Methods & Techniques of Irrigation

There are three broad classes of irrigation systems:

1. Pressurized distribution
2. Gravity flow distribution
3. Drainage flow distribution
1. Pressurized Distribution
The pressurized systems include sprinkler, trickle, and the array of similar systems
in which water is conveyed to and distributed over the farmland through pressurized
pipe networks. There are many individual system configurations identified by unique
features (centre-pivot sprinkler systems).
2. Gravity Flow Irrigation System
Gravity flow systems convey and distribute water at the field level by a free surface,
overland flow regime. These surface irrigation methods are also subdivided
according to configuration and operational characteristics.

3. Control of drainage flow irrigation System

Irrigation by control of the drainage system, sub irrigation, is not common but is
interesting conceptually. Relatively large volumes of applied irrigation water
percolate through the root zone and become a drainage or groundwater flow. By
controlling the flow at critical points, it is possible to raise the level of the
groundwater to within reach of the crop roots. These individual irrigation systems
have a variety of advantages and particular applications.
Irrigation systems are often designed to maximize efficiencies and minimize
labour and capital requirements. The most effective management practices are
dependent on the type of irrigation system and its design. For example,
management can be influenced by the use of automation, the control of or the
capture and reuse of runoff, field soil and topographical variations and the existence
and location of flow measurement and water control structures
Compatibility of the irrigation systems:
The irrigation system for a field or a farm must be compatible with the other
existing farm operations, such as land preparation, cultivation, and harvest.
Level of Mechanization

Size of Fields
Cultivation
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Pest Control
Topographic Limitations.

Restrictions on irrigation system selection due to topography include:

Groundwater levels the location and relative elevation of the water source, field
boundaries, Acreage in each field, the location of roads power and water lines and
other obstructions, the shape and slope of the field
Methods of Irrigation
Under gravity irrigation, water is distributed by means of open canals and conducts
without pressure. Gravity irrigation methods are less expensive, but require more
skill and experience to achieve rescannable efficiency. This method also requires
that the land to be irrigated should have a flatter slope, otherwise the cost of land
leveling and preparation at times become very high. Gravity irrigation method.
Includes furrow, boarder, basin, wild- flooding and corrugation.
1. Furrow irrigation
In this method of surface irrigation, water is applied to the field by furrow which are
small canals having a continuous our nearly uniform slope in the direction of
irrigation. Water flowing in the furrow into the soil spreads laterally to irrigate the
area between furrows.
The rate of lateral spread of water in the soil depends on soil type. I.e. For a given
time, water will infiltrate more vertically and less laterally in relatively sandy soils
than in clay soil.
Where the land grade is less than 1% in the direction of furrow, striate graded
furrows may be adapted. The grade can be as much as 2 to 3% depending on the
soil type and the rainfall intensity, which affects erosion. When field sloped is too
steep to align the furrows down the slope, control furrows which run along curved
routed may be used. Spacing of furrows depends on the crop type and the type of
machinery used for cultivation and planting.
Length of furrows depends largely on permeability of the soil, the available labor
and skill, and experiences of the irrigation.
Flow rates are related to the infiltration to the rate of the soil.
Longitudinal slope of furrow depends up on the soil type, especially its errodiability
and the velocity of flow. Slope may be related to discharge as follows.
Slope % 0.25 0.5 0.75 1.0 1.5 2.0
Qmax (m3/hr) 9.0 4.5 3.0 2.2 1.5 1.1

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2. Boarder - strip Irrigation:

The farms are divided into number of strips of 5 to 20 meters wide and 100 to 400
meters long. Parallel earth bunds or levees are provided in order to guide the
advancing sheet of water.
Recommended safe limits of longitudinal slope also depend on the soil texture:
Sandy loam to sandy soils 0.25 - 0.6%
Medium loam soils 0.2 - 0.4%
Clay to clay loam soils 0.05 - 0.2%
3. Basin irrigation:
Large stream of water is applied to almost level and smaller unit of fields which are
surrounded by levees or bunds. The applied water is retained in the basin until it
filtrates.
Soil type, stream size and irrigation depth are the important factors in determine
the basin area.
Method of irrigation

Type of Crop suited

Border strip method

Wheat, Leafy vegetables, Fodders

Furrow method

Cotton, Sugarcane, Potatoes

Basin method

Orchard trees

4. Wild flooding
Water is applied all over the field especially, before plowing for soil that can't be
plowed when dry.
Under closed conduit- there are two types of irrigation
1. Sprinkler
2. Drip irrigation
1. Sprinkler irrigation:
It is mostly used for young growth, to humid the atmosphere, for soil
compaction( specially for sandy loam soils before planting, for land having up and
down slope and used to wash out plant leaves especially in dusty area.

