CHAPTER FOUR

IRRIGATION WATER APPLICATION METHODS

 Irrigation water application methods
Irrigation water applied to the crops in different methods
Generally there are 3 irrigation methods
1.Surface irrigation
2.Sprinkler irrigation
3.Drip/trickle irrigation
Irrigation water is applied to the crops or the soils in one of the
above methods
 Surface irrigation images
Furrow irrigation

Furrow
irrigation
Furrow
irrigation
Sprinkler irrigation images
Pivot center
Drip irrigation images
Drip irrigation images
Drip image
Drip image
SURFACE IRRIGATION
 Surface irrigation
In this method

water is applied and distributed over the soil surface by gravity

Water spreads over the land surface as a flood
 …cont

 It is the oldest method & still most widely used method

 Surface irrigation is most common method in areas where there

is abundant water
 Surface irrigation is classified into two

A. uncontrolled flooding method

B. controlled flooding method
 A. Uncontrolled flooding
It is also called free flooding or wild flooding method
In this method
 water freely spread over the land surfaces without any control

 no any bunds or levees the prevents or controls flow of water

 there is no need of land preparation or land levelling before
application of irrigation water
Water admitted to the fields at upper reach of the field and freely
floods the field flowing to any direction
In this method, once the water leave from the field ditches, there is no
restriction of movement of water
This method is commonly adopted in areas where there is abundant
water
But this method has very less efficiency – b/c most of the waters lost
through deep percolation, by surface runoff out of the field, evaporation
and transpiration
 B. controlled flooding methods
In this type of irrigation method
Land must be levelled or prepared before applying irrigation
water
There is bunds or levees to restrict or guide flow of water
Irrigation fields are divided into a number of smaller fields
 …cont
Controlled flooding method subdivided in to three
1. Basin irrigation
2. Border irrigation
3. Furrow irrigation
 A. Basin irrigation
Areas of lands which are surrounded by dikes, levees or bunds
are called basins
Basin irrigation classified into two
1. Check basin irrigation – Rectangular or square
2. Ring basin irrigation – circular basin
 A.1 Check basin irrigation
In this method, field is divided into a number of small plots
Each plot is surrounded by a low levees or bunds or dikes
Check basin typically contains the shapes of rectangular or
square plots
In this case, bunds are used to confine water with in it
In this method, water allowed for long periods until it to infiltrate
to a desired depth
Check basin irrigation
 Suitability of check basin
Crops
Check basin is suitable for paddy crops especially for rice
It suitable for close growing crops such as pastures (alfalfa)
Generally, it suitable for crops resisting ponded water for long
periods or times
 …cont
Slopes
Check basin suitable for flat or level surface
If the land surface is level, it is easy to construct basin irrigation
So, check basin needs a flat slopes

Also we can construct check basin in steep slopes by

constructing terraces
 …cont
Soils
Check basin irrigation suitable for a soils having medium to
slow infiltration rate
So, it is suitable for both clay and loam soils
Especially, heavy clay soils requiring long time to infiltrations
are irrigated by basin irrigation
 A.2 Ring basin irrigation
Ring basins are special type of check basins
Ring basins are circular in shape
Ring basins are provided for producing orchard or tree crops
In one basin one or more than one crops can be grown
In this method, water supplied to each basin through field
ditches or laterals
Image of Ring basin irrigation
 Suitability of Ring basin
Crops
 Generally orchard crops are adaptable for ring basin
 Or tree crops such soft fruits are irrigated by ring basin
Soils
Ring basin irrigation suitable for a soils having medium to slow
infiltration rate
So, it is suitable for both clay and loam soils
 …cont
Slopes
Ring basin typically or basically needs a flat or level surface
whose slopes approaches to zero
But also we can construct a basin in steep or undulating
area by constructing terraces in areas where there is no flat
lands
By constructing terraces we get a flat or levelled lands
 B. Border irrigation
in this method
 Field is divided into a number of small strips of lands
 Each strips of land is surrounded by a low levees or ridges
called borders
 Suitability of border irrigation
Soil
It is suitable for moderately low to moderately high infiltration rates
so, it is suitable for loamy and clay soils

but this method is not recommended for very heavy clay soils
If the soil type is heavy clay soil, basin irrigation is provided.
because it takes a long time for infiltration
Crops
Border irrigation is suitable for close growing crops such as wheat, barley,
fodder crops & legumes
It is suitable for crops damaged by ponding water
It is not suitable for paddy crops like rice requires standing water for long
times or periods
Generally border irrigation is suitable for close growing crops which does
not requires standing water for long periods
 …cont
Slope
Border irrigation needs nearly uniformly graded gentle slopes in
the direction of flow of irrigation water
It is suitable for
 Minimum slope of 0.5% to provide adequate drainage
 Max slope of 2% to prevent a soil erosion
 C. Furrow irrigation
Furrow is a narrow field ditch that supplies water to the crop in the field
from supply ditch
This method is commonly used method in Ethiopia today
In this method crops grown on ridges

In this method, water moves in both lateral and vertical direction
In other surface methods the entire area is wetted but in this ½ to 1/5
areas are wetted
 Surface irrigation images
Furrow irrigation

Furrow
irrigation
Furrow
irrigation
 Suitability of furrow irrigation
Suitable crops
Furrow irrigations are especially suitable for row crops such as
sugarcane, maize, sunflower, soybean etc
Crop that would be damaged by inundation such as tomatoes,
vegetables, potatoes, beans etc
 …cont
Suitable slopes
Especially flat or gentle slopes are preferred for furrow irrigation
The max slope of furrow should not exceed 0.5% to prevent soil
erosion
The min slope of furrow is 0.05% to provide adequate drainage
On undulating land, means the lands steeper than 0.5% furrow
should follow the contours