Irrigation Management :: Sprinkler Irrigation

Function

Applying the water above the ground surface in the form of spray resembling rainfall through the nozzle with a pump

Specification

	A minimum of 1.0 kg/cm2 pressure needed to operate one sprinkler head to cover a diameter of 12 m
	Owing to the non economy of operating one sprinkler head, a pressure range of 4-5 kg/cm2 is normally needed for operating 4 sprinkler heads at a time
	It is better to operate under wind speed less than 15 KMPH to avoid drift loss in normal field holdings
	Use of sprinkler early in the morning and late in the evening is preferable to minimize the evaporation losses

Cost

Approximately Rs. 30000 – 40000 per ha.

Salient features

	Ideally suitable for hilly terrains with undulating slope
	Suitable for estate crops like tea, coffee etc.
	Suited to crops like groundnut, cotton and the crops which are not susceptible to easy flower shedding
	30 – 40 % saving in cost than conventional irrigation

Crop	Actual water used (mm)	Water saving over surface irrigation (%)	WUE Kg/ha/mm
Groundnut	390	24.7	5.13
Cotton	308	50.5	9.8
Soybean	380	50.0	4.77
Blackgram	140	50.0	8.82
Lucerne	124		63.0

Initial cost for installation is high
Land holdings are small
Equipment has a long life of 10 years
Grouping of farmers to operate the system will minimize the cost per unit holding
One kilogram per square centimeter pressure is needed to operate one sprinkler to cover a diameter of
12 m.
Training the farmers will equip them with the knowledge about sprinkler
Periodical checkup of nozzles to avoid blocking and proper coverage of diameter
Wind distorts the sprinkler pattern and affect uniformity