VISVESWARAIAH TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

BELGAUM

JSS MAHAVIDYAPEETH
SRI JAYACHAMARAJENDRA COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING
MYSORE-570 006

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL

SEMINAR REPORT
OF
DRIP IRRIGATION

Submitted by-
Kiran M Malipatil(4jc05cv021)

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SRI JAYACHAMARAJENDRA COLLEGE OFENGINEERING
MYSORE-570 006

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL

This is to certify that the seminar entitled “MILLAU BRIDGE” is a

bonafide work carried out by Mr. Kiran M Malipatil (4JC05CV021) in partial
fulfillment for the award of Bachelor of Engineering in Civil of the Visveswaraih
Technological University, Belgaum during the year 2009. The seminar report
has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in respect of the
Seminar prescribed for the said Degree.

Mr. [Link] [Link]

Professor Professor
Department of Civil. Department of Civil.

1). Signature of the seminar guide:

2). Signature of the HOD :

Date:

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 ABSTRACT

The backbone of our country being agriculture which is directly related to farmers

who provide us food and significant agricultural products. It is very important to observe

correct utilization of water, some regions having optimum rainfall and other having scanty

rainfall, due to which less or no growth of crops perhaps is forcing our farmers to commit

suicides unconditionally.

The correct and optimum utilization of water in conserving in agricultural fields,

lawns etc in regions having scanty rainfall, where drop by drop application of water is very

much essential and which can be done by drip irrigation. The endeavor to explore advantages,

disadvantages and components of drip irrigation system. Drip irrigation is technique of

uniformly delivering water and nutrients to root zone in precise amounts to meet the needs of

plant.

According to United Nations, one third of world’s population lives in countries that are

experiencing moderate to high water stress and by 2025 it is estimated that as much as two

thirds of world’s population could be living under water stress conditions.

The adoption of drip irrigation has been considerable in last 20 years and during these years

percentage of annual increase has outpaced other methods of irrigation.

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CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Why would you want to consider drip irrigation?

3.0 System Components

4.0 Technical Aspects

5.0 Drip irrigation Design

6.0 Success of Drip in India: An Example to the Third World

7.0 Advantages

8.0 Disadvantages

9.0 Conclusion

References

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AN INTRODUCTION TO
DRIP IRRIGATION

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Drip Irrigation is the slow application of water directly to the plant's root zone.

Maintaining an optimum moisture level in the soil at all times results in less water lost to the

sun and the wind. No water is wasted on non-growth areas, and the root zone is maintained at

its ideal moisture level, combining the proper balance of water and air for a very efficient

irrigation system. The crops grown with this system include the following:

1. Orchard crops such as grapes,citrus,apples,pears and deciduous

fruits(peaches,apricots,plums)nuts,bananas,dates,lives,mangoes,guavas,sapotas etc..

2. Vegetables: tomatoes, green peppers, egg plant, cucumber, lettuce, green peas,

cauliflower etc.

3. Row and field crops: cotton, sugarcane, sorghum and corn.

4. Others: berries, melons, alfala and flowers and herbal plants including ornamental

plants.

2.0 WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO CONSIDER DRIP IRRIGATION?

Drip irrigation can be a great aid to the efficient use of water. A well designed drip

irrigation system or subsurface drip irrigation system will lose practically no water to runoff,

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deep percolation or evaporation. Irrigation scheduling can be precisely managed to meet crop

demands, holding the promise of increased crop yields and quality.

Drip irrigation will decrease water contact with crop leaves, stems, and fruit. Thus conditions

may be less favorable for the onset of diseases. Often growers or irrigation professionals

refer to "subsurface drip irrigation" or SDI. When the drip tube can be buried below the soil

surface, it is less vulnerable to damage during cultivation or weeding. Water use can be

managed to be very efficient with SDI because irrigations can avoid water losses to

evaporation, runoff, and wetting the soil below the root zone.

Agricultural chemicals can be used more efficiently with drip irrigation. Since only the crop

root zone is irrigated, nitrogen already in the soil is less subject to leaching losses. Fertilizer

N that is added can be used more efficiently. Where insecticides are labeled for application

through drip irrigation, less insecticide may be required to control pests.

With all the potential benefits of drip irrigation, conversion to drip irrigation can increase

production costs, especially where another pre-existing irrigation system is already in place.

