Overview of advances in improving uniformity and water use efficiency of sprinkler irrigation

Ransford Opoku Darko, Yuan Shouqi, Liu Junping, Yan Haofang, Zhu Xingye

Abstract


Water is the scarcest resource and the importance of the judicious use of water in the agricultural sector for sustaining agricultural growth and the retardation of environmental degradation needs no further elaboration. The successes of using sprinkler irrigation to develop new lands, point the way forward to a much greater role for the development of future land reclamation projects. Water use efficiency through a proper improvement of water management techniques and other production factors are essential to boost on-farm productivity. Various factors affecting uniformity and water use efficiency in sprinkler irrigation have been outlined in this research, highlighting possible ways to improve such essential parameters in crop production. The study emphasizes on an irrigation system that works adequately in applying water to stay within the root zone, making the water always available in sufficient quantities to meet the crop water needs. It suggests practical ways of managing irrigation systems within tolerable limits not neglecting the effects of wind which is a major contributing factor to non uniformity in sprinkler irrigation.
Keywords: sprinkler irrigation, uniformity, water use efficiency, crop yield
DOI: 10.3965/j.ijabe.20171002.1817

Citation: Darko R O, Yuan S Q, Liu J P, Yan H F, Zhu X Y. Overview of advances in improving uniformity and water use efficiency of sprinkler irrigation. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2017; 10(2): 1–15.

Keywords


sprinkler irrigation, uniformity, water use efficiency, crop yield

Full Text:

PDF

References


Hsiao T C, Steduto P, Fereres E. A systematic and quantitative approach to improve water use efficiency in agriculture. Irrig. Sci, 2007; 25: 209–231.

Kahlown M A, Raoof A, Zubair M, Kemper W D. Water use efficiency and economic feasibility of growing rice and wheat with sprinkler irrigation in the Indus Basin of Pakistan Agricultural Water Management, 2007; 87: 292–298.

Montazar A, Sadeghi M. Effects of applied water and

sprinkler uniformity on alfalfa growth and hay yield. Agriculture Water Manage, 2008; 95: 1279–1287.

Darko R O, Yuan S, Hong L, Lui J, Yan H. Irrigation, a productive tool for food security- a review. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B- Soil & Plant Science, 2016; 66(3): 191–206.

Varlev I. Evaluation of Nonuniform sprinkler irrigation and crop yield. J. Irrig. Drain. Div. ASCE, 1976; 102: 149–164.

Seginer I. Irrigation uniformity effect on land and water allocation. Transactions of the ASAE, 1983; 26: 116–122.

Stern J, Bresler E. Nonuniform sprinkler irrigation and crop yield. Irrig. Sci., 1983; 4: 17–29.

Mateos L, Mantovani E C, Villalobos F J. Cotton response to non-uniformity of conventional sprinkler irrigation. Irrig. Sci, 1997; 17:47–52.

Li J, Rao M. Sprinkler water distributions as affected by winter wheat canopy. Irrig. Sci, 2000; 20(1): 29–35.

Dechmi F, Playan E, Cavero J, Faci J M, Martinez-Cob A. Wind effects on solid set sprinkler irrigation depth and yield of maize (Zea mays). Irrig. Sci., 2003; 19: 165–173.

Li J, Rao M. Field evaluation of crop yield as affected by nonuniformity of sprinkler-applied water and fertilizers. Agricultural Water Management, 2002; 59: 1–13.

Letey J, Vaux Jr H J, Feinerman E. Optimum crop water application as affected by uniformity of water infiltration. Agronom. Journal, 1984; 76: 435–441.

Mantovani E C, Villalobos F J, Orgaz F, Fereres E. Modelling the effects of sprinkler irrigation uniformity on crop yield. Agriculture Water Management, 1995; 27: 243–257.

Li J. Modeling crop yield as affected by Uniformity of sprinkler irrigation system. Agriculture Water Management, 1998; 38: 135–148.

Keller J, Bliesner R D. Sprinkler and trickle irrigation. The Blackburn Press, Caldwell, 2000.