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Sprinkler irrigation offers a means of irrigating areas which are so irregular that they
prevent use of any surface irrigation methods. By using a low supply rate, deep
percolation or surface runoff and erosion can be minimized. Offsetting these
advantages is the relatively high cost of the sprinkling equipment and the
permanent installations necessary to supply water to the sprinkler lines.
Very low delivery rates may also result in fairly high evaporation from the spray and
the wetted vegetation. It is impossible to get completely uniform distribution of
water around a sprinkler head and spacing of the heads must be planned to overlap
spray areas so that distribution is essentially uniform
Advantages
Economical to labor & uniform distribution.
2. Drip irrigation
This is used especially where there is shortage of water and salt problem. The drip
method of irrigation, also called trickle irrigation. The method is one of the most
recent developments in irrigation. It involves slow and frequent application of water
to the plant root zone and enables the application of water and fertilizer at optimum
rates to the root system. It minimizes the loss of water by deep percolation below
the root zone or by evaporation from the soil surface. Drip irrigation is not only
economical in water use but also gives higher yields with poor quality water.
Advantages

No loss of water because all water drops at root zone.

No water logging and rise of water table at result salinity problems caused by
this irrigation type is almost nil.
Uniform distribution of water.
Good water management.
Economical use of labour.

Definition:
It is the quantity of water used by the vegetation growth of a given area. It is the
amount of water required by a crop for its vegetated growth to evapotranspiration
and building of plant tissues plus evaporation from soils and intercepted
precipitation. It is expressed in terms of depth of water. Consumptive use varies
with temperature, humidity, wind speed, topography, sunlight hours, method of
irrigation, moisture availability.
Mathematically,
Consumptive Use = Evapotranspiration = Evaporation + transpiration It is
expressed in terms of depth of water.
Factors Affecting the Consumptive Use of Water
Consumptive use of water varies with:

Evaporation which depends on humidity

Mean Monthly temperature
Growing season of crops and cropping pattern
Monthly precipitation in area
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Wind velocity in locality

Soil and topography
Irrigation practices and method of irrigation
Sunlight hours

Types of Consumptive Water Use

Following are the types of consumptive use,

Optimum Consumptive Use

Potential Consumptive Use
Seasonal Consumptive Use

1. Optimum Consumptive Use:

It is the consumptive use which produces a maximum crop yield.
2. Potential Consumptive Use:
If sufficient moisture is always available to completely meet the needs of vegetation
fully covering the entire area then resulting evapotranspiration is known as Potential
Consumptive Use.
3. Seasonal Consumptive Use:
The total amount of water used in the evapotranspiration by a cropped area during
the entire growing season.

Irrigation Water Requirement of Crops

It is defined as, "The quantity of water required by a crop in a given period of time
for normal growth under field conditions." It includes evaporation and other
unavoidable wastes. Usually water requirement for crop is expressed in water depth
per unit area.
IRRIGATION WATER NEED = Crop water need available rain fall
The first thing you need to consider when planning your garden is what growing
zone you live in.
This is based on both the temperature range of your climate and the amount of
precipitation. Take a close look at the area in which you are going to plant your
garden. If the ground tends to be very moist, choose plants that can tolerate
constantly wet soil, and even standing water.
If you live in an area that suffers from frequent droughts, however, select plants
that can tolerate going long periods without water, especially in light of the frequent
watering restrictions imposed on such areas.
If you are lucky enough to live in an area that has a balanced climate, you have a
wider range of choices for your plants.
Low Water Requirement Plants
Plants that require low levels of water are often called drought tolerant. Droughttolerant plants can thrive in hot, dry conditions with very little water. They include
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both perennials and annuals. Most drought-tolerant plants only have to be handwatered when they are planted and while they are establishing themselves. After
that, they can be left to the natural cycle of the elements. Popular drought tolerant
trees include the red cedar. live oak, crape myrtle, and the windmill and saw
palmetto palm trees. All citrus trees are also drought tolerant. Many homeowners in
areas prone to drought, such as parts of the southern United States, use shrubs and
ground covering vines as part of their landscaping. These include Texas sage,
orange jasmine and Chinese fountain grass. There are not many perennial droughttolerant plants, but amaryllis is one that is very popular, along with the African iris.
Popular drought-olerant annuals include marigold, cosmos and the Dahlberg daisy

