Irrigation and its Development

UNIT-I
 Advantages of Irrigation
1. Increase in food production
2. Optimum benefits
3. Elimination of mixed cropping
4. General Prosperity
5. Generation of Hydro-electric Power
6. Domestic water supply
7. Facilities of communications
8. Inland Navigation
9. Afforestation
 Disadvantages and Ill-effects of Irrigation
• Irrigation may contribute in various ways to the problem of
water pollution.
• Irrigation may result in colder and damper climate, resulting in
marshy lands and breeding of mosquitoes, causing outbreak of
diseases.
• Over-irrigation may lead to water-logging and may reduce crop
yields.
• Procuring and supplying irrigation water is complex and
expensive Itself.
 Types of Irrigation
• Surface Irrigation
– Flow Irrigation
• Perennial Irrigation
• Flood Irrigation

– Lift Irrigation

• Sub-surface Irrigation
– Natural Sub-Irrigation
– Artificial Sub-Irrigation
 Techniques of Water Distribution in the
Farms
• Free Flooding

• Border Flooding

• Check Flooding

• Basin Flooding

• Furrow Irrigation

• Sprinkler Irrigation

• Drip Irrigation
 Free Flooding

• In this method, ditches are excavated in the field, and they may be either on
the contour or up and down the slope.
• Water from these ditches, flows across the field. After the water leaves the
ditches, no at-tempt is made to control the flow by means of levees, etc.
• Since the movement of water is not restricted, it is sometimes called wild
flooding.
• Although the initial cost of land preparation is low, labour requirements are
usually high and water application efficiency is also low. Wild flooding, is
most suitable for close growing crops, pastures, etc., particularly where the
land is steep.
• Contour ditches called laterals or subsidiary ditches, are generally spaced at
about 20 to 50 metres apart, depending upon the slope, texture of soil.
Border Flooding
• In this method, the land is divided into a number of strips, separated by low levees called borders.
• The land areas confined in each strip is of the order of 10 t0 20 metres in width, and 100 to 400
metres in length.
• Ridges between borders should be sufficiently high to prevent overtopping during irrigation.
• To prevent water from concentrating on either side of the border, the land should be levelled
perpendicular to the flow.
• The water flows slowly towards the lower end, and infiltrates into the soil as it advances. When the
advancing water reaches the lower end of the strip, the supply of water to the strip is turned off.
• The size of the supply ditch depends upon the infiltration rate of the soil, and the width of the border
strip. Coarse textured soils with high infiltration rates will require high discharge rate and therefore
larger supply ditch, in- order to spread water over the entire strip rapidly, and to avoid excessive
losses due to deep percolation at the upper reaches.
• On the other hand, fine textured soils with low infiltration rates, require smaller ditches to avoid
excessive losses due to run off at the lower reaches.
• Check flooding is similar to free flooding except that the water
is controlled by surrounding check area with low and flat
levees.
• Levees are generally constructed long the contours with vertical
interval of 5-10cm.
• The confined plot area varies from 0.2 to 0.8 ha.
 Basin Flooding Irrigation

• This method is a special type of check flooding and is adopted specially for orchard trees.
• One or more trees are generally placed in the basin, and the surface is flooded as in check
method, by ditch water.
Furrow Irrigation
• In flooding methods, water covers the entire surface; while in furrow irrigation
method only one fifth to one half of the land surface is wetted by water.
• It therefore, results in less evaporation, less pudding of soil, and permits cultivation
sooner after irrigation.
• Furrows are narrow field ditches, excavated between rows of plants and carry
irrigation water through them.
• Spacing of furrows is determined by the proper spacing of the plants. Furrows vary
from 8 to 30 cm deep, and may be as much as 400 metres long.
• Excessive long furrows may result in too much percolation near the upper end, and
too little water near the down-slope end.
• Deep furrows are widely used for row crops. Small shallow furrows called
corrugations, are particularly suitable for relatively irregular topography and close
growing crops.
Sprinkler Irrigation
The conditions favouring the adoption of this method, are :
• When the land topography is irregular, and hence unsuitable for surface irrigation.
• When the land gradient is steeper, and soil is easily erodible.
• 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.
• When the water table is high.
• When the area is such that the seasonal water requirement is low, such as near the
coasts.
• 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.
• When the water is available with difficulty and is scarce.
The advantages of sprinkler irrigation are enumerated below :
• 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 levelling 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, as happens in surface irrigation methods. It, thus, .results in
increasing about 16% of the cropped area.
• In sprinkler system, the water is to be applied at a rate lesser than the infiltration capacity of the soil, and thus
avoiding surface runoff, and its bad effects, such as loss of water, washing of top soil, etc.
• Fertilisers can be uniformly applied, because they are mixed with irrigation water itself.
• This method leaches down salts and prevents water-logging or salinity.
• It is less labour oriented, and hence useful where labour is costly and ,scarce.
• Upto 80% efficiency can be achieved, i.e. upto 80% of applied water can be stored in the root zone of plants.
The limitations of sprinkler irrigation are also enumerated below :
• 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
may take place.
• They are not suited to crops requiring frequent and larger depths of irrigation, such as paddy.
• Initial cost of the system is very high, and the system requires a high technical, skill.
• Only sand and silt free water can be used, as otherwise pump impellers lifting such waters will
get damaged.
• It requires larger electrical power.
• Heavy soil with poor intake cannot be irrigated efficiently.
• A constant water supply is needed for commercial use of equipment.
Drip Irrigation
 Irrigation Water Quality

Parameters need to be considered