Index

introduction

Different Types of Irrigation Systems

Canal Irrigation:

Tank Irrigation:

Micro-Irrigation or Localized irrigation:

CONCLUSION:-

Reference:-
 INTRODUCTION

All living beings require water to survive. Animals and human beings
directly fulfill their water requirement by drinking water. Similarly, plants
and crops need water to thrive and survive. Being mobile, they cannot
fulfill their water needs completely on their own. Although they can
transport water molecules from the ground through their roots, to grow
into healthy crops, they need an external source of water. The process of
supplying definite water supply at set intervals of time to crops for
cultivation, maintenance, and revegetation is called as Irrigation.

Supplying water to agricultural land for cultivation is known as irrigation.

Farms also receive a good amount of rainfall and the rainwater may be
useful to crops for growth. But the water supplied through irrigation is in
limited and set amounts, at regular intervals of time, and keeps the soil
moist and appropriate for the crops. Thus, any part and patch of land with
good and nutrient-rich soil can be used for farming even if the rainfall is
scarce in that area with the help of irrigation. It ensures a continuous
supply of the required quantities of water to crops. Water for irrigation can
be extracted from wells, groundwater, springs, surface water reserves, etc.
Different Types of Irrigation Systems

Well and Tube Well Irrigation System:-

A Well and Tubewell consider as part of the
Irrigation System. A well is a hole dug in the ground to get the subsoil
water. Normal well is about 3-5 meters deep but deeper wells up-to 15
meters are also dug. This system of irrigation has been used in India since
ancient times. Various methods are used to lift the groundwater from the
well for irrigation, drinking, bathing and for other purposes. Well, irrigation
is more popular in those regions where groundwater is in ample and where
there are few canals. These areas include a large part of the Great Northern
Plain, the deltaic regions of the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna, and
the Cauvery, parts of the Narmada and the Tapi valleys and the weathered
layers of the Deccan Trap and crystalline rocks and the sedimentary zones
of the Peninsula. However, the greater part of Peninsular India is not
appropriate for good irrigation due to stony structure, rough surface and
lack of underground water. Large dry tracts of Rajasthan, the adjacent parts
of Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat and some parts of Uttar Pradesh have
salty groundwater that is not suitable for irrigation and human use and
hence inappropriate for good irrigation.

Tube well:-
A tube well is a deeper well (generally over 15 meters deep) from
which water is lifted with the help of a pumping set operated by an electric
motor, a diesel engine or solar power. A tube well cannot be constructed in
all places and requires some geographical conditions favoring its
installation. The main factors for Tube well construction are:
 1. There should be enough quantity of groundwater because a tube well
can generally irrigate 2 hectares per day against 0.2 hectares per day
irrigated by an ordinary well.
2. The water level should be nearly 15 meters. If the water table is more
than 50 meters deep the cost of pumping out water from the tube
well becomes uneconomic.
3. There should be a normal supply of cheap electricity or diesel so that
water from the tube well can be taken out at the hour of need.
4. The soil in the immediate neighborhood of the tube-well should be
productive so that there is a demand for irrigation and the cost
involved in the construction and operation of the tube well can be
recovered by the increased farm production.

Advantages of Well and Tube Well Irrigation:

Well is the simplest and cost-effective source of irrigation and the
poor Indian farmer can easily afford it. Well is an independent source of
irrigation and can be used as and when the necessity arises. Several
chemicals such as nitrate, chloride, sulfate, etc. are generally found mixed in
well water. They make soil fertility when they reach the agricultural field
along with well water. It is more reliable during periods of famine when
surface water dries up.
Disadvantages of well and Tube Well Irrigation:
With these methods, the only limited area can be irrigated. Normally, a well
can irrigate 1 to 8 hectares of land. The well may dry up and maybe
rendered ineffective for irrigation if excessive water is taken out. In the
drought situation, the groundwater level falls and enough water is not
available in the well when it is needed the most.
Tube wells can draw a lot of groundwater from its neighboring areas and
make the ground dry and not suitable for agriculture. Well, and tube well
irrigation is not possible in areas of salty groundwater.

Canal Irrigation:
Canals are the most important source of irrigation from the period of the
1960s, but in the 1970s, they yielded first place to wells and tube wells and
now constitute the second most important source of irrigation in India.
Canals are the most effective techniques of irrigation in areas of low-level
relief, deep fertile soils, a perennial source of water and extensive command
area. Therefore, the main concentration of canal irrigation is in the
northern plain of India, especially the areas comprising Uttar Pradesh
Haryana and Punjab.
The digging of canals in stony and uneven areas is difficult and
unprofitable. Thus the canals are practically absent from the Peninsular
plateau area. However, the coastal and the delta regions in South India do
have some canals for irrigation
Advantages of Canal Irrigation:-
Most of the canals provide perennial irrigation and supply water as and
when required. This saves the crops from drought conditions and helps in
increasing farm production. Canals carry a lot of residues brought down by
the rivers. This sediment is deposited in the agricultural fields which makes
the soil more fertile. Some of the canals are parts of multipurpose projects
and, therefore, provide an inexpensive source of irrigation. Although the
initial cost involved in canal irrigation is more, it is quite cheap in the long
run.
Disadvantages of Canal Irrigation:-
The canal water soaks into the ground and results in water-logging along
the canal route. Excessive flow of water in the fields raises the groundwater
level. Capillary action brings alkaline salts to the surface and makes large
areas unfit for agriculture. Huge areas in Panjab, Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh suffer from the problem caused by canal irrigation. The muddy
areas near the canals act as reproduction grounds of mosquitoes which
result in widespread malaria. Many canals overflow during the rainy season
and flood the surrounding areas. Canal irrigation is suitable in plain areas
only.

