Vol.
3 Issue-1, September 2022 (e-ISSN: 2582-8223)
Irrigation and It’s Types
Abhishek Raj Ranjan1, Ram Pyare2 and Nitees Kumar3
1
M.Sc. Scholar, Department of Agronomy, ANDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodhya,U.P
2
Ram Pyare, Professor, Department of Agronomy, CSAUA&T, Kanpur
3
M.Sc. Scholar, Crop Physiology, ANDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodhya,U.P
ARTICLE ID: 19
Introduction
Water is the most precious thing for human beings, animals and as well as plants also
occurs on the planet earth. Without water there is no life on the earth. Water is a substance
which is formed from two chemical elements which are hydrogen and oxygen. Water is
tasteless odourless and colourless found in the liquid form. It is a major part of
photosynthesis and also required for translocation of nutrients.
Definition
Artificial application of water to the soil with different methods for providing
moisture which is essential to the plant growth with different methods is known as irrigation.
One or two times application of water during prolonged drought to save dry land crops is
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referred to as supplemental irrigation or life saving irrigation.
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Vol. 3 Issue-1, September 2022 (e-ISSN: 2582-8223)
Advantages of irrigation
● Irrigation provides the moisture to the soil.
● Irrigation plays a vital role in increasing food production.
● Proper irrigation prevents drought conditions which affect food production.
● Irrigation also reduces the wastage of water.
● Fertilizer can be applied through the irrigation.
History of irrigation
Irrigation was invented in Sumer, currently known as Iraq, near around 5,500 BC by
the ancient Sumerians. Irrigation system was developed because of domestic use and saving
the crops at the time of drought. There are many ancient civilizations that flourished in the
valleys of great rivers - Nile valley of Egypt, Indus valley of India and Pakistan and Huang
He valley of China.
Global Scenario
According to many archaeological investigations, there is evidence of irrigating
barley crop in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Iran as far back as the 6th millennium BC. Remain
three irrigation canals radiocarbon found by archaeologists dated from the 4th millennium
BC, 3rd millennium BC and the 9th century BC.
Indian Scenario
The history of irrigation and it’s development in India can be traced back to
prehistoric times. Irrigation is also defined in Vedas and Indian scriptures. There are many
civilisations flourished on the bank of rivers and harnessed the water for sustenance of life. In
the ancient time irrigation can be possible through wells, canals, tanks and dams which were
beneficial to the community.
Methods of irrigation
There are mainly four types of methods of irrigation which are written below:
1. Surface irrigation: When the water is distributed or supplied over the soil surface by
gravity is known as the surface irrigation. It is the most common irrigation technique
which is used by most of the farmers in their field. It is also known as Flood
irrigation.
Advantages:
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● They have relatively low energy requirements in routine operations
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Vol. 3 Issue-1, September 2022 (e-ISSN: 2582-8223)
● This type of irrigation technique can be developed at the farm level with minimum
investment
● They are less affected by climatic and water quality characteristics
2. Subsurface irrigation/Subsoil Irrigation: Water gradually wets the root zone by
capillary movement through subterranean perforated pipes and deep ditches at 15-30
m intervals.
3. Sprinkler irrigation: Sprinkler irrigation is also known as the Overhead irrigation.
Application of irrigation water is similar to natural rainfall. Water is sprayed into the
air through sprinklers. This type of irrigation system is mostly suitable for the row,
field and tree crops.
Advantages:
● Water is applied in a consistent manner.
● Water savings ranging from 25% to 50% for various crops.
● Suitable for leaching salts from saline soils.
● Land saving of 10% to 16%.
● There is no risk of runoff or erosion.
4. Drip irrigation:Simcha Blass discovered drip irrigation in Israel, and the water flow
rate per dripper is typically 1-4 lit/hr. and the water diffuses through the soil due to
capillary action. The main pipeline, submains, laterals, and emitters are all part of it.
Drip irrigation is also known as Trickle irrigation.
Advantages:
● No land levelling is required.
● It can save up to 70% of water and even more.
● Herbicides and fertilizers are applied to the crop by solublising into the
irrigation water, which is referred to as Herbigation (Herbicide+Irrigation) and
Fertigation (Fertilizer application through irrigation).
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