Mid-Level Water Requirement Crops

Most plants land in this range when it comes to water requirements. These plants
do not need to be watered every day, but they need to be watered when the soil
has been dry for over a week or two. Sometimes these plants are classified as
plants lying in the "occasional water zone". These include popular plants such as
geraniums, most roses, wisteria, clematis and other vine plants, sunflowers, spring
flowering bulbs, and most flowering perennial shrubs. Note that flowering annuals
planted in containers will need watering at least once or twice a week, while
annuals planted in the ground will need watering less often.
High Water Requirement Plants
Some plants require large amounts of water. These plants typically grow in marshy
areas or bogs, or along the banks of rivers, streams and lakes. The soil for these
plants should always be kept moist. Standing water is not a concern for these
plants, so you don't have to worry about root rot. Perennials are especially good for
wet areas because they don't have to be replanted year after year, which can be
difficult in marshy areas. Popular perennials for wet soil include iris plants, cannas,
bee balms, ferns, and bog salvia. Aquatic mint is a pleasant ground cover that likes
wet soil. The red osier dogwood does very well in wet conditions. Most annual
flowering plants also do well in constantly moist soil.
Water Requirement of Different Crops
Amount of water required by a crop in its whole production period is called water
requirement. The amount of water taken by crops varies considerably.
What crops use more water and which ones less.......
Crop

Water Requirement (mm)

Rice

900-2500
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Wheat

450-650

Sorghum

450-650

Maize

500-800

Sugarcane

1500-2500

Groundnut

500-700

Cotton

700-1300

Soybean

450-700

Tobacco

400-600

Tomato

600-800

Potato

500-700

Onion

350-550

Chilies

500

Sunflower

350-500

Castor

500

Bean

300-500

Cabbage

380-500

Pea

350-500

Banana

1200-2200

Citrus

900-1200

Pineapple

700-1000

Gingelly

350-400

Ragi

400-450

Grape

500-1200

Irrigation water requirement

This case study shows how to calculate the total water requirement for a command
area (irrigation blocks) under various crops, soil textures and conveyance loss
conditions. In order to evaluate the required irrigation gift for the entire command
area a simple water balance has to be set-up. The total water demand for each
irrigation block and the crops in each block are calculated by summing the following
components:
Infiltration (percolation loss) through the soil (I)
Seepage (conveyance loss) through the channel (S)
Maximum evapo-transpiration of the crop (ETm)
In this exercise, the irrigation water requirement is calculated for a 10-day period
during the harvest stage.
Evaluation of Percolation loss (I)
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The command area is divided in irrigation blocks. First, these irrigation blocks
are crossed with the soil texture map to determine the area of each soil texture
class in each block. Percolation losses differ per soil texture class so a table with the
following percolation data is created:
Percolation
(mm/day)
Clay
4
Loam
12
Sandy clay 14
Clay loam 7
Texture

loss

The percolation table is joined with the cross table to get the percolation for each
soil texture class in each block. The amount of water loss for each soil texture class
per block is calculated with a tabcalc statement. In order to get the total percolation
loss per block the results of the previous operation are aggregated.
Evaluation of Conveyance loss (S)
Conveyance losses are calculated in about the same way as the percolation losses.
First, the map with the irrigation blocks is crossed with the channel distribution map.
The conveyance loss per meter channel length differs per channel type and is 0.2
m per day for clay channels and 0.01 m per day for concrete channels. A new
table indicating water loss per channel type is created and joined to the cross table.
The amount of water loss for each type of channel per block is calculated with a
simple tabcalc formula. Finally the results are aggregated to evaluate the total
conveyance loss per irrigation block.
Evaluation of maximum evapotranspiration (ETm)
Crop water requirements are normally expressed by the rate of evapo-transpiration
(ET). The evaporative demand can be expressed as the reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo) which predicts the effect of climate on the level of crop evapotranspiration. In this case study the ETo is 8 mm/day. Empirically-determined crop
coefficients (kc) can be used to relate ETo to maximum crop evapotranspiration
(ETm) when water supply fully meets the water requirement of the crop. The value
of kc varies with crop and development stage. The kc values for each crop and
development stage are available in a table.
For a given climate, crop and crop development stage, the maximum evapotranspiration (ETm) in mm/day of the period considered is:
ETm = kc * ETo
Maximum evapotranspiration refers to conditions when water is adequate for
unrestricted growth and development under optimum agronomic and irrigation
management. Maximum evapotranspiration is calculated in this case study
by crossing the irrigation block map with the map that shows the different crop
types in the command area,joining the cross table with the kc table and by applying
the maximum evapotranspiration formula with a tabcalc statement.
Water balance calculation (S+I+ETm)