Dwomoh F A, Yuan S, Hong L. Field performance characteristics of fluidic sprinkler. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 2013; 29(4): 529–536.

Zhu X. Theory and precise sprinkling irrigation for complete fluidic sprinkler. Doctoral Dissertation, Jiangsu University, 2009; China.

Zhu X, Yuan S, Liu J. Effects of sprinkler head geometrical parameters on hydraulic performance of fluidic sprinkler. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 2012; 138(11): 1019–1026.

Redditt W M. Factors affecting sprinkler uniformity. Sprinkler Irrigation Engineering Manual. Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1965.

Sam-Amoah L K, Darko R O, Owusu-Sekyere J D .Water requirement, deficit irrigation and crop coefficients of hot pepper (Capsicum frutescens var legon 18) using irrigation interval of two days. ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science, 2013; 8(2): 139–146.

Owusu-Sekyere J D, Asante P, Osei-Bonsu P. Water requirement, Deficit irrigation and crop coefficients of hot pepper (Capsicum frutescens) using irrigation interval of four days. ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science, 2010; 5(5): 72–78.

Zhang L, Merkley G P, Pinthong K. Assessing whole-field sprinkler irrigation application uniformity. Irrigation Science, 2013; 31:87–105.

Sezen S M, Yazar A. Wheat yield response to line source sprinkler irrigation in the arid Southeast Anatolia region of Turkey. Agricultural Water Management, 2006; 81: 59–76.

Christiansen J E. Irrigation by sprinkling. California Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 670, 1942; University of California, Berkeley, CA.

Keller J, Bliesner R D. Sprinkler and trickle irrigation. An Avi Book Van Nostrand Reinhold Pun, New York, 1990; p.651.

Zoldoske D F. An overview of smart water application technologies™ (SWAT™) and achieving high water use efficiency. Proc., California Soil and Plant Conference: Opportunities for California Agriculture, American Society of Agronomy, Sacramento, California, 2007; pp.111–119.

Wilcox J C, Swailes G E. Uniformity of water distribution by some under tree orchard sprinklers. Journal of Scientific Agriculture, 1947; 27: 565–583.

Maroufpour E, Faryabi A, Ghamarnia H, Moshrefi G Y. Evaluation of uniformity coefficients for sprinkler irrigation systems under different field conditions in Kurdistan Province (northwest of Iran). Soil and Water Research, 2010; 5(4): 139–145.

Hart W E, Reynolds W N. Analytical design of sprinkler systems. Transactions of the ASAE, 1965; 8(1): 83–85, 89.

Criddle W D, Davis S, Pair C H, Shockley D G. Methods of evaluating irrigation systems. Agriculture Handbook No.82 Soil Conservation Service, 1956; USDA, Washington, D.C.

Beale J G, Howell D T. Relationship among sprinkler uniformity measures. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, ASCE, 1966; 92: 41–48.

Merriam J L, Keller J. Farm irrigation system evaluation: a guide for management. CEE Department, Utah State University, Logan, 1978.

Han W T, Fen H, Yang Q Wu P T. Evaluation of sprinkler irrigation uniformity by double interpolation using cubic splines. Effective Utilization of Agricultural Soil & Water Resources and Protection of Environment, 2007; pp.250–255.

Solomon K. Irrigation systems and water application efficiencies. California State University, Fresno, California, 1988; 93740–0018.

Kameli D. Estimating sprinkler distribution pattern using linear regression. Transaction of the ASAE, 1978; pp.682–686.

Heermann D F, Hein P R. Performance characteristics of self-propelled center pivot sprinkler irrigation system. Transactions of the ASAE, 1968; 11: 11–15.

Benami A, Hore F R. A new irrigation sprinkler distribution coefficient. Transactions of the ASAE, 1964; 7: 157–158.

Kara T, Ekmekci E, Apan M. Determining the uniformity coefficient and water distribution characteristics of some sprinklers. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences, 2008; 11: 214–219.

Al-Ghobari H M. Effect of maintenance on the performance of sprinkler irrigation systems and irrigation water conservation. Food Science & Agricultural Research Centre, Research Bulletin, 2006; 141: 1–6.

