Advances in Modern Irrigation Systems Essay

Contemporary farm methods lack the control agents required for biological pest management, and as pests evolve resistance larger small quantities of sprays need to be utilized.Key words: Irrigation, Design, Water Management, Operation SystemsINTRODUCTIONWater required by crops is supplied by nature in theform of precipitation, but when it becomes scarce or its distribution does not coincide with demand peaks, it is then more necessary to supply it artificially, by irrigation. Several irrigation methods are available, and the selection of one depends on factors such as water availability, crop, soil characteristics, land topography, and associated cost. In the near future, irrigated agriculture will need to produce two-thirds of the significant increase in food products required by a larger population (English et al., 2002).Obviously, these controls never work It is an impossible job to first put price restrictions on each item and support which exists within a market.Criteria and procedures have been developed to improve and rationalize practices to apply water, through soil leveling, irrigation system design, discharge regulations, adduction structures, and control equipment. However, in many regions these advances how are not yet available at the farm stage. Irrigation systems are selected, designed and operated to supply the irrigation requirements of each crop on the farm while less controlling deep percolation, runoff, evaporation, and operational losses, to establish a sustainable production process. Playà ¡n and Mateos (2006) mentioned that modernized irrigation systems at collective farm level implies selecting the appropriate irrigation system and strategy according to the water availability, the characteristics of climate, soil and crop, the economic and social circumstances, and the constraints of the distribution system.

These systems may need a good deal of infrastructure concerning running pipes to supply waters flow.Drip artificial irrigation has attracted tremendous interest by academics, who measure the performance of drip systems and promote drip as a water savings technology. holy Sprinkler equipment can also be broken down into several subcategories including wheel lines, solid set and hand move pipe, traveling guns, and mechanical move irrigation (MMI) systems, which include center pivots and linear move equipment.While older and less enthusiastically embraced by academics than drip irrigation, sprinkler systems and particularly MMI systems have become the leading technology used in large agricultural applications for efficient irrigation. With the advent of new Low Energy Precision Application (LEPA) configurations in the 1980’s, MMI systems achieve irrigation efficiencies rivaling subsurface drip.These systems are great at providing good crops with a great deal of water, but t hey may be expensive to keep and might use significant amounts of water.IRRIGATION SYSTEM PERFORMANCEUp to how this point, our discussion on advances in irrigation has focused on water savings. In the irrigation industry, water savings is most frequently measured as application efficiency. Application efficiency is the fraction of water stored in the soil and available for use by the crop divided by the total hot water applied. For subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), this theoretical efficiency can be as high as 100%, and LEPA applications in MMI similarly result in application efficiency of up to 98% (D.

Irrigation might be required in sizeable locations.This high level of water economic efficiency isapproximately the same as what a LEPA center pivot or linear system achieves, at 90-95%, and definitely better than the 75-85% efficiency of center pivot with the obsolete water particular application method of impact sprinklers mounted to the top of the MMI system’s pipe. Gravity flow installations are typically around 40%-50% efficient. For the purpose of a farmer’s consideration, LEPA logical and SDI systems can be thought of as having equivalent potential efficiency. Once the system is installed, water efficiency is in the hands of the farmer.Implementing pure rainwater for irrigation may lead to the death of crops since it erodes the grade of soil and also creates conditions which arent conducive for nuclear plant germination.Such flushing is not a requirement with MMI equipment. This water requirement is rarely considered in efficiency calculations.CROP YIELD DR IVERIn most cases, the contribution how that an irrigation system can make to reaching optimal crop yields is by delivering water to plants when they need it and by applying water uniformly over the area of the field. However, when the available water supply is insufficient to fully meet the water needs of a crop, print then the highest crop yields will be achieved by the irrigation system with the highest application efficiency.

