the
ground dry and unfit for agriculture.

5. Well and tube well irrigation is not possible in areas of brackish groundwater.

Lift irrigation
Lift irrigation is a method of irrigation in which water is not transported by natural flow
(as in gravity-fed canal systems) but is lifted with pumps or other means
Advantages
1. Lift irrigation made irrigation possible at higher level.

2. Land acquisition problem in L.I.S. is less.

3. Water losses are low.

4. Man power is less used.

IRRIGATION METHODS
Methods of irrigation are broadly categorized in to following

SURFACE IRRIGATION METHODS

• Surface irrigation is defined as the group of application techniques where water is applied
and distributed over the soil surface by gravity.
• Surface irrigation otherwise called as flow or lift irrigation
 • In this system of field water application the water is applied directly to the soil from a
channel located at the upper reach of the field. It is essential in these methods to construct
designed water distribution systems to provide adequate control of water to the fields and
proper land preparation to permit uniform distribution of water over the field.
• One of the surface irrigation method is flooding method where the water is allowed to
cover the surface of land in a continuous sheet of water with the depth of applied water
just sufficient to allow the field to absorb the right amount of water needed to raise the
soil moisture up to field capacity,.
• A properly designed size of irrigation stream aims at proper balance against the intake
rate of soil, the total depth of water to be stored in the root zone and the area to be
covered giving a reasonably uniform saturation of soil over the entire field.
• Flooding method has been used in India for generations without any control what so ever
and is called uncontrolled flooding.
• The water is made to enter the fields bordering rivers during folds. When the flood
water inundates the flood plain areas, the water distribution is quite uneven, hence not
very efficient, as a lot of water is likely to be wasted as well as soils of excessive
slopes are prone to erosion.
Furrow irrigation
➢ In furrow irrigation technique, trenches or “furrows” are dug between crop rows in a
field.
➢ Farmers flow water down the furrows (often using only gravity) and it seeps vertically
and horizontally to refill the soil reservoir.
➢ Furrow irrigation is suitable for row crops, tree crops and, because water does not directly
contact the plants, crops that would be damaged by direct inundation by water such as
tomatoes, vegetables, potatoes and beans.
➢ It is one of the oldest system of irrigation.
➢ It is economical and low-tech making it particularly attractive in the developing world or
places where mechanized spray irrigation is unavailable or impractical.
 ➢
Free flooding:
➢ This flooding system of irrigation is used from ancient times.
➢ Flooding method consists in applying the water by flooding the land of rather smooth
and flat topography.
➢ In current irrigation practice, several flooding methods have been developed.
➢ In free flooding method, water is applied to the land from field ditches without any
check or guidance to the flow.
➢ The land is divided into plots or kiaries of suitable size depending on porosity of soil.
Water is spread over the field from watercourse.
➢ The irrigation operation begins at the higher area and proceeds towards the lower
levels. The flow is stopped when the lower end of the field has received the desired
depth of water. The field watercourse is properly spaced, the spacing depends on the
topography, oil texture, depth of soil and size of stream.

BASIN FLOODING:
➢ Basin irrigation is common practice of surface irrigation.
➢ This method is employed for watering orchards (Basak, 1999).
➢ It is useful especially in regions with layouts of small fields (Shah et al. 2002).
➢ If a field is level in all directions, is encompassed by a dyke to prevent runoff, and
provides an undirected flow of water onto the field, it is herein called a basin.
 ➢ A basin is typically square in shape but exists in all sorts of irregular and rectangular
configurations.
➢ It may be furrowed or ridged, have raised beds for the benefit of certain crops, but as
long as the inflow is undirected and uncontrolled into these field modifications, it
remains a basin.

CHECK FLOODING:
➢ In this method,the agricultural area is divided into small plots known as check basins.
➢ The water is supplied to the check basins through the field channels which are
connected withn the supply channel.
➢ Each basin is flooded with water to the desired depth and the water is retained for some
hours so that it can infiltrate into the soil.