Kay. Sprinkler irrigation equipment and practice. Batsford Limited, London. 1988; p.120.

Guo R L, Xu B H. Uniformity and strength of Centre Pivot sprinkling Machine. Sprinkling Machine 1997; 7(3): 21–26.

Lan C Y, Yi X T, Xue G N. Research state and development of sprinkler irrigation equipment in China. Dainage and Irrigation Machinery, 2005; 23(1): 1–6. (in Chinese)

Jin H Z, Yan H J, Qian Y C. Overseas development of water saving irrigation engineering technology. Transactions of the ASAME, 2010; 41(Supp.1): 59–63. (in Chinese)

Yan H J. Study on water distribution irrigation uniformity of centre pivot and lateral move irrigation system based on the variable rate technology. Doctoral dissertation, China Agricultural University, 2005; pp.59–61.

Ascough G W, Kiker G A. The effect of irrigation uniformity on irrigation water requirements. Water SA, 2002; 28(2): 235–241.

Dukes M D, Perry C. Uniformity testing of variable-rate centre pivot irrigation control systems. Precision Agriculture, 2006; 7(3): 205–218.

Dukes M D. Effect of wind speed and pressure on linear move irrigation system uniformity. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 2006; 22(4): 541–548.

Dwomoh F A, Yuan S, Li H. Field performance characteristics of fluidic sprinkler. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 2013; 29(4): 529–536.

Ali O O. A Simulation model for centre pivot system design and optimization of operation. PhD. Thesis, University of Khartoum Sudan, 2008; pp.1–40.

Hill R W, Barnhill J. Sprinklers, crop water use and irrigation time. Utah State University, Logan, UT, 2001; pp.1–10.

English M, Raja S N. Perpectives on deficit irrigation. Agricultural Water Manaement, 1966; 32: 1–14.

FAO 2012. Irrigation and drainage paper 66: crop yield response to water. Rome, 2012, Available at: http://www.fao.org/nr/water/infores.html.

Bouman B A M A. Conceptual framework for the improvement of crop water productivity at different spatial scales. Agric Syst, 2007; 93: 43–60.

Kijne J W, Barker R, Molden D. Improving water productivity in agriculture: editors’ overview. In: Kijne JW, Barker R, Molden D, editors. Water productivity in agriculture: limits and opportunities for improvement. Wallingford UK: CABI Publishing, 2003; pp. xi–xix.

Tubiello F. Climate change adaptation and mitigation: challenges and opportunities in the food sector. Natural Resources Management and Environment Department, FAO, Rome, 2012.

Zhang H, Oweis T. Water-yield relations and optimal irrigation scheduling of wheat in the Mediterranean region. Agriculture Water Management, 1999; 38: 195–211.

He X, Yang P L, Ren S M, Li Y K, Jiang G Y, Li L H. Quantitative response of oil sunflower yield to evapotranspiration and soil salinity with saline water irrigation. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2016; 9(2): 63-73.

Zhang Y, Kendy E, Yu Q, Liu C, Shen Y, Sun H. Effect of soil water deficit on evapotranspiration, crop yield and water use efficiency in the North China Plain. Agricultural Water Management, 2004; 64: 107–122.

Aggarwal P k, Singh A K, Chaturvedei G S, Sinha S K. Performance of wheat and triticale cultivars in a variable soil-water environment. II. Evapotranspiration, water use efficiency, harvest index and grain yield. Field Crops Research, 1986; 13: 301–315.

Qui G Y, Wang L, He X, Zhang X, Chen S, Chen J, et al. Water use efficiency and Evapotranspiration of wheat and its response to irrigation regime in the North China Plain. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2008; 148(11): 1848–1859.

Liu D, Hu Y X, Fu Q, Imran K M, Cui S, Zhao Y M. Optimizing channel cross section in irrigation area using improved cat swarm optimization algorithm. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2016; 9(5): 76-82.

Dassanayake D K, Dassanake H, Malano G M, Dunn Douglas P, Langford J. Water saving through smarter irrigation in Australian dairy farming: use of intelligent irrigation controller and wireless sensor network. 18th World IMACS/MODSIM Congress, Cairns, Australia, 2009; pp. 4409–4417.

