Analysis of application uniformity and pressure variation of microtube emitter of trickle irrigation system

Muhammad Asif, Col Islam-ul-Haq, Abdul Ghafoor Mangrio, Naveed Mustafa and Bilal Iqbal

Net Journal of Agricultural Science
Published: January 14 2015
Volume 3, Issue 1
Pages 14-22

Abstract

Micro-irrigation systems can apply irrigation water quite efficiently, but only if they are operated and maintained properly. Irrigation using drippers is often considered the most efficient method in terms of both water use and labour, but, because it is more complex in design and management, a drip system must be designed, installed, managed and maintained correctly. Keeping in view this fact trickle irrigation system using locally produced materials was designed and installed on an area of 1.2 acres for citrus orchard at the field station of water resources research institute, NARC Islamabad, Pakistan. The cost of this indigenized trickle irrigation system was Rs.125880 for the area which is about Rs. 104900/acre for orchards. The drip system installed on citrus orchards was evaluated for its hydraulic performance. Results of the study revealed that the discharge of the micro tube-emitter varied from 15.67 to 8.67 L/h under the pressure head of 10.56 to 7 m when the drip irrigation system was operated at 10.54 m pressure head. The water application uniformity was found to be above 80% which describes that the drip irrigation was designed on the basis of proper scaling and dimensions.

Keywords: Water scarcity, discharge, pressure head, uniformity, trickle irrigation, performance.

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