WEL COME

Micro Irrigation Scope,

Design and Maintenance
 Trend in Net area irrigated (Lakh ha) in
Tamil Nadu

Source of irrigation 1997 2009

Canal 8.8 (35.6) 8.1 (30.3)
Tank 9.1 (36.8) 6.0 (22.4)
Well 6.5 (26.0) 12.6 (46.7)
Other (Springs, channels) 0.4 (1.6) 0.2 (0.6)
Total 24.8 26.9
Irrigation Efficiency (%) 131 123
Figures in parenthesis are percentage
 Tamil Nadu : Supply - Demand
GAP for Water in 2025

Particulars Quantity in Mh-m

Water Supply 4.7
Water Demand 6.9
Agriculture 5.2
Non Agriculture 1.7
Supply Demand Gap - 2.2
 Microirrigation
Delivery of water at low flow rates through
various types of water applicators by a
distribution system located on the soil
surface, beneath the surface, or suspended
above the ground

Water is applied as drops, spray or stream of

watering through emitters, sprayers or
porous tubing
 Advantages
High application efficiency
High yield/quality
Decreased energy requirements
Reduced salinity hazard
Adaptable for chemigation
Reduced weed growth and disease
problems
Can be highly automated
 Disadvantages
High initial cost

Maintenance requirements (emitter

clogging, etc.)

Salt accumulation near plants (along the

edges of the wetted zone)
 Types of MI Systems
1. Surface trickle (drip)

Water applied through small emitter

openings to the soil surface
 System Components
Pump
Control head
Filters
Chemical injection equipment (tanks, injectors,
backflow prevention, etc.)
Flow measurement devices
Valves
Controllers
Pressure regulators
System Components, Contd

Mainlines and Submains (manifolds)

Often buried and nearly always plastic (PVC)
Laterals
LLDPE
Supply water to emitters (sometimes
"emitters" are part of the lateral itself)
DRIP IRRISGATION SYSTEM
LAYOUT
Point Source Emitters in a New Orchard
 Types of MI Systems Contd
2. Spray

Water applied (spray, jet, fog, mist) to the soil surface at

low pressure

Aerial distribution of water as opposed to soil

distribution

High Maintenance requirements

Spray Irrigation
Spray Irrigation
 Types of Systems Contd
3. Bubbler
Water applied as a small stream to flood the
soil surface in localized areas
Suitable in situations where large amount of water
need to be applied in a short period of time
Suitable for irrigating trees with wide root zones
and high water requirements
 Types of Systems Contd

4. Subsurface trickle
Water applied through small emitter
openings below the soil surface
Basically a surface system that's been
buried (few inches to a couple feet)
Permanent installation that is "out of the
way"
 Typical Subsurface Drip Tubing Installation for Row Crops

30 in
Non Wheel-
Track Row

12 14 in

Drip Tubing

Wetting Pattern
60 in

60-inch drip line spacing is satisfactory on silt loam & clay loam soils
 Distribution Network
a. Mainline :mainline transports water within
the field and distribute to sub mains

Made of rigid PVC and High Density

Polyethylene (HDPE).

Pipelines of 65 mm diameter and above with a

pressure rating 4 to 6 kg/cm2 are used for main
pipes
 Sub mains
b. Sub mains distribute water evenly to a
number of lateral lines

For sub main pipes, rigid PVC, HDPE or LDPE

(Low Density Polyethylene)

Diameter ranging from 32 mm to 75 mm

having pressure rating of 2.5 kg/cm2 are used.
 Laterals
c. Laterals distribute the water uniformly along
their length by means of drippers or emitters

Normally manufactured from LDPE

Pipes having 10, 12 and 16 mm internal diameter

 Emitters / Drippers
d. Emitters / Drippers
Energy dissipaters, reducing the inlet pressure
head (0.5 to 1.5 atmospheres) to zero
atmospheres at the outlet

Online Pressure Compensating drippers

:dripper supplies water uniformly on long rows
and on uneven slopes.
 Online Non-Pressure Compensating drippers

In-Line Drippers or Inline tubes:

 e. Filters
Gravel or Media Filter
Usually 1.5 4 mm in diameter

These filters are effective in removing light suspended

materials, such as algae and other organic materials, fine
sand and silt particles