BORDER STRIP:
➢ The farm is divided into a number of strips (width 10 ~ 20 m and length 100 ~ 400 m)
separated by low levees or borders.
➢ Water is turned from the supply ditch into these strips along which a flow slowly
toward the lower end, wetting the soil as it advances.
➢ The surface is essentially level between levees and lengthwise slope is somewhat
according to natural slope of the land (0.2 ~ 0.4%) .
 ➢ It is suitable to soils having moderately low to moderately high infiltration rates and to
all closely growing crops.
➢ Uniform distribution and high water application efficiencies are possible.
➢ Large streams can be used efficiently. It involves high initial cost.
➢ Ridges between borders should be sufficiently high.
➢ The land should be perpendicular to the flow to prevent water from concentrating on
either side of the border

ZIGZAG FLOODING:
➢ In this method agricultural area is subdivided into small plots by low bunds in a zigzag
manner.
➢ The water is supplied to the plots from the field channel through the openings
➢ The water flows in a zigzag way to cover the entire area.
➢ When the channel depth is attained,the openings are closed.

Contour farming:
➢ This method is adopted in hilly areas where the land has steep slope.
➢ Land is divided into series of horizontal strips which are known as terraces
➢ Small bunds are provided at the end of each terrace to hold water upto the required
depth.
➢ This method serves also purpose of flood control and soil erosion.
SUBSURFACE IRRIGATION
• When the irrigation is done by subsurface supplies (i.e underground supplies) the
irrigation may be referred as subsurface irrigation.
• A method of providing water to plants by raising the water table to the root zone of the
crop or by carrying moisture to the root zone by perforated underground pipe. Also
known as subsurface irrigation.

MICRO IRRIGATION
A low pressure irrigation system that spray, mist, sprinkle or drip – is called as Micro
Irrigation System. The term "micro-irrigation" means - a family of irrigation systems that apply
water through small devices. These devices deliver water onto the soil surface very near the plant
or below the soil surface directly into the plant root zone. Growers, producers and landscapers
have adapted micro-irrigation systems to suit their needs for precision water application. This
system is based on specific discharge-patterns of water in the crop fields, lawns, and horticulture
stations, landscaping areas or domestic settings. Micro-irrigation requires a number of
components that include pipes, tubes, water emitting devices, flow control equipment,
installation tools, fittings and accessories.
Advantages
1. Water savings- In this type of irrigation system water is saved through different ways such as
- By reducing loss of water in conveyance
- By reducing loss of water through evaporation, run off, and by deep percolation.
- A water supply source with limited flow rates such as small water wells or city/rural water can
be used in this type of irrigation system.
2. Energy savings – This type of irrigation system requires a smaller power unit and consumes
less energy.
3. Weed and disease reduction- This type of irrigation system is helpful in inhibiting growth of
weeds as it keeps limited wet areas. Under this condition the incidence of disease is also reduced
up to major extent.
4. Can be automated. Fertilizers and chemicals can be applied with water through micro
irrigation system. This systems can be automated which reduces labor requirements.
5. Improved production on marginal land. On hilly terrain, micro-irrigation systems can
operate with no runoff and without interference from the wind. The fields need not be leveled.
Disadvantages
The Micro Irrigation System has following disadvantages –
1. Management. Micro-irrigation systems normally have greater maintenance requirements. Soil
particles, algae, or mineral precipitates can clog the emission devices.
2. Potential for damage. Animals, rodents and insects may cause damage to some components.
The drip and bubbler irrigation systems need additional equipment for frost protection.
3. High initial cost. Micro-irrigation systems are ideal for high value installations such as
orchards, vineyards, greenhouses, and nurseries where traditional irrigation methods may not be
practical. However, the investment cost can be high.