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The required irrigation gift for the entire command area is equal to the sum of water
losses due to infiltration through the soil (I), seepage through the channel (S) and
maximum evapotranspiration (ETm) for each block. The total amount of water
requirement in harvest period for each block is reclassified in irrigation classes
using the following table:
Upper boundary Irrigation class
4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

Finally, you will create a script to automate the calculation procedure. With the
script, you can easily calculate the water requirements for other growing stages
Weirs - Types & Components
Definition:
A solid obstruction put across river to raise its water level and divert water into
canal (low head structure)
Vertical drop wall or crest wall
Upstream, downstream cut off wall at the ends of impervious floor
Launching apron for prevention of scour
Graduated inverted filter on downstream surface floor end to relieve the uplift
pressure.
Types of Weirs
The two main types of weirs are:

Gravity weir
Non Gravity weir

Gravity weirs:
Uplift pressure due to the seepage of water below the floor is resisted by the weight
of floor.
Its further types are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Vertical drop weir

Masonry or concrete slope weir
Dry stone slope weir
Parabolic weir
Explanation:

Vertical drop weir

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Vertical drop weir or crest wall Upstream and downstream cut off wall at the end of
impervious floor.
Launching apron for scouring prevention
Graded inverted filter at downstream floor end to relieve the uplift pressure.
Masonry or concrete slope weir
Suitable for soft sandy foundation generally used where the difference in weir crest
and downstream river is limited to 3m.
Hydraulic jump is formed on sloping crest.
Dry stone slope weir
Body wall or weir wall Upstream and downstream rock fill laid in form of glacis, with
few intervening care walls.
Parabolic weir
Similar to spillway section of a dam
Body wall designed as low dam.
Cistern to dissipate energy
Location of Weirs
A weir should be located in a stable part of the river where the river is unlikely to
change its course.
The weir has to be built high enough to fulfill command requirements. During high
floods, the river could overtop its embankments and change its course. Therefore, a
location with firm, well defined banks should be selected for the construction of the
weir.
Where possible, the site should have good bed conditions, such as rock outcrops.
Alternatively, the weir should be kept as low as possible.
Causes of failure of Weirs & their Remedies
Types & Components of Weirs
Common causes of failure of weirs include:
Excessive and progressive downstream erosion, both from within the stream and
through lateral erosion of the banks
Erosion of inadequately protected abutments
Hydraulic removal of fines and other support material from downstream protection
(gabions and aprons) resulting in erosion of the apron protection
Deterioration of the cutoff and subsequent loss of containment
Additional aspects specific to concrete, rock fill or steel structures.
The main causes are:
1. Piping
Piping is caused by groundwater seeping out of the bank face. Grains are detached
and entrained by the seepage flow and may be transported away from the bank
face by surface runoff generated by the seepage, if there is sufficient volume of
flow.
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The exit gradient of water seeping under the base of the weir at the downstream
end may exceed a certain critical value of soil. As a result the surface soil starts
boiling and is washed away by percolating water. The progressive erosion backwash
at the upstream results in the formation of channel (pipe) underneath the floor of
weir.
Since there is always a differential head between upstream & downstream,
water is constantly moving form upstream to downstream from under the base of
weir. However, if the hydraulic gradient becomes big, greater than the critical value,
then at the point of existance of water at the downstream end, it begins to dislodge
the soil particles and carry them away.
In due course, when this erosion continues, a sort of pipe or channel is formed
within the floor through which more particles are transported downstream which
can bring about failure of weir.
Piping is especially likely in high banks backed by the valley side, a terrace, or some
other high ground. In these locations the high head of water can cause large
seepage pressures to occur. Evidence includes: Pronounced seep lines, especially
along sand layers or lenses in the bank; pipe shaped cavities in the bank; notches
in the bank associated with seepage zones and layers; run-out deposits of eroded
material on the lower bank.
Remedies:
Decrease Hydraulic gradient i.e. increase path of percolation by providing sufficient
length of impervious floor
Providing curtains or piles at both upstream and downstream

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