MODULE III

IRRIGATION
TYPES OF IRRIGATION

1.)FLOW IRRIGATION:
• Flow irrigation is that type of irrigation in which the supply of
irrigation water available at such a level that it is conveyed on to the
land by the gravity flow.
2.) LIFT IRRIGATION:
• Lift irrigation is practised when the water supply is at too lowlevel to
run by gravitation on to the land.
• Water is lifted by mechanical means or pumps.
 Methods of distribution of Irrigation Water
1.) Flooding :
• In controlled flooding water is spread over the land with proper
methods to control the depth of application
• In free flooding the field is divided into small sized plots which are
practically level.
• Water is admitted to these plots at the higher ends & supply is cut
off as soon as lower portion of the plot has received the sufficient
depth of water
 Methods of distribution of Irrigation Water

2. Furrow Irrigation :
• Furrows are developed between the crop row in the planting &
cultivating processes
• Suitable for irrigating crops planted in rows
Methods of distribution of Irrigation Water
3. Sprinkler irrigation:
• In this method water is applied in the form of a spray as ordinary
rain.
• Consists of a system of perforated pipes which may be either fixed
or revolving around a vertical shaft.
• Water is forced into these pipes which emerges in the form of a
spray through the perforations and spread on the field very evenly.
Methods of distribution of Irrigation Water
4. Drip irrigation:
• Water is applied in the form of drops directly near the base of the
plant.
• Water is conveyed through a system of flexible pipes,operating at
low pressure and is applied to the plants through drip nozzles.
 Soil water plant Relationships
• Water present in the soil are classified under 3 heads:
1. Hygroscopic water
2. Capillary water
3. Gravitational water
 HYGROSCOPIC WATER
• When an oven dried sample is kept open in the atmosphere,it
absorbs some amount of water from the atmosphere.
• It is not capable of movement by capillary or gravity forces.
 CAPILLARY WATER
• Is that part in excess of hygroscopic water which exists in the pore
spaces of the soil by molecular attraction.
 GRAVITATIONAL WATER
• Is that part in excess of hygroscopic & capillary water which will move
out of the soil if favourable drainage is provided.

• Water may also be classified as

1. Unavailable
2. Available
3. Superfluous
 SOIL MOISTURE CONSTANTS
1.)Saturation Capacity:
• Also called the maximum moisture holding capacity or total capacity
• It is the amount of water required to fill all the pore spaces between
the soil particles by replacing all the air held in pore spaces.
2.)Field Capacity:
• Is the moisture content of the soil after free drainage has removed
most of the gravity water.
3.) Permanent wilting point:
• Also called wilting coefficient
• Is the water content at which the plants can no longer extract
sufficient water from the soil for its growth.
4.)Available moisture:
• Is the difference in water content of the soil between field capacity
and permanent wilting point.
• Also called available water.
 Depth & frequency of Irrigation
• The frequency of irrigation is controlled by the amount of available
water contained in the root zone of the soil and the consumptive use
rate.
• The depth of water (dw) to be given during each watering is given by:
dw = ( ϒ/ϒw) (Fc – mo)
ϒ : unit weight of soil
ϒw : unit weight of water
‘d’ : Root zone depth in meters
‘ Fc’ : Field capacity
‘mo’ : Optimum moisture content
 Depth & frequency of Irrigation
• The frequency of watering (fw) is given by:

fw = (dw/Cu ) days

Cu : Daily consumptive use rate

dw : depth of water
 Command areas (CA)
• The areas over which canal irrigation water flows by gravity is known as
command area.
• Types of command area
1. Gross command area (GCA) : It is the total area which can be irrigated
economically without considering the limitation of quantity of available
water.
2. Culturable command area (CCA) : It is the area in which crop is grown at
a particular time or crop season
Types: a)Culturable cultivated area : It is the area within culturable area
where the cultivation has been actually done at present.
b)Culturable uncultivated area : It is the area within culturable area where
the cultivation is possible but it is not being cultivated at present due to
some reasons.