DRIP IRRIGATION:
➢ Drip irrigation, also called trickle irrigation, is the latest field irrigation technique, and is
meant for adoption at places where there exists acute scarcity of irrigation water and
other salt problems.
➢ In this method, water is slowly and directly applied to the root zone of the plants, thereby
minimizing the losses by evaporation and percolation.
➢ This system involves laying of a system of head, mains, submains, laterals, and drop
nozzles.
➢ Water oozes out of these small drip nozzles uniformly and at a very small rate, directly
into the plant roots area.
➢ The head consists of a pump to lift water, so as to produce the desired pressure of about
2.5 atmosphere, for ensuring proper flow of water through the system.
➢ The lifted irrigation water is passed through a fertilizer tank, so as to mix the fertilizer
directly in the irrigation water, and then through a filter, so as to remove the suspended
particles from the water, to avoid clogging of drip nozzles.
➢ The mains and submains are the specially designed small sied pipes, made of flexible
material like black PVC. These are generally buried or laid on the ground, as shown in
fig. Their sizes should be sufficient to carry the design discharge of the system.
➢ The laterals are very small sized (usually 1 to 1.25 cm dia), specially designed, black
PVC pipes, taking off from the mains or submains, Laterals can usually be up to 50 m
long, and one lateral line is laid for each row of crop.
➢ The drip nozzles, also called emitters, or valves, are fixed on laterals, at regular intervals
of about 0.5 to 1 m or so, discharging water at very small rates of the order of 2 to 10
litres per hour.
 ➢ Like the sprinkler system, this method also involves specialized knowledge, and is not
being adopted by our ordinary farmers. This method, is howeer, being used for small
nurseries, orchards, or gardens.

Benefits:
➢ Conventional losses such as deep percolation, runoff and soil water can be minimized by
applying a volume of water approaching the consumptive use of the plants.
➢ Small area is wetted thereby reducing weed growth, insects and diseases etc.
➢ Soil crusting and interference with harvesting is minimized.
➢ Greater crop yield and better quality can be obtained.
➢ For widely spaced like fruit trees, the system may be even more economical than
sprinkler method of irrigation.
Disadvantages:
➢ High initial cost of the deep irrigation equipment sometimes limits its use to orchard and
vegetables in water scarcity areas.
➢ Clogging of emitter may disrupt the irrigation system.
➢ Plastic pipes may damaged by rodents.
SPRINKLER IRRIGATION
In this method, water is applied to the soil in the form of a spray through a network of
pipes and pumps.
It is a kind of an artificial rain and, therefore, gives very good results.
It is a costly process and widely used in U.S.A.
It can be used for all types of soils and for widely different topographies and slopes.
It can advantageously be used for many crops, because it fulfils the normal requirement of
uniform distribution of water.
The conditions favouring and adoption of this method, are:

1. When the land topography is irregular, and hence unsuitable for surface irrigation.
2. When the land gradient is steeper, and soil is easily erodible.
3. When the land soil is excessively permeable, so as not to permit good water distribution
by surface irrigation; or when the soil is highly impermeable.
4. When the water table is high.
5. When the area is such that the seasonal water requirement is low, such as near the
coasts.
6. When the crops to be grown are such:
a. As to require humidity control, as in tobacco;
b. Crops having shallow roots; or
c. Crops requiring high and frequent irrigation.
7. When the water is available with difficulty and is scarce.
types of sprinkler systems.
A sprinkler system can be classified under three heads, as:

1. Permanent system;
2. Semipermanent system; and
3. Portable system.

Permanent system: In permanent system, pipes are permanently buried in such a way that
they do not interfere with the farming operations.
.
Semipermanent system: In the semi permanent system, the main lines are buried in the ground,
while the laterals are portable

.In portable system, the mains as well as laterals are portable. These portable networks
can be moved from farm to farm.
Advantages of sprinkler irrigation:
➢ Seepage losses, which occur in earthen channels of surface irrigation methods, are
completely eliminated. Moreover, only optimum quantity of water is used in this method .
➢ Land leveling is not required and thus avoiding removal of top fertile soil, as happens in
other surface irrigation methods.
➢ No cultivation area is lost for making ditches results in increasing about 16 % of the cropped
area
➢ The water is to be applied at a rate lesser than the infiltration capacity of the soil, and thus
avoiding surface run off.
➢ This method leaches down salts and prevents water-logging or salinity
 ➢ It is less labor oriented and hence useful where labor is costly and scarce.
➢ Up to 80% of applied water can be stored in the root zone of plants.
➢ Fertilizers can be uniformly applied, because they can mixed with irrigation water
Limitations of sprinkler irrigation
➢ High winds may distort sprinkler pattern, causing non-uniform spreading of water on the
crops. In areas of high temperature and high wind velocity, considerable evaporation losses
of water my take place.
➢ They are not suited to crops requiring frequent and larger depths of irrigation, such paddy.
➢ Initial cost of the system is very high, and the system requires a high technical skill
➢ A constant water supply is needed for commercial use of equipment
➢ Only sand and silt free water can be used, as otherwise pump impellers lifting such waters
will get damaged.

