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About Irrigation
What is irrigation?

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to land for the purpose of agricultural production. Effective irrigation will influence the
entire growth process from seedbed preparation, germination, root growth, nutrient utilisation, plant growth and regrowth, yield
and quality.

The key to maximising irrigation efforts is uniformity. The producer has a lot of control over how much water to supply and when
to apply it but the irrigation system determines uniformity. Deciding which irrigation systems is best for your operation requires a
knowledge of equipment, system design, plant species, growth stage, root structure, soil composition, and land formation.
Irrigation systems should encourage plant growth while minimising salt imbalances, leaf burns, soil erosion, and water loss.
Losses of water will occur due to evaporation, wind drift, run-off and water (and nutrients) sinking deep below the root zone.

Proper irrigation management takes careful consideration and vigilant observation.

The value of irrigation

Irrigation allows primary producers,

to grow more pastures and crops

to have more flexibility in their systems/operations as the ability to access water at times when it would otherwise be hard
to achieve good plant growth (due to a deficit in soil moisture) is imperative. Producers can then achieve higher yields and
meet market/seasonal demands especially if rainfall events do no occur.
to produce higher quality crops/pastures as water stress can dramatically impact on the quality of farm produce
to lengthen the growing season (or in starting the season at an earlier time)
to have 'insurance' against seasonal variability and drought.
to stock more animals per hectare and practice tighter grazing management due to the reliability of pasture supply
throughout the season
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to maximise About Irrigation
benefits of fertiliser | IrrigationFertilisers
applications. | Soil and water
need | Farm management
to be 'watered| into'
Agriculture | Agriculture
the ground Victoriato best facilitate plan
in order
growth.
to use areas that would otherwise be 'less productive'. Irrigation can allow farmers to open up areas of their farms where i
would otherwise be 'too dry' to grow pasture/crops. This also gives them the capability to carry more stock or to conserve
more feed.
to take advantage of market incentives for unseasonal production
to have less reliance on supplementary feeding (grain, hay) in grazing operations due to the more consistent supply &
quality of pastures grown under irrigation
to improve the capital value of their property. Since irrigated land can potentially support higher crops, pasture and anima
production, it is considered more valuable. The value of the property is also related to the water licensing agreements or
'water right'.
to cost save/obtain greater returns. The cost benefits from the more effective use of fertilisers and greater financial
benefits as a result of more effective agricultural productivity (both quality and quantity) and for 'out of season' production
are likely.
Types of Irrigation Systems

Irrigation system description

Irrigation
Description
system
Furrow This system comprises a series of small, shallow channels used to guide water down a slope across a paddock.
systems Furrows are generally straight, but may also be curved to follow the contour of the land, especially on steeply
sloping land. Row crops are typically grown on the ridge or bed between the furrows, spaced from 1 meter apart.
Flood or These systems divide the paddock into bays separated by parallel ridges/border checks. Water flows down the
border paddock's slope as a sheet guided by ridges. On steeply sloping lands, ridges are more closely spaced and may be
check curved to follow the contour of the land. Border systems are suited to orchards and vineyards, and for pastures and
systems grain crops.
Level These systems differ from traditional border check or flood systems in that slope of the land is level and area's
basin ends are closed. Water is applied at high volumes to achieve an even, rapid ponding of the desired application
systems depth within basins.
Center- A center-pivot sprinkler is a self-propelled system in which a single pipeline supported by a row of mobile towers is
pivot suspended 2 to 4 meters above ground. Water is pumped into the central pipe and as the towers rotate slowly
sprinkler around the pivot point, a large circular area is irrigated. Sprinkler nozzles mounted on or suspended from the
systems pipeline distribute water under pressure as the pipeline rotates. The nozzles are graduated small to large so that
the faster moving outer circle receives the same amount of water as the slower moving inside.
Hand Hand move sprinkler systems are a series of lightweight pipeline sections that are moved manually for successive
move irrigations. Lateral pipelines are connected to a mainline, which may be portable or buried. Handmove systems are
sprinkler often used for small, irregular areas. Handmove systems are not suited to tall-growing field crops due to difficulty in
systems repositioning laterals. Labor requirements are higher than for all other sprinklers.
Solid set / Solid set /fixed refer to a stationary sprinkler system. Water-supply pipelines are generally fixed (usually below the
fixed soil surface) and sprinkler nozzles are elevated above the surface. Solid-set systems are commonly used in
sprinkler orchards and vineyards for frost protection and crop cooling. Solid-set systems are also widely used on turf and in
systems landscaping.
Travelling Travelling gun systems use a large sprinkler mounted on a wheel or trailer, fed by a flexible rubber hose. The
gun sprinkler is self-propelled while applying water, travelling in a lane guided by a cable. The system requires high
sprinkler operating pressures, with 100 psi not uncommon.
systems