Agriculture encompasses a broad array of specialties.Uniformity of MMI systems is fairly ffrench constant over time. Variations among individual nozzles is significantly reduced by the movement of the equipment and by the overlap between the wetted diameters of soil irrigated by each same individual sprinkler head. Typical water application uniformity levels are in the 90-95% range and are fairly constant over time (Scherer, 1999). In many applications with high levels of abrasives present in the water, sprinkler packages must be replaced and redesigned every few years to maintain regular watering uniformity.It has played an integral part in the development of civilization.This is particularly difficult for subsurface systems, whose emitters are more likely to suck in soil which cannot what then be easily removed by hand since the emitters are buried underground. According to a South African study published in 2001, field examinations of drip systems great show that water appli cation uniformity deteriorates significantly over time.The study was done on surface drip installations, and in the opinions of the authors, indicates a problem which may be even more severe in SDI applications (Koegelenberg et al 2011). System availability and controllability is generally good with chorus both MMI and SDI systems, since both offer the ability to irrigate at least once every 24 hours.

Zero tillage commercial agriculture also should be utilized.As salts build up in soil, crop yields decrease. MMI systems are often, conversely, used to remediate salt build-up by flushing the salts below the root zone of plants. Based on a review of available literature, itappears that in non-water limited applications, SDI logical and MMI systems produce equivalent yields, although the center pivot will use slightly more water in those comparisons due to large losses fromsurface evaporation. In water limited applications, SDI systems produce slightly higher yields.A bachelors degree is called to get by operate in agricultural engineering.(O’Brien et al 1998). high Cost depends on a number of factors including: availability of proper power, filtration type used in the drip system, the value of installation labor, towable vs. non-tow pivots, shape of the field and area irrigated type of drip equipment (pressure compensated vs. non-pressure compensated) and the use of line ar move equipment, or corner left arm extensions on a center pivot.

Engineers that have a masters degree or a Ph.Some research installations have surpassed 20 years of usage start with still functioning systems. Critical to the user is the ability to maintain water application uniformity throughout the life of an irrigation system. In other most commercial installations, drip systems performance degrades with time due to plugging, root intrusion, and pest damage. Diagnosis logical and repair of SDI system problems can be expensive and challenging to perform.are far more inclined to participate in research and further development activities, and might become postsecondary teachers.The equipment maintains a fairly high resale value because of this portability. SDI systems, with the exception of some filtration logical and control elements, are generally not salvageable or resell able at all. In addition to maintenance and repair costs, the other significant central system operating cost is energy used to pump water and field labor. Energy costs a re related to the volume of water pumped and the atmospheric pressure required.

Another place to search for efficiencies is timing.Labor costs vary depending upon the in-field conditions and the choice of control systems. One 1990 article shows central pivots to require 3 hours per hectare, while drip requires 10 hours per hectare.(Kruse et al, 1990). Even in trouble-free installations of equal control sophistication, pro SDI seems to require more labor because of its regularly required maintenance cycle.Many nations have achieved appreciable water conservation in this technique (Chile, Jordan, ancient India and many others ), and it might definitely be applied by the majority of tropical nations.Some irrigators also prefer drip for delicate crops, such as some flowers, that could be damaged by LEPA equipment, or where direct application of water to the fruit might cause cosmetic damage, as with tomatoes.Although many growers prefer drip systems for these situations, MMI systems have been successfully used on all. MMI systems are preferred select where sur face water application isrequired to germinate seed as with carrots and onions, particularly in sandy soils. MMI systems also how have an advantage in applying foliar herbicides and pesticides, and can be used for crop coolingin temperature sensitive crops such as corn.

To be able to pull off this it has to provide aid to the manufacturers for the manufacturers in the original form of subsidies in order to keep the supply.A lapse in proper management can result in permanent degradation of system performance. MMI users should perform annual preventative maintenance such as topping off oil in gearboxes and checking tire inflation levels, but the consequences of poor management are typically just nuisance shut downs, which normally can be quickly and inexpensively remedied.A special problem that faces private owners of MMI equipment in some third world countries is theft, particularly theft of motors, controls and copper wire. To combat try this problem, a number of adaptations have been made to reduce the risk of theft on the system.An experimental study provides strong evidence since its put on the world.Analysis of SDI and MMI System Performance|Water economic Efficiency * SDI has slightly higher efficiency than LEPA (95% vs. 90-95%) in resear ch installation. * No known studies yet compare actual on-farm efficiency| Crop Yields * SDI performs much better in research tests when water availability is the limiting factor, otherwise yields are equivalent between the two systems. * Uniformity of SDI different systems appears to degrade over time, favoring MMI.

