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