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Irrigation About Irrigation | Irrigation | Soil and water | Farm management | Agriculture | Agriculture Victoria
Description
system
Side-roll Side-roll wheel-move systems have large-diameter wheels mounted on a pipeline, enabling the line to be rolled as
wheel- a unit to successive positions across the field. Crop type is an important consideration for this system since the
move pipeline is roughly 1 meter above the ground.
systems
Linear or Linear or lateral-move systems are similar to center-pivot systems, except that the lateral line and towers move in a
lateral- continuous straight path across a rectangular field. Water may be supplied by a flexible hose or pressurised from a
move concrete-lined ditch along the field's edge.
systems
Low-flow Low-flow irrigation systems (including drip and trickle) use small-diameter tubes placed above or below the soil's
irrigation surface. Frequent, slow applications of water are applied to the soil through small holes or emitters. The emitters
systems are supplied by a network of main, submain, and lateral lines. Water is dispensed directly to the root zone, avoiding
(including runoff or deep percolation and minimising evaporation. These systems are generally used in orchards, vineyards,
drip and or high-valued vegetable crops.
trickle)

Choosing an irrigation system

There is a huge diversity in the types of irrigation technologies/systems used, which is attributable to,

Variations in soil types

Varying topography of the land
Availability of power sources
Availability of water
Sources of water
The period of time when the system was installed
The size of the area being irrigated
On farm water storage capacity
Availability of labour/financial resources

Source of irrigation water

The vast majority of irrigation water use is pumped directly from a water source (river, creek, channel, drag line, hole, dam or
bore).

Irrigation scheduling
Irrigation scheduling is the process by which an irrigator determines the timing and quantity of water to be applied to the
crop/pasture. The challenge is to estimate crop water requirements for different growth stages and climatic conditions.

To avoid over or under watering, it is important to know how much water is available to the plant, and how efficiently the plant ca
use it. The methods available to measure this include: (i) plant observation, (ii) feel and appearance of the soil, (iii) using soil
moisture monitoring devices; or (iv) estimating available water from weather data.

Visible changes in plant characteristics, such as leaf colour, curling of the leaves and ultimately wilting can be
useful guides to indicate plant moisture stress, and hence the need for irrigation. Productivity may be lowered,
Plant
particularly if moisture depletion is allowed to the point where wilting occurs. The moisture status of plants can
observation:
also be measured using sap flow sensors (used mainly for research), infra-red guns (used in the cotton industry)
and pressure bombs (which measure leaf water potential).

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Visual observation and feel of the soil is used to monitor moisture levels of paddocks and hence their ability to
sustain plant growth. A soil sample can be obtained by using a soil probe, auger or spade. By squeezing soil
into a ball, observing the appearance of the ball and creating a ribbon of soil between the thumb and forefinger,
soil moisture can be estimated (see Agriculture Note AG0787: Irrigation scheduling for vegetable crops). For
example,

Feel and At 75 % field capacity, (i) Sands and sandy loams - are slightly coherent, will form a weak ball under pressure
appearance but breaks easily, (ii) Loams, clay loams and clays- are coherent, soil has a slick feeling and ribbons easily, and
of the soil:
will not roll into long thin rods 2.5 diameter, and (iii) Comment - there is adequate water and air for good plant
growth

At 0-25 % field capacity (or wilting point), (i) Sands and sandy loams - are dry, loose, flows through fingers, (ii)
Loams, clay loams and clays are crumbly and powdery, small lumps break into powder, and will not ball under
pressure, and (iii) Comment - plants desperately need watering and will die soon.

There are two weather - based scheduling systems used to measure the amount of water lost from a crop.
Weather These are: (i) Evaporation from an open water surface -gives some indication of crop water use (the latter is
based data: generally lower), or (ii) Historical climate data such as relative humidity, temperature, wind speed and sunshine
hours.
Soil moisture can be measured as a suction or volume of water. This idea is applicable to how much force a
plant can exert on the soil to extract the amount of water it needs for growth. Soil moisture suction can be used
Soil
as a measure of plant stress and for that reason it is a handy tool for growers to use in scheduling their
moisture
irrigations. Soil moisture monitoring devices include tensiometers and resistance (measure soil moisture suction)
monitoring:
or neutron probe, EnviroScan®, Gopher®, Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR), DRW Microlink® and Aquaflex
(measure soil moisture content).