This type of filtration is essential for primary filtration of

irrigation water from open water reservoirs, canals or
reservoirs in which algae may develop.
Different types of Media filters
 Screen Filters
Additional safeguard against clogging

Majority of impurities are filtered by sand

filter, minute sand particles and other small
impurities pass through it

Screen sizes ranging from 20 mesh to 200

mesh
Screen filter showing steel wire mesh strainers
 Centrifugal Filters
Centrifugal filters are effective in filtering
sand, fine gravel and other high density
materials from well or river water
 Disk Filters
Very effective in the filtration of organic material
and algae

Disk filters are available in a wide size range (25 -

400 microns)
FERTIGATION
FERTIGATION
 Installation of Micro Irrigation
System
Installation of pumping unit
Installation of fertigation unit.
Fitting of filter unit
Laying of mains and sub mains
Laying of lateral and connecting emitters
 Planning and Design of Drip
Irrigation System
Collection of general information
Layout of the field
Crop water requirement
Hydraulic design of the system
Pump horse power requirement
 Collection of General Information : water source, crops
to be grown, topographic condition, type and texture of the
soil and climatic data
Layout of the Field
 Crop Water Requirement
Daily crop water requirement
V E p K p Kc A Wp
Net daily volume of water required
Vn V Re A W p

Daily operating hours of the system (T)

Vn
Ne N p q
 Hydraulic Design of System
Flow carried by each lateral line
Ql= Discharge of one dripper No. of drippers per
lateral

Flow carried by each sub main line

Qs = Ql No. of lateral lines per sub main

Flow carried by main line (Qm) = Qs No. of sub

main line
 Head Loss in Laterals
Q 1.852 1 1 m 1
H f (100) K ( ) D 4.871 F F
m 1 2N

C 6N 2

Hf (100) = head loss due to friction per 100 meter of pipe

length, m/100m
Q = flow of water in pipe, lps
D = Internal diameter of pipe, cm
L = length of the pipe, m
C = Hazen - William constant (140 for PVC pipe)
F= Reduction Factor due to multiple openings in pipe,
which can be computed by equation
m = 1.852
N = number of outlets on the lateral
 Horsepower requirement of pump

H Qm
Horsepower required (hp) = 75 x p x m

H = Total pumping head (Hf + He + HS), m

Hf = Total head loss due to friction (Friction head loss in mains +
Friction head loss in sub mains + Friction loss in laterals +
Head loss in accessories), m
He = Operating pressure head required at the dripper, m
HS = Total static head, m
Qm = Discharge of main, lps
p= Efficiency of pump, fraction
m = Efficiency of motor, fraction
Chilly
 High Density Planting
Normal Planting

65.73 t/ha 59.99 t/ha

 CHLORINATION
When the source of irrigation water is a dam, river, irrigation
channels, etc., chlorination is recommended which kills
bacteria, algae and other organic matter.
How to measure?
Assume 5 mg of chlorine dissolved in one liter of water
with chlorine treatment for half an hour
Volume of water delivered = 2625 lit
Hence, Chlorine needed = 5 (mg/lit) x 2625 lit = 13125 mg
13 gm of chlorine
 CHLORINATION Contd.,
Consider Bleaching powder is using for Chlorine treatment
Bleaching powder contains 35 % of Chlorine
35 gm of cl 13 gm of chlorine
So, ---------------------------------- = ----------------------------------
100 gm of bleaching powder X gm of Bleaching powder

13 x 100
Therefore, gm of bleaching powder required = ----------- = 37 gms
35

Consider Venturi suction rate = 50 liters per hour

So, Venturi suction volume for 30 minutes = 25 liters

Chlorine test
Take 10 ml sample from an emitter
Add drops of free chlorine indicator and count the No. of drops and multiplied
by 0.1 which will give the chlorine content of the irrigation water
 ACIDIFICATION
Assume acid treatment is for 30 minutes
Discharge for 30 minutes = 2625 liters
Recommended dosage of 1 liter of acid in 1000 lit of water
2625
Hence, acid needed = ------------ = 2.625 liter of acid
1000
Consider Venturi suction rate = 50 lph
So, Venturi suction volume for 30 minutes = 25 liters
Stalk solution for acid treatment
Hence, Pour 2.625 liter of acid in 22.375 liter of water