Tank Irrigation:
A tank act as an irrigation storage system that is developed by constructing
a small bund of earth or stones built across a stream. The water impounded
by the bund is used for irrigation and for other purposes. Some tanks are
built partly as dugouts and partly by enclosing bunds. Tanks are of varying
size but most of the tanks are of small size and are built by individual
farmers or groups of farmers. Tank irrigation is more suitable in the
peninsular plateau area such as Andhra Pradesh (Including Telangana) and
Tamil Nadu.
Andhra Pradesh is the largest state of tank irrigation which has about 29
percent of tank irrigated area of India. About 16 percent of the total
irrigated area of the state is irrigated by tanks. The drainage areas of the
Godavari and its tributaries have a large number of tanks. Nellore and
Warangal are the main districts of tank irrigation.
According to reports, Tamil Nadu has the second largest area which is over
23 percent of tank irrigated area of India and about one-fifth of the total
irrigated area of the state. Tanks comprise an important source of irrigation
in the Karnataka Plateau, eastern Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra,
interior Orissa, and Kerala. Outside the Peninsular plateau, West Bengal,
Bihar, Bundelkhand area of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat have
tank irrigation.
Advantages of Tank Irrigation:
Most of the tanks are natural and not expensive for their construction.
Even an individual farmer can have his own tank. Tanks are normally
constructed on the rocky bed and have a long life. In many tanks, fishing is
also done. This supplements both the food resources and income of the
farmer.

Disadvantages of Tank Irrigation:

The major problem with tanks water storage is that 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 de-silting of the tank at
regular intervals. Much water is evaporated from the large expanse of
shallow water and is therefore 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. Furthermore, lifting of water from tanks and carrying it to the
fields is a tiring and expensive effort that discourages the use of tanks as a
source of irrigation.

Micro-Irrigation or Localized irrigation:

Drip irrigation:
In the area of the irrigation process, drip irrigation is a modern technique.
It is also called trickle irrigation, which was originally developed in Israel in
the early 1960s and became popular in areas of water scarcity. The drip
irrigation is the most competent and it can be practiced in an array of
crops, especially in vegetables, orchard crops, flowers, and plantation
crops.
Drip irrigation was used to the ancient custom in certain parts of India of
irrigating a Tulsi plant kept in the courtyard. During the summer months,
the plant was irrigated by a hanging pitcher containing water and a minute
hole at its bottom to allow the trickling of water on to the plant. The tribal
farmers of Arunachal Pradesh practiced a primitive form of a drip
irrigation system using a slender bamboo as the conduit for water flow.
The use of drippers in the sub-surface irrigation network first
experimented in Germany in 1869. The noticeable growth of the
petrochemical industry during and after the 1950s aided manufacturing of
plastic pipes at a cost much cheaper than the cost of metallic or cement
concrete pipes. Plastic pipes are convenient for water conveyance under
pressure and the plastic material is easily formed into the desired
configuration. These features of plastic made the field-scale use of drip
irrigation practicable. The drip system was developed for field crops in
Israel in the early 1960s and in Australia and North America in the late
1960s. The area under the drip irrigation system in the USA is about 1 M
ha, followed by India, Spain, and Israel. In India, there has been
tremendous growth in the area under drip irrigation during the last 15
years.
Sprinkler Irrigation:

In the sprinkler technique of irrigation, water is sprinkled into the air and
allowed to fall on the ground surface just like rainfall. The spray is done by
the flow of water under pressure through small orifices or nozzles. The
pressure is generally obtained by pumping. Through proper selection of
nozzle sizes, operating pressure and sprinkler spacing the amount of
irrigation water required to refill the crop root zone can be applied almost
uniformly at the rate to suit the infiltration rate of the soil. In agriculture,
almost all crops are suitable for sprinkler irrigation systems except crops
such as paddy and jute. The dry crops, vegetables, flowering crops,
orchards, plantation crops like tea, coffee are all suitable and can be
irrigated through sprinklers techniques of irrigation.
Advantages of sprinkler irrigation:
1. Elimination of the channels for conveyance, therefore no conveyance
loss.
2. It is suitable for all types of soil apart from heavy clay.
3. It is an appropriate technique for irrigating crops where the plant
population per unit area is very high. It is most suitable for oilseeds
and other cereal and vegetable crops.
4. It saves water.
5. With this technique of irrigation, there is control of water application
convenient for giving light and frequent irrigation and higher water
application efficiency.

Disadvantages of a sprinkler system:

1. In this technique, the initial cost of implementation is high.
2. High and constant energy required for operation.
3. Under high wind condition and high-temperature distribution and
application efficiency is poor.
4. Highly saline water causes leaf burning when the temperature is
higher than 95 F.
5. When lands have been already leveled and developed for surface or
other irrigation methods sprinkler irrigation is not so economical.
CONCLUSION:-
India is an agricultural and populous country. About 70 percent of people
depend on agriculture. In order to grow food-crops and agricultural
products in large quantities to feed the growing millions, intensive farming
and rotation of crops are essential. Extensive irrigation is, therefore,
necessary for more production.
The rainfall of our country is dependent on the monsoons. Rainfall
controls our agriculture. But the agriculture of our country is said to be,
"the gambling of the monsoon as the monsoon rainfalls are uncertain,
irregular and uneven or unequal.
Irrigation engineering is very much important for better development of
the agricultural sector in terms of crop yield, protection from famine,
generation of water supply, better improvement of cash crops etc.
Reference:-
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrigation
https://www.cottoninc.com/cotton-production/ag-resources/irrigation-
management/references-and-additional-resources/
https://www.fao.org/4/X5647E/x5647e0f.htm