Problems
While irrigation has provided a number of important benefits the potential drawbacks of over/under watering include,

Under-watering
Loss in market value through yield reduction
Reduction in fruit size and quality

Over-watering
Unwanted vegetative growth
Losses of valuable water to the watertable
Irrigation water travelling over soil can cause erosion. The excessive displacement of the top soil can also affect soil
fertility (and hence crop yields), it may also clog drainage ditches and streams (silting), harm aquatic habitats, foul waters
used for recreational activities, and increases the need for water treatments.
Irrigation can cause pesticides, pathogens and weeds to spread during irrigation
Cause runoff
Increased operational costs (labour, pumping, cost of water)
Leaching of nutrients (eg. salt, phosphorus) may lead to algal growth, salinity an nitrate build ups (poisoning) elsewhere in
the catchment
Downgraded product quality and reduced yield.
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Higher About
operational costs for theIrrigation
producer | Irrigation
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and waterprofits)
| Farm management | Agriculture | Agriculture Victoria

Pressue on water resources with the Increasing demand for water use by urban dwellers

Further information
Tech note: What is evapotranspiration and how do I use it to schedule irrigations? [PDF File - 796.0 KB]
Tech note: What is evapotranspiration and how do I use it to schedule irrigations? [MS Word Document - 577.4 KB]
Fact sheet: What is evapotranspiration and how do I use it to schedule irrigations? [MS Word Document - 793.4 KB]
Irrigation of lucerne for hay
Blue-green algae and irrigation water
Border check irrigation design
Centre pivots and Rural Water Authorities
Centre pivot wheel rutting
Centre pivot system capacity
Centre pivot performance check
Centre pivots – Capital and operating cost trade-off
Choosing an orchard irrigation system
Choosing the right soil moisture monitoring device
Construction of an evaporation pan for irrigation scheduling
Determining effective area of shade in orchards and vineyards to estimate crop water requirement
From border check to sprinkler
Gypsum blocks for measuring the dryness of soil
How to use tensiometers
Irrigation scheduling for Regulated Deficit Irrigation (RDI)
Irrigation: Potatoes
Maintenance of micro-irrigation systems
Minisprinkler microspray irrigation for orchards
Soil moisture monitoring [PDF File - 785.8 KB]
Soil moisture monitoring [MS Word Document - 1.6 MB]
Trickle irrigation: the water needs of young peach trees
Why water fruit trees?

Reading
Irrigation and Drainage- Reference Manual , by S. Mulcahy and J. Schroen (1993). Department of Agriculture. Content: Irrigation
management (pertaining to flood/border check systems), farm drainage automatic irrigation, re-use systems, sub-surface
drainage, managing dairy effluent, farm plans, regional drainage and incentives.

Irrigation for profit- Water force Victoria.: by J. Cornish, J.P Murphy and C.A Fowler (1990) Irrigation Society of Australia. Conten
Irrigation systems, soil management, salinity control and drainage, water management, pasture management, irrigated pastures
dairying, and future directions.

Principles of farm irrigation system design- by James, L.G. (1988), John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York

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 2/24/2019planning. NSW NationalAbout
Property ParksIrrigation | IrrigationService
and Wildlife | Soil andand
waterDepartment
| Farm management | Agriculture
of Land and Water | Agriculture Victoria
Conservation.

Water Victoria - A resource handbook : by DNRE (1989) Department of Natural Resources and Environment, State of Victoria.

Courses/workshops
Whole farm planning workshops: Department of Environment and Primary Industries. Content: Farm layout, soil typing
irrigation, pastures, grazing animals, and the environment.
Irrigated Property Management Planning workshops: NSW Agriculture. Content: Natural resources, property layout,
irrigation system evaluation, farmer skills.
Irrigation engineering: University of New England, D.A. Duggings (Open Learining Australia). Content: surface, spray
and trickle irrigation methods, hyraulic design, salinity, assessment of crop water requirments.
Irrigation scheduling (module IRR401): Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga (water availability, how much water to
apply, calculating application rates, climate based method to determine when to irrigate, graphing soil water date, factors
affecting crop water use, field observations of the effect of water on plants, plant based methods to determine when to
irrigate, soil-based methods to determine when to irrigate, root zone water balance methods, crop responses).
WaterWise of Farms: Water Use Efficiency Advisory Unit, PO Box 865, Dubbo, NSW, 2830. Freecall 1800 255 444.
Content: Best irrigation practices, irrigation systems, irrigation scheduling, the right amount of water to apply, uniformity of
applications, systems design and maintenance).

Websites
Please Note: By electing to visit the sites below, you will be leaving our website.

Goulburn Murray Water

Goulburn Valley water

Irrigation Association of Australia

Murray Darling Basin Commission

Case study
Read the irrigation assessments case study to see how this partnership is delivering better services to farmers.

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