Water Management Technology Options for Non-Rice Crops
Special irrigation techniques for non-rice crops:
Paired row technique:
- It is a method in which accommodating crop rows on both sides of furrow by increasing ridge spacing, thereby a common furrow is used fro irrigation of two rows .
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- This method of irrigation has been experimented for crops like greengram, blackgram, groundnut and sunflower. The results showed that there was saving of about 20 % irrigation water and 15 % increase in crop yields
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- In Coimbatore district, the paired row system of planting for cotton crop saved 29 % of irrigation water with almost the same yield as that of conventional furrow system. The water use efficiency was found to be 31.1 kg/ha-cm.
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Alternate furrow system:
In sugarcane alternate furrow saves 34.1 % irrigation water compared to all furrow irrigation in sandy clay loam soils of Coimbatore. |
- Growing chillies under alternate furrow irrigation with 10 t/ha of coir pith application saves 30.8 % irrigation water over all furrow irrigation.
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- Growing groundnut in ridges and furrows under well irrigated conditions saves 24-27 % of irrigation water compared to check basin
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- Alternate furrow irrigation to brinjal saves 24 % of water than normal farmers practice.
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- Alternate furrow irrigation for PKM1 tomato crop saves 34 % of irrigation water compared to all furrow irrigation and 55 5 over check basin. There is no significant variation in yields between the two methods
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Growing turmeric under improved irrigation practice of using 5 cm depth of water plus application of coir pith 10 tons/ha as mulch saves water upto 44 % over normal farmers practice (ridges and furrows).
Gradual widening technique
Irrigating banana at 1.0 IW/CPE ration (once in 7 days) from 0-7 months and 1.2 IW/CPE ratio (once in 5 days) from 7-14 months recorded higher mean yield of 32.7 t/ha with an increased fruit yield of 2.1 t/ha compared to basin irrigation at 1.0 IW/CPE ratio throughout the crop growth period, besides higher WUE and saving of 140 mm of water. By gradual widening of ring basins from 30x60, 45x90 and 60x120 cm for 0-50, 51-100 and 101-150 days respectively followed. By basin method there was a saving of 25.4 % of water and increased WUE of 25.9 % over check basin
Surge irrigation technique
A relatively new concept in surface irrigation application method viz., surge irrigation has been introduced and evaluated for field use. Extensive experimental trails covering a wide range of long furrow specifications, inflow discharges, cycle ratios and number of surges with different test crops like maize, sunflower and sorghum have established the supremacy of surge irrigation over continuous flow
a) Semi-automated system
1. |
Function / Objective |
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To effect ON-OFF cycled intermittent irrigation flows (SURGE FLOW) into a series of long furrows as specified rates of flow and surge cycle ratio. |
2. |
Specification |
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a) Size of inner pipe |
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100 mm OD / Aluminium |
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b) Size of outer pipe |
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100 mm ID / PVC |
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c) Length of pipes |
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6.0 m |
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d) Size of orifice holes |
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25 mm |
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e) Spacing between the holes |
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600 mm |
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f) Surge cycle ratio for lever operation |
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0.5 |
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g) Permissible range of discharge |
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0.5 lps to 2.0 lps |
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h) Irrigable furrow length |
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50 m to 150 m |
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i) Pressure tank size |
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60 cm x 60 cm x 90 cm |
3. |
Cost |
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Rs. 8000/- per unit |
iv. Salient features
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Easy operation and efficient manipulation of surge flow rates in accordance with the design surge cycle timing parameters and irrigation requirements.
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Deep percolation losses along furrows hardly exceed 5 % compared to more than 25 % in continuous flow systems.
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Nearly 1.5 times increase in the irrigable area per unit time
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Helps achieve high degree of irrigation efficiencies and water use efficiencies (14 kg/ha/mm of water) with maize.
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Saving in water (40 to 60 %), time and labour (30 to 45 man-hours per ha compared to more than 60 man-hours per ha in continuous flow systems.
Water requirements of Agricultural crops in surface irrigation methods (5cm depth at each irrigation)
Crop
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Average water requirement (mm) |
Interval (days) |
Maize |
400 |
6-7 |
Groundnut |
450 |
7-8 |
Sorghum |
400 |
14-15 |
Bajra |
400 |
6-7 |
Ragi |
400 |
6-7 |
Sunflower |
450 |
7-8 |
Soybean |
670 |
6-7 |
Greengram |
250 |
10-12 |
Blackgram |
250 |
10-12 |
Gingelly |
250 |
15-20 |
Sugarcane |
2000 |
7-8 |
Banana |
1800 |
6-7 |
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