Zotarelli L, Scholberg J M, Dukes M D, Munoz-Carpena R, Icerman J. Tomato yield, biomass accumulation, root distribution and irrigation water use efficiency on a sandy soil, as affected by nitrogen rate and irrigation scheduling. Agricultural Water Management, 2009; 96: 23–34.

Dukes M D, Zotarelli L, Morgan K T. Use of irrigation technologies for vegetable crops in Florida. HortTechnology, 2010; 20(1):133–142.

Bates B C, Kundzewicz Z W, Wu S, Palutikof J P. Climate change and water. Technical Paper of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva: IPCC Secretariat, 2008.

Playan E, Mateos L. Modernization and optimization of irrigation systems to increase water productivity. Agric. Water Manage, 2006, 80: 100–116.

Abraha M G, Savage M J. Potential impacts of climate change on the grain yield of maize for the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Agric Ecosyst. Environ, 2006; 115: 150–160.

Zwart S J, Bastiaanssen W G M. Review of measured crop water productivity values for irrigated wheat, rice, cotton and maize. Agric Water Manage, 2004; 69:115–33.

Lal R. Climate change, soil carbon dynamics, and global food security. In: Lal R, Stewart B, Uphoff N, et al., editors. Climate change and global food security. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press, 2005; pp.113–43.

Kijne J W, Barker R, Molden D. Improving water productivity in agriculture: editors’ overview. In: Kijne J W, Barker R, Molden D, editors. Water productivity in agriculture: limits and opportunities for improvement. Wallingford UK: CABI Publishing, 2003; pp. xi–xix.

Khan S, Hafeez M M, Rana T, Mushtaq S. Enhancing water productivity at the irrigation system level: a geospatial hydrology application in the Yellow River Basin. J Arid Environ, 2008; 72: 1046–63.

Li Y, Barker R. Increasing water productivity for paddy irrigation in China. Paddy Water Environ, 2004; 2: 187–93.

Lecina S, Isidoro D, Playan E, Agragues R. Irrigation modernization and water conservation in Spain: the case of Riegos del Alto Aragon. Agric Water Manage, 2010; 97: 1663–1675.

Moreno M A, Ortega J F, Corcoles J I, Martinez A, Tarjuelo J M. Energy analysis of irrigation delivery systems; monitoring and evaluation of proposed measures for improving energy efficiency. Irrig. Sci, 2010; 28: 445–460.

Schneekloth J, Andales A. Seasonal water needs and opportunities for limited irrigation for Colorado crops. Colorado State University Estension. US Central Great Plains Research Station, 2009. Available at www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/crops/04718. Accessed on [2016-08-06].

Schwankl J L, Prinhard L, Hansan. Soil intake rate and application rates in sprinkler irrigation orchard. 2007. Available on http://anrcatalo.ucdavis.edu. Accessed on [2016-07-20]

Gencoglan C, Gencoglan S, Merdun H, Ucan K. Determination of ponding time and number of on–off cycles for sprinkler irrigation applications. Agric Water Manage, 2005; 72(1): 47–58.

Mao L L, Lei T W, Li X, Liu H, Huang X F, Zhang Y N. A linear source method for soil infiltrability measurement and model representations. Journal of Hydrology, 2008; 353(1-2): 49–58.

Medici M, Lorenzini G, De Wrachien D. Water droplet trajectories in a sprinkler jet flow: The quantum hydrodynamic framework, Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), 2013; 38(3): 111–122.

Moazed H, Bavi A, Boroomand-Nasab S, Naseri A, Albaji M. Effect of climate and hydraulic parameters on water unifomity coefficient in solid set system. Journal of Applied Sciences, 2010; 10: 1792–1796

Li L H, Zhang X Y, Qiao X D, Liu G M. Analysis of the decrease of center pivot sprinkling system uniformity and its impact on maize yield. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2016; 9(4): 108-119.