Irrigation scheduling
For efficient management of an irrigation system, it is necessary that the water be supplied to
the plants when they need it and in quantities actually required by the plants. This necessary
leads to irrigation scheduling which means estimating the starting time, stopping time, and the
quantity of water for different cycles of irrigation during the crop period. Irrigation scheduling
can be determined by using one of three approaches, viz.,
• The soil-moisture depletion approach,
• The climatological approach using evapotranspiration and effective rainfall data, and
• The farmer’s existing schedule approach.

Water distribution
Water distribution systems can be of three types:
• Demand – based, Continuous, and
• Rotational (also known as warabandi)

The warabandi system seems to be the most feasible and offers many advantages. It has been
defined as a system of equitable water distribution by turns according to a predetermined
schedule specifying the day, time, and duration of supply to each irrigator in proportion to land
holdings in outlet command. The warabandi system, although efficient and acceptable to the
farmers, does not result in equitable distribution primarily due to the losses in the watercourses.
These losses may cause about 25 to 40 percent reduction in the share of water of the farmer in
the tail-end reach. While determining the schedule, some weightage should be given to the time
allotment for tail-enders to compensate for the losses. Another system of water delivery is
through water cooperatives which purchase water in bulk and then distribute it among their
member farmers
IRRIGATION EFFICIENCIES

Efficiency is the ratio of the water output to the water input, and is usually expressed as
percentage. Input minus output is nothing but losses, and hence, if losses are more, output is less
and, therefore, efficiency is less. Hence, efficiency is inversely proportional to the losses. Water is
lost in irrigation during various processes and, therefore, there are different kinds of irrigation
efficiencies, as given below.
Efficiency of Water-conveyance
It is the ratio of the water delivered into the fields from the outlet point ofthe channel, to
the water entering into the channel at its starting point. It may be represented by q. It takes the
conveyance or transit losses into consideration.
Where,
nd =Wf/Wd
qc= Water conveyance efficiency,
Wf = Water delivered to the irrigated plot at field supply channel, and
Wd = Water diverted from the source.

Efficiency of Water Application

It is ratio of water stored in root zone to the water delivered at the field.
nd = Ws/Wf
Where,
q, = Water application efficiency,
Ws= Water stored at the root zone of plant, and
Wf = Water delivered to the field at the field supply channel.
Water Storage Efficiency
It is the ratio of the water stored in the root zone during irrigation to the water needed in
the root zone prior to irrigation (i.e. field capacity- existing moisture content). It may be
represented by qs.
Where, q, = Water-storage efficiency,
Ws= Water stored at the root zone of plant, and
Wn = Water needed in the root zone prior to irrigation.
Efficiency of Water Use
It is the ratio of the water beneficially used, including leaching water, to the quantity of water
delivered. It may be represented by qu.
nu = Wu/Wd

Where, qu= Water use efficiency,

Wu = Beneficial use of water including leaching water, and
Wd = Water delivered to the field.
It is also expressed as ratio of crop yield to the amount of water depleted bycrop in the
process of Evapo-transpiration
Y Crop water use efficiency = Y / ET
Where,
Y = Crop yield, and
ET = The amount of water depleted by crop in the process of Evapo-transpiration

Uniformity Coefficient or Water Distribution Efficiency

The effectiveness of irrigation may also be measured by its water distribution efficiency (qd),
Which is defined below:
ND = (1-d/D)
Where,
qd= Water distribution efficiency,
D = Mean depth of water stored during irrigation, and
d = Average of the absolute values of deviations from the mean.