Ultimately, there must be an economic advantage to the growers for them to consider drip

irrigation.

In order to use this technology to its fullest potential, the basic principles that constitute a drip

irrigation system need to be understood. The concept of drip irrigation is to create a

continuous wetted strip along the tree line. This wetted strip should be homogeneous and

uniform thus providing even distribution of water and nutrients to the trees. The even supply

of water and nutrients directly to the root zone creates an optimal environment for the roots to

efficiently absorb the soil solution in order to maximize growth.

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 Drip irrigation delivers precise amounts of water in a very uniform fashion directly to

the root zone without runoff, wind drift, leaching below the root zone or wetting the canopy.

Furthermore, the dripper line applies water only to a portion of the surface thus maintaining

high moisture within the root zone without water logging due to dry surroundings. These

facts permit the use of “marginal water” such as wastewater, mill effluent and brackish water.

Marginal water can be used through drip without the risk of injuring the canopy, building-up

high concentrations of salts or leaching contaminants into the groundwater. However, only

the careful selection of a dripper line will bring the full expression of the aforementioned

benefits.

3.0 SYSTEM COMPONENTS

3.1 Discharge Elements:

It has the function of discharging water at the required flow rate at distinct pre-

determined points through out the field into the soil surface or the below ground. The flow

rates are often less than 4 LPS and the system pressures are usually in the range of 7m to

20m. The discharge openings are very small and the elements are arranged around the trees or

in line in the rows of crops. The elements are called emitters, drippers or [Link] may

discharge directly into the soil profile or may be directed first through short tubes 0.6m to

3.0m long to points remote from the emitter. These are called multiexit emitters. In other drip

systems, water is discharged directly into the soil surface through the walls of lateral pipe.

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Figure- Elaborated network of components of drip irrigation system

The selection of an appropriate emitter requires consideration of many factors such as,

 General suitability

 Pressure flow characteristics

 Manufacturing variability

 Sensitivity to temperature

 Resistance to clogging

3.1.1 Orifice Emitters:

The general discharge equation for orifice is

Q=C*A*(2*g*h) ^0.5 …. (3.1)

Water needs to be filtered to remove particles of 0.02 mm dia and even less, as the section

of the opening is very small.

3.1.2 Tube emitters:

Small diameter tubes have also been used as emitters.

Q=0.034*h^0.70 … (3.2)

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in which, Q is in gph and h in PSI

3.1.3 Lybyrinth emitters:

Some emitters are made of moulded plastic which directs the water through a tortuous

path to cause head loss.

Q=0.125*h^0.78 …. (3.3)

Q is in gph and h is in PSI

3.2 Lines:

3.2.1 Laterals supply of the emitters with water

These are plastic of polythene specially compounded. In order to reduce the cost of drip

Systems, the functions of laterals and drippers are combined into a single unit made of

Porons plastic. An another consists of a double plastic tube- one is inside the other. The

Water passes through holes in the inner tube to the space between the two tubes with

An associated pressure drop. The water is then delivered to the ground surface through

Closely spaced holes in the outer tube. The result is irrigation with nearly a line source

Of water, rather than several.

3.2.2 Main, sub main and manifolds:

Lateral lines are attached to manifolds which are supplied by sub mains.

The mains supply sub mains. The flow tubes are generally small for drip system and

Pipes are of small diameters plastic, either polyethylene or PVC is the most commonly

Used material.

3.3 Filters:

Because of small openings(0.25 mm to 0.0025 mm dia) used in drip irrigation drippers, the

water must be free of fines that could cause plugging. This requires extremely

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Good filtration properly maintained. Normal filtration excludes particles 160 to 75 microns.

When porons wall tubes are used, it may be necessary to consider 10 to 1 micron filtration.

3.4 Pressure Regulators:

Correct flow and thus water distribution is highly dependent upon the maintenance of the

correct pressure in the system. A pressure regulator is often installed,

Either before or after the main filtration element.

3.5 Control valves:

All the systems must have a method of shutting off water entry to the system. For hand

operated systems, this is a simple gate valve. For automated systems which supply water at

pre-determined schedule, solenoid operated, time controlled valves are used.

3.6 Miscellaneous Fittings:

In addition to the above mentioned main components, all necessary air valves, siphon

breakers, elbrows, tees, reducers, plugs, clamp etc. are also in the system.

