Irrigation
Water is an important component in the growth and development of plants. It is not possible to produce any crop without water, especially in agricultural countries like India, where irregularities of monsoon are found and agriculture is done on about 142 million hectares of land in the country. Due to the irregularity and less amount of rainfall at the time of growth and development of plants, it becomes necessary to meet the requirement of water through artificial medium. Therefore, keeping these needs in mind, this process of giving water in an artificial form is called irrigation. According to an estimate, water is supplied to crops through irrigation in about 250 million hectares of agricultural land in the whole world. It is called irrigation.
Importance of irrigation
More than 90% water is present in the body composition of plants. It is an important component of plant cytoplasm and metabolic activities. Performs important functions such as all the daily activities of plants, heat exchange and photosynthesis as well as transfer of nutrients to different parts of the plant. Its deficiency affects the growth, development and reproductive abilities of plants.
Therefore, when plants are not able to meet their water needs through natural rain, then it becomes necessary to supply water to these crops through irrigation.
Irrigation methods
Plants absorb water from the soil to meet their water requirements for their growth and development. This absorption of water goes on continuously. As a result, water loss in the soil continues. Due to such loss of water in the soil, the growth of plants is adversely affected, which leads to a huge reduction in production. Therefore, to meet this loss of water in the soil, we supply water to the crops through the following irrigation methods.
Surface Irrigation
It is one of the oldest, easiest and cheapest methods of irrigation. In which the entire field is filled with irrigation water. This method of irrigation is also called as gravity irrigation. In this method, irrigation water is opened in the drains at a height, this irrigation water spreads throughout the field by the force of gravity and the fluid static pressure of the water. This method of irrigation is used in about 95% of the country, although this method of irrigation is also considered as the most inefficient method because more than 90% of the water used by this method of irrigation is wasted and Only 10% is further absorbed by plants.
Surface Irrigation Methods
The following methods of irrigation are used in India:-
1- Cut or break method
This method is used in the irrigation of paddy fields in low land, while it is also used in some other crops. The water is released through the drain into the field without any control. It spreads throughout the field without any direction. For economic use of water, the area of a field is 0.1 to 0.2 ha.
2- Thala Method
It is similar to Nakbar or Kyari method but in Kyari method the entire bed is filled with water whereas in this method water is poured only in the plates around the trees. Generally, these plates are round in shape, sometimes even square. When the trees are small, the plates are small and their size increases with the age of the trees. These plates are connected to the irrigation channel.
3- Naqbar or Kyari method
It is the most common method of surface irrigation methods. In this method, the field is divided into small beds, around which small bunds are made, water is poured from the main drain into the drain of the field one after the other, each drain of the field supplies water to two rows of beds. Is. This method is used in those fields which are large in size and levelling of the whole field is a problem.
In this situation, the field is divided into many strips and these strips are divided into small beds by bunds. Is. This is a suitable method for crops grown nearby, such as peanuts, wheat, small food grains, mercury grass, etc. Its demerits are workers are more involved in it In this situation, the field is divided into many strips and these strips are divided into small beds by bunds. Is. This is a suitable method for crops grown nearby, such as peanuts, wheat, small food grains, mercury grass, etc.
4- Shower Irrigation
In this method, the water in the spring is carried to the field under pressure and is sprayed like raindrops in the whole field by automatic sprinkler system. It is also called overhead irrigation. There are many types of sprinklers available. The centre pivot system is the largest sprinkler system which can irrigate 100 hectares of area with a single machine Shower irrigation.
In this modern method of irrigation, the supply of water to the plants is spread in the air on the lines of the naturally occurring rains, which then falls on the plants and the soil surface in the form of rain. In this method, the irrigation water is pumped to the sprinkler site with the help of a pipe under pressure and the water is sprayed in the form of rain due to pressure.
Drip or drop irrigation
Israel developed that advanced and modern method of irrigation in which irrigation water is given drop by drop in the roots of plants through pipes as per its requirement. It is considered to be one of the most efficient methods of irrigation as this method is used to irrigate only in the root areas of the crops where the crops feel the most water scarcity.
Following are the two modern methods of irrigation:
- Drip Irrigation System
Drip system is an advanced method of irrigation, using which substantial savings of irrigation water can be achieved. This method can be adopted for most of the crops according to the type of soil, slope of the field, source of water. The use of this method is increasing rapidly all over the world.Drip irrigation technology will prove to be very effective to reduce the problem of limited water resources and increasing water requirement and environment. Drip irrigation is the best method for successfully growing commercial crops in areas where land leveling is expensive and difficult or impossible.Drip system is a high frequency irrigation system in which water is given around the root zone of the plants. Water can be given to the plant through drip irrigation. Drip irrigation saves fertilizer up to 30-40 percent, water up to 70 percent.
