Different Types of Irrigation |
Posted: May 23, 2019 |
For irrigation to work there needs to be equality. Plants can’t be over or under-watered, and every plant needs to be watered with the same amount. There are several different methods of irrigation that can fulfill this purpose, some of which have their basis in ancient history. Others have been made possible with technology, but all are useful for farmers. First, and the oldest type of irrigation, is surface irrigation. Basically, it’s controlled flooding, where a basin is flooded with a controlled amount of water. The water soaks into the soil and is taken in by the plants, either through dams or dikes that are controlled by pumps. Then the excess water is drawn out and the wet soil sustains the plants. Keeping Things Small: Micro-Irrigation Micro-irrigation is a little less extreme than surface irrigation and has small amounts of water get applied to a plant over time. Drip irrigation is an example of this, where water flows through a pipe that has several nozzles attached to it. At intervals the nozzles open and give the required about of water to the plant’s roots drop by drop. This might take time, but the efficiency is unparalleled, and the risk of losing water is minimized. Most of the time drip irrigation is controlled by computers that give each plant exactly what it needs. This is very useful when it comes to having different plants with different water needs in the same area, as farmers can control the amount of water each plant gets. Something more Common: Sprinklers A sprinkler system is used to irrigate an entire field. Water is piped to the sprinklers and then spewed out through the sprinkler systems. The sprinklers can either rotate or shoot water in one direction. A farmer programs their sprinklers and they spray water in certain directions for a certain amount of time, using irrigation controls and electricity that powers the motors and pumps. Without these pumps moving the water forward through the pipes, the sprinklers wouldn’t be able to work Irrigation can use countless water sources. They can use groundwater, nearby lakes or rivers, rainwater, and can even be created from fog. The water is controlled through dams, canals, and pumps that get the water from the source and into the fields and plants. Irrigation has been around since farming has been around, and without it, we’d certainly be producing a lot less.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|