Figure- Components of drip irrigation and the connection of main and sub lines

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4.0 TECHNICAL ASPECTS:

Design parameters:

The design of a drip Irrigation system involves estimation of the following parameters.

1. Area to be irrigated, type of plants, their spacing and numbers per hectare.

2. Peak water requirement of a plant per day. For estimation of total water requirement

for a given area, the number of emitters required per plant, amount of water

discharged per hour through each emitter and the total number of hours water is

available should be known/estimated.

3. Design of Main and Lateral Drip Lines. This depends upon friction head loss which in

turn is governed by the type of plantation/crop and field configuration.

4. Water required to be pumped from the well. This depends upon hydrogeological

conditions in the area and water requirement of plants/crop

5. Horse Power of Pump set this depends upon discharge and total head including

friction losses over which water is to be lifted/pumped.

6. Unit cost.

5.0 DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM DESIGN

i. Amount of water to supply: It is often possible to wet only a portion of the soil

surface with drip system, rather than the entire surface with a resultant reduction in

soil surface evaporation. For all crops, the design rate of water discharge is,

Q=Cu*a*c. …. (5.1)

In which ,q is discharge rate per plant in Lpd, Cu is the consumptive use rate mm

perday,A is the area in square metres between four adjacent plants and c is the ratio of

projected area on the ground surface of the plant to the area A, the discharge per

emitter(assuming daily irrigation)

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 Qn=H*N*q where, qn is the average emitter discharge in Lph,H is the total hours of

operation per day and N is the number of emitters operating per plant.

Maximum design time of 20 hours per day is recommended to allow for maintenance,

breakdowns [Link] row crops, consider length of row, rather than

The requirement of an individual plant, q=Ci/ (S1*Sm), where S1 is the spacing of

Emitters along the laterals along the manifold. Tables 1, 2, 3 give the daily water

quantity per emitter under different Et values and number of emitters per Ha and per

tree.

ii. Spacing of emitters: emitters must be spaced so that the horizontal flow will

Spread the water sufficiently, cost is less, and prevents accumulation of salt in the root

zone.

iii. Uniformity of water distribution: In order to have uniform discharge at all points

throughout a field, the design of drip system is based on flow variation which

should be less then 10%.

iii. Design of lateral and main lines: Since the pipelines are made of plastic materials,

these are considered smooth. Hazen and William equation is used to determine loss of

head due to friction,

H=5.35*(Q^1.852/D^4.871)*L .... (5.2)

In drip systems, the design is generally based on flow variations. The emitter flow

variation of more than 20% and pressure variation of 40% for a lateral line is not

[Link], lateral flow variation of sub main design should be less than 10%

and pressure variation less than 20%.

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6.0 SUCCESS OF DRIP IN INDIA: AN EXAMPLE TO THE THIRD

WORLD

The sixties saw the rapid development of agriculture in India through the intensive use of

modern agricultural inputs such as water energy, fertilizer, chemicals, and high-yielding crop

varieties. The input-based strategy was successful in that the agricultural production

increased three-fold during the past four decades. But predominant use of water and

chemicals resulted in a paradoxical situation in which soils in the Northern Plains turned

saline, whereas in the South, the water table went down due to excessive pumping. Both

shallow and deep water tables affected agricultural productivity to a point of stagnation.

In the late eighties, drip irrigation gained popularity with its inherent advantages like saving

water and use in problematic soil. Various research institutes conducted experiments on drip

irrigation and made people aware of its benefits. Some manufacturers also conducted their

own studies first by importing the materials before venturing into commercial production of

drip systems. The farming community usually believes only after personally observing the

benefits. Today, more than a 60,700 hectare are is brought under irrigation convering more

than 30 crops. Farmers from various places communicated their experiences of drip irrigation

on various crops like sugarcane, cotton, grapes, banana, pomegranate, vegetables, tea,

flowers, etc. The increase in yield as compared to conventional irrigation methods is from 20

to 100 %, whereas saving in water ranges from 40% to 70%.

The results achieved by drip irrigation in a developing country like India can show many

third world countries optimum utilization of resources for increased agricultural production.

India needs to feed more than 1 billion people by the year 2000. An increase of 80 million

tons of food grain will be needed in less than a decade (a 50 % increase). There are 140

million arable hectares (346 million acres) in India with 41.2 million hectares (102 million

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acres) being irrigated. The 60,700 hectares (150,000 acres) under drip represents merely

0.15% of the irrigated area.