Joshi D S, Shete D T, Modi P M. Sprinkler performance evaluation with respect to nozzle size, pressure, riser height and grid spacing. Proceedings of the ICID Special Technical Session on the Role of Advanced Technologies in Making Effective Use of Scarce Water Resources, Rome, Italy, 1995;pp: 2–2.

Tarjuelo J M, Montero J, Honrubia F T, Ortiz J J, Ortega J F. Analysis of uniformity of sprinkle irrigation in semi-arid area. Agricultural Water Management, 1999; 40(2-3): 315–331.

Clark G A, Srinivas K, Rogers D H, Stratton R, Martin V L. Measures and simulated uniformity of low drift nozzle sprinkler. Transactions of ASAE, 2003; 46(2): 321–330.

De Wrachein D, Lorenzini G, Medici M. Sprinkler irrigation systems: state-of-the art of kinematic analysis and quantum mechanics applied to water jets. Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), 2013; 62(4): 407–413.

Bishaw D, Olumama M. Evaluating the effect of operating pressure and riser height on irrigation water application under different wind conditions in Ethiopia. Asia Pac. J. Energy Environ, 2015; 2:41–48.

Mateos L. Assessing the whole field uniformity of stationary sprinkler irrigation system. Irrigation Science, 1998; 18:73–81.

Koch J. Low pressure sprinkler distribution. B.S. research report. South Dakota State University, Brookings, 2003.

Solomon K H. Sprinkler irrigation uniformity. California State University, 1990, Fresno, California.

Landberg L, Mortensen N G. A Comparison of physical and statistical methods for estimating the wind resource at a site. In K. F. Pitcher (Ed.), Proceedings of the fifteenth BWEA wind energy conference. London: BWEA.1994; pp.119–125.

Achberger C, Ekstrom M, Barring L. Estimation of local near-surface wind conditions: a comparison of WASP and regression based techniques. Meteorological Applications, 2002; 9: 211–221.

Chi D. Irrigation and drainage. Chapter 3 Irrigation Techniques. 2010; pp.41-65. ISBN 978-7-5084-7279-9.

Loule M J, Selker S. Sprinkler head maintenance effects on water application uniformity. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 2000; May/June.

Evans R, Han G S, Kroeger M W. Spatial distribution and uniformity evaluations for chemigation with center pivots. Transactions of the ASAE, 1995; 38(1): 85–92.

Ortíz J N, De Juan J A, Tarjuelo J M. Analysis of water application uniformity from a center pivot irrigator and its effect on sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) yield. Biosystems Engineering, 2010; 105: 367–379.

Suharto B, Susanawati L D. Design and construction of sprinkler irrigation for stabilizing apple crop in dry season. Journal of Applied Environmental and Biological Sciences, 2010; 2:134–139.

Uddin J, Hancock N H, Smith R J, Foley J P. Measurement of evapotranspiration during sprinkler irrigation using a precision energy budget (Bowen ratio, eddy covariance) methodology. Agricultural Water Management, 2013; 116: 89–100.

ASAE Standards. Test procedure for determining the uniformity of water distribution of center pivot and lateral move irrigation machines equipped with spray or sprinkler nozzles. ASAE, 2001. ANSI/ASAE S436.1 MAR01.

Lamm F R, Nelson M E, Rogers D H. Resource allocations in corn production with water resource constraints. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 1993; 9(4): 379–385.

Von Bernuth R D. Uniformity design criteria under limited water. Transactions of the ASAE, 1983; 26 (5): 1435–1441.

Bralts V F, Pandey S R, Miller A. Energy saving and irrigation performance of a modified center pivot irrigation systems. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 1994; 10(1): 27–36.

Clark G, Dogan E, Rogers D, Martin V. Evaluation of irrigate collectors to measure irrigation depths from low pressure sprinklers. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 2006; 22(1): 63–72.

Zhang D, Chen L, Zhang R, Xu G, Lan Y, Wesley C H, et al. Evaluating effective swath width and droplet distribution of aerial spraying systems on M-18B and Thrush 510G airplanes. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2015; 8(2): 21–30.




Copyright (c)



2023-2026 Copyright IJABE Editing and Publishing Office