Water Irrigation Methods

In our Agriculture for Everybody blog series, we will cover the water irrigation methods generally followed in and around the country.  Only the important methods are covered here.

• Flood Irrigation
• This is the traditional method that is being used even today in most parts of our country
• This is the cheapest method in terms of cost and maintenance is very less
• The water loss is very high in this method
• This method is suitable for Paddy, Wheat etc

• Furrow Irrigation
• This is another traditional method that is being used even today
• This method is cheaper as well as easy to maintain
• The water loss is somewhat average in this method
• This method is suited for row crops or tree crops
• This method is suitable for Coconut, Mango, Sugarcane, Vegetables etc

• Pot Irrigation
• This method is generally used in areas where the waterfall is very less and hence recommended for dryland agriculture
• This involves filling up the pot every week or so and hence is a tedious work
• No or minimal water loss due to evaporation / heat
• Cost is negligible
• This method is suitable for Tree based crops

• Drip Irrigation
• This is the newly introduced method mainly for the purpose of reducing/saving the water to a greater extent
• This method needs infrastructure and materials (like pvc pipes etc) and hence the cost is higher
• This method requires maintenance at regular intervals and there is a nominal cost associated with it
• This method requires power for the water to be pumped across
• Very less water loss due to evaporation
• This method is suitable for Tree based crops as well as for Vegetables

• Sprinkler Irrigation
• This is also newly introduced method and is a better alternative than flood irrigation for certain crops
• This method needs infrastructure and materials (like pvc pipes etc) and hence the cost is higher but less than that of Drip Irrigation
• Little more of water loss is associated with this method
• This method requires power for the water to be pumped across
• This method is generally used for Vegetable based crops or even can be used for growing crops like Maize, Grasses etc where the requirement of water is minimal

• RainGun Irrigation - This method is similar to Sprinkler Irrigation except the coverage and reach of the water