Other interesting factors mentioned were: In India using drip irrigation, labor savings up to

50 - 60 % can be found, poor quality water and soils can be used, fertilizer savings of up to

30 % are being observed.

Specific crops with noted yield increases and water savings:

Banana (52% yield increase, 45% water savings)

Grapes (23% yield increase, 48% water savings)

Sweet lime (50% yield increase, 61% water savings)

Pomegranate (98% yield increase, 45% water savings)

Sugarcane (33% yield increase, 56% water savings)

Tomato (50% yield increase, 39% water savings)

Watermelon (88% yield increase, 36% water savings)

Cotton (27% yield increase, 53% water savings)

Papaya (75% yield increase, 68% water savings)

Sweet potato (39% yield increase, 60% water savings)

7.0 ADVANTAGES OF DRIP IRRIGATION

1. Drip is adaptable to fields with odd shapes or uneven topography. Drip irrigation can work

well where other irrigation systems are inefficient because parts of the field have excessive

infiltration, water puddling, or runoff.

2. Drip irrigation can be helpful if water is scarce or expensive. Drip irrigation has become

common where water is very scarce or where water is very expensive to pump. Precise water

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application is possible with drip irrigation. Irrigation with drip can be more efficient because

evaporation is reduced, runoff is reduced or eliminated, deep percolation is reduced, and

irrigation uniformity is improved so it is no longer necessary to "over water" parts of a field

to adequately irrigate the more difficult parts.

3. Precise application of nutrients is possible using drip irrigation. Fertilizer costs and nitrate

losses can be reduced. Nutrient applications can be better timed to plants' needs.

4. Drip irrigation systems can be designed and managed so that the wheel rows are

sufficiently dry so that tractor operations can occur at any time at the convenience of the

producer. Timely applications of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides is possible.

5. Proven yield and crop quality responses to drip irrigation have been observed in onion,

broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, melon, tomato.

6. A drip irrigation system can be automated. For an example of automated drip irrigation.

7. There is early maturation minimize soil crushing.

8.0 DISADVANTAGES OF DRIP IRRIGATION:

1. Drip irrigation systems are typically high first cost operation. Part of the system cost is a

capital investment useful for several years and part of the cost is annual. Systems can easily

be over designed. Growers without experience may want to start with a relatively simple

system on a modest acreage and gain experience.

2. Drip tape has to be managed to avoid leaking or plugging. Drip emitters can easily be

plugged by silt or other particles not filtered out of the irrigation water. Emitter plugging also

occurs by algae growing in the tape and chemical deposits at the emitter. Tape depth will

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have to be carefully chosen for compatibility with other operations such as cultivation and

weeding.

3. The weed control program may need to be redesigned. Compatibility with weed control

programs can be a problem if herbicides need rainfall or sprinkler irrigation for activation.

But, drip irrigation can enhance weed control by keeping much of the soil surface dry.

4. Drip tape disposal or reuse needs to be planned and will cause extra clean up costs after

harvest.

9.0 CONCLUSION:

Irrigation is a necessary tool in profitable nursery management. It has great

potential for producing reliable supplies of quality plants. However, when not properly

designed and managed, it also has the potential to create numerous environmental problems.

Drip irrigation systems are typically high first cost operation. Be sure your irrigation system

receives proper maintenance and management to keep your operation trouble-free and

profitable. Water can be used efficiently because of less wastage. The optimal use of

fertilizers can be made as it is directly mixed with water and used for irrigation. In India

using drip irrigation labour saving and poor quality of water can be utilized.

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REFERENCES:

1. [Link]
Irrigation Theory And Practice

2. [Link]
Irrigation Engineering And Hydraulics Structures

3. [Link]
Introductory Irrigation Engineering

4. [Link]
Irrigation Water Resources And Water Power Engineering

5. [Link]
The Fundamentals Principles Of Irrigation And Water Power

6. Journals Of Institute Of Engineers

INTERNET REFERENCES:
1. S. K. SURYAWANSHI
Success of Drip in India An Example to the Third [Link]

2. Drip irrigation [Link]

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3. Mornington Peninsula [Link]

4. [Link]

5. [Link]

6. Netafim drip irrigation_ Drip for Landscape [Link]

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