- Sprinkler Irrigation
Sprinkler irrigation is a method by which water is sprayed into the air and this water falls on the surface of the land as artificial rain. Spraying of water is achieved by pressure into a small nozzle or orifice. Water pressure is also obtained by pump. Since artificial rain is done slowly, neither water stagnates nor soil gets buried. Due to this, the best ratio of land and air is maintained and the seeds sprout quickly, this is a very popular method by which about 30-50 percent of water can be saved. It is being used in about seven lakh hectares of land in the country. This method is used on sandy soil, high-low land and where water is less available. By this method of irrigation, the cost of maintenance of plants is less and diseases are also less.
Rain gun Irrigation
After 'drop-drop' and 'fountain technique' for irrigation in the fields, now Raingan has come which irrigate like natural rain for a distance of 20 to 60 meters. In this, more area can be irrigated with less water. This micro sprinkler set is very useful for vegetable and pulse crops. It irrigates with rain-like drops in diameter of two and a half meters. Rain gun, with 20, 40 and 60 meter spreading capacity, is a new means of irrigation of crops. It is erected in the irrigated part of the field at an angle of 45 to 180 degrees with the help of a stand. Its other end is connected to the water supply pipe of the pump set. As soon as the water pressure in Raingan increases, it irrigates the crop by removing water like raindrops around a circumference of a hundred feet from the fountain in its upper part. In comparison to other means of irrigation, the field is irrigated with less than half the time and water. Diesel and electricity are also saved by taking less time. Three Rainguns can be fired simultaneously with a three-inch submersible pump. The cost of planting raingun in 1 hectare ranges from 20 to 30 thousand rupees according to the capacity, in which the central and state governments together give 50 to 80 percent grant. To get this, farmers can contact the Horticulture or Agriculture Department along with the land ownership certificate, identity card of their land.
Canal irrigation
Canals are the main means of irrigation in the country and more than 40 percent of the agricultural land is irrigated in them. Most of the development of our country's canals has been done in the vast plains of the north and the coastal delta areas, because their construction depends on the flat land and continuous supply of water.
Raw wells, pucca wells, tube wells
The states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have most of the total irrigated land in the country which is irrigated by wells. Here about 50 percent of the land is irrigated by wells and taps. Apart from these states, irrigation is also done through wells and tube wells in the states of Haryana, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. During the first plan period, the number of tube wells in the country was only 3,000, which has now increased to 57 lakhs. Tamil Nadu has the highest number of tube well pump sets in the country, while Maharashtra has the second place. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of tube wells. Its prevalence has increased in Punjab and Haryana in the last two decades. Apart from this, there are other states with a predominance of tube wells. Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat. Most of the wells and tube wells have been constructed in those areas where loamy soil is found, because from this water seeps into the surface and gets stored in the form of underground water. . Three types of wells are used for irrigation and drinking water purposes in the country.
Pond
Both natural and artificial ponds are used for irrigation in the country. Most of the irrigation is done by them in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in island India. After this comes the place of Southern Bihar, South Madhya Pradesh and South East Rajasthan. Where both natural and artificial ponds are found. About 9 percent of the total irrigated area of the country is irrigated by ponds. In India, Tamil Nadu irrigated by ponds is the largest.
Solar pump irrigation
Irrigation with solar pump is a new method, in which neither electricity nor any fuel is required. It consists of a motor that draws water from the ground and solar panels are installed to run it, which generate energy from the sun's rays and the machine runs from it.
Tube well irrigation
In the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, maximum irrigation is done by tube well. In Uttar Pradesh 93.84 lakh hectare area is irrigated by tube well, which is 28.19½ of India's well irrigated area. It is followed by Rajasthan (10.44%), Punjab (8.65%), Madhya Pradesh (7.34%) and Bihar (6.29%).
Submersible pump irrigation
As you know that the water level of the land is going down day by day, so a lot of power is required to bring the water up to the top, so the best way is the submersible pump. Through the summer civil pump, we Can bring water up even from the depth of reach, And this pump is a hydraulic machine designed to bring water to the surface. Because water is brought to the surface by means of a submersible pump, which is mostly used for irrigation in homes or fields, this submersible pump is an electric motor in which the impeller works to throw the water out.In which AC current is required and its biggest feature is that it consumes less electricity. Submersible motor use is mostly used for irrigation in farms because irrigation requires a lot of water, after that it is used for fire fighting. Happens in the system as well. And where there is no government water line, it is used And many people have started using submersible pumps in homes, in big industries, offices or if you say, submersible pumps are now used in industries too.
Rahat irrigation
In areas where there were no other resources to irrigate crops, the farmers used to dig a well near their fields and put a machine called rehat made of iron in it and irrigate their crops. But gradually the number of wells also decreased. Rehat, a means of irrigation, became distant from the farmers. Somewhere this machine is still seen today.
Ferret irrigation
In the olden times, where there was irrigation from ponds or lake water, there was a need of irons. In this, two people tie a big vessel made of bamboo or other wood with a rope and drag the water from the pond into the drain which goes to the field.