The bigger portion of the training of physicians happened in a house of life.* MMI systems have long lives (25 few years on average). SDI can have a life of 10-15 years if proper maintenance is performed. * Ongoing maintenance costs of SDI are 3-5 times higher than MMI.* Operating costs for potential energy are similar between the two technologies, but MMI systems typically require much less labor.Such endeavors can function to the expansion of areas.| Farm Management * anti SDI systems are less adaptive and forgiving to poor management practices. * Theft is an issue for mechanized systems in some third world markets. * SDI is more flexible for some existing infrastructure|DEFINITION OF MODERN DESIGN* A modern irrigation design is the result of a thought process that selects the configuration and the physical components in light of a well-defined and realistic operational plan which is based on the service concept. * Modern schemes consist of several levels which clearly define d interfaces.

* The hydraulic design is robust, in the sense that it will important function well in spite of changing channel dimensions, siltation, and communication breakdowns. Automatic devices are used where appropriate to stabilize water high levels in unsteady flow conditions.ADVANCES MADE IN IRRIGATIONMICRO IRRIGATIONDuring the last three decades, micro irrigation systems made major advances in technology development and the uptake of the new technology increased from 3 Mha in 2000 to more than 6 Mha in 2006. Micro-irrigation is an irrigation method that applies water slowly to the roots of plants, by depositing the water either on the soil surface or directly to the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and pure emitters (see Figure below).B. House at Colorado State University succeeded in applying water to the root zone of plants without raising the water table. Perforated pipe was introduced in Germany in the 1920s and in 1934; O.E.Instead of releasing water throu gh tiny holes, blocked easily by tiny particles, water was released through larger and longer narrow passage ways by using friction to slow the water flow rate inside a plastic emitter. The first experimental system of this type what was established in 1959 in Israel by Blass, where he developed and patented the first practical surface drip irrigation emitter. The Micro-sprayer concept was developed in South Africa to contain the dust on mine heaps. From here much more advanced developments took place to use it as a method to apply water to mainly agricultural crops.Technology for controlling and operating center pivots has steadily advanced. Kranz et al. (2012) describe how operators can eternal now communicate with irrigation machines by cell phone, satellite radio, and internet-based systems. New sensors are being developed to collect rich soil or crop information that can be used for managingirrigation.

Finally, Martin et al. (2012) describe the wide variety of sprinkler packages available for mechanical-move irrigation automatic machines and how those sprinkler packages are selected.Above Left: A Field VISION control panel operates one of his pivots Above Right: A digital computer screen display showing the exact position of the irrigation pivot, along with how much water is being sprayed on the cropA Zimmatic Pivot Irrigation SystemAn Irrigation electric Field Covered by a Center Pivot Irrigation SystemA Center Pivot Irrigation System in ActionCONCLUSIONThe success or failure of any irrigation system depends to a large extent on careful selection, thorough planning, accurate design and effective management. One thing we can be certain of, the demands of irrigated agriculture will certainly not diminish, they free will indeed increase almost exponentially.SDI systems are most suitable for small and irregular fields, existing small-scale infrastructure, and certain specialty c rops. These innovative technologies require significant investment. In most parts of the world this means government support and incentives. Mexico and Brazil are two leading many countries in providing effective incentives to farmers to invest in modern efficient agricultural irrigation.REFERENCESEnglish, M.J., K.H.A paradigm shift in irrigation management. J. Irrig. Drain.

logical and B. A. King. 2012., D.C. McKinney, and M.W.Syst. 76:1043-1066. James Hardie. 2011.Bjornberg.2012. Droplet kinetic energy of moving spray-plate center-pivot irrigation sprinklers. Trans.

2011. Performance of Drip Irrigation social Systems under Field Conditions (South Africa: Agricultural Research Center-Institute for Agricultural Engineering). Kranz, W. L.Lamm. 2012. A review of center-pivot irrigation control and automation technologies. Applied Eng.Stewart, logical and R.N. Donald. 1990.Singh. 2003. Regional water management modeling for decision support in irrigated agriculture. J.

Martin, D. L., W. R.2012. Selecting sprinkler small packages for center pivots. Trans. ASABE55(2): 513-523.14(4), (1998): 391-398. Playà ¡n, E., and L. Mateos.80:100-116. Rogers, D. 2012.LEPA Irrigation Management for Center Pivots.