Comparison between Drip and Flood Irrigation

Systems on Potato Crop

PRESENTED BY: MUSNA UR REHMAN

REGISTRATION NO: 93-AG-658
MSC (HONS) WATER RESOURCES
ENGINEERING
SUPERVISOR: PROF. DR. MUHAMMAD
ARSHAD
INTRODUCTION
• From independence, potato has been an effective crop for both farmers and consumers in Pakistan. It is the
fourth most important crop by volume of production, it has high yield, have a high nutritive value and gives
high returns to farmers. At the time of independence, the area under production was 3000 ha that is
increased to around 112,000 ha during 2004-2005. The average yields rose from around 9 MT per ha in 1947
to 18 MT per ha in 2007. Pakistan is self-sufficient in potatoes for household consumption and relies for more
than 99% on locally produced seed potatoes. With a population of roughly 150 Million, this accounts to 11 Kg
per Capita per annum. (Agricultural Statistics of Pakistan, MINFAL, Islamabad 2004-2005).

• Potato producers have been slower to adopt drip since there are significant changes in bed configuration,
agronomic decisions, planting and harvesting equipment that go along with this technology (David, 2010). It is
referred that pressurized irrigation systems have better uniformity and higher application efficiency; higher
crop yields can be obtained with these methods (Bhutta et al. 2005).
• Irrigation is required for profitable commercial potato production. Maximum economic return requires,
among other things, that soil and water content be maintained within rather narrow limits throughout the
growing season (Bradley A.K et al 1994). WUE (Water Use Efficiency) showed that the lower the amount of
irrigation water received, the higher the water use efficiency obtained for the drier plant biomass and the
tuber yields (Zhong et al.2003).
Problem Statement
 Problems related to drip irrigation system such as investment cost, management time,
installation skills, inflexible design, emitters clogging; rodent’s attack ,soil salinity and seed
germination problem are very much serious for farmers. (Jose et al. 2005).
 Reduction of potato yield is observed with excessive use of water (Louise et al. 2005).
 It is noticed that tillage practices are also difficult in drip irrigated plots(Camp et al. 2000).
 Drip irrigation is much suitable for use with raised bed production cultures (Clark et al., 1995).

Objectives
 To check the suitability and effectiveness of drip irrigation system for potato crop.
 To check out yield and cost benefits by comparison of furrow irrigation and drip irrigation
system.
 To run CROPWAT software for checking parameters of potato crop.
MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY
 Study Area

Field of our study is in Sahiwal,Punjab Pakistan. Its height above the sea level is 152.4m and area covered by
that city is 3,201km2. This city has latitude and longitude 30° 39′ 52″N and 73° 6′ 30″E respectively. The city is in
the densely populated region between the Sutlej and Ravi rivers. The principal crops are wheat, cotton,
tobacco, legumes, potato and oilseeds.
 Site location
The drip irrigation system is installed at Mahar Riazul Haq Farm district Sahiwal Punjab, Pakistan.
It is the first practice of drip irrigation on potato crop at the farm.
 Collection of Data
There were two types of data available in that study,
 Primary Data
 Secondary Data

 Primary Data
It deals with the data that was collected from experimental site or field. That data consists of
o Crop water requirement
o Crop Data
o Soil Data
o Water Quality Sampling
Figure: Site Location of Potato Field
• Collection of Data
There were two types of data available in that study,
Primary Data
Secondary Data

 Primary Data
It deals with the data that was collected from experimental site or field. That data consists of :

o Crop Water Requirement

It is the amount of water required by the crop during its growth period. The discharge was calculated by float
method in furrow irrigation system and by flow meter in drip irrigation system installed. Drip irrigation was given at
17 minutes daily in each zone of the plot shown in Figure 3.4. In furrow irrigation system discharge was calculated
and total flow was calculated during entire season of the crop.
o Crop Data
It contains the data relating to crop properties, crop evapotranspiration, crop growth stages and crop coefficients
etc. All these parameters were the requirements of experiments of the research.
o Soil Data

It was the data relating to the soil properties e.g. Soil pH, organic matter percentages, available phosphorus
and potassium in ppm, saturation percentages and soil texture etc. All these values were analyzed at soil and
water testing laboratory Sahiwal shown in figure 3.3.

o Water Quality Sampling and Analyzing

In this analyzation EC and pH, calcium, magnesium, sodium and bicarbonate ions were determined. SAR and
RSC were also be calculated. These all parameters have determined in soil and water testing laboratory
Sahiwal.

 Secondary Data
The meteorological data e.g. sunshine hours, humidity, depth of rainfall, maximum and minimum temperature
was collected from the Meteorological Department, Sahiwal. This all data was put in CROPWAT model for
determination of crop water requirement and irrigation scheduling of potato crop. These all parameters were
proved to be helpful for crop modeling.
• Experimental Layout

Experimental plot of potato crop was divided into two parts of 5 acres each. One is drip irrigated and second
is furrow irrigated. All the experiments were taken in six zones of drip irrigation plot and six zones of furrow
irrigated plots.
• Experimental Plan
The experiments were done on all zones of drip and furrow irrigated plots. The steps of the plan are as follows

 Soil Preparation

 Furrow Design

 Potato Sowing

 Drip Installation

 Irrigation Scheduling for Drip and Furrow Systems

 Harvesting and Yield Calculation

Figure 3.6 Soil bed preparation and Furrow Design for Potato Crop
Figure: 3.7 Sowing of Potato Tubers by Potato Planter Figure: 3.8 Drip Irrigation Unit for Potato Crop

Figure : 3.9 Potato Harvesting and Picking in Field

• Water Requirements for Potato Crop using Crop Models
It is the modern technique to determine water requirement by the model. In this study we have
determined accuracy and precision values results taken by the crop water requirement model. In
this experiment we have made comparison between actual and calculated results taken by the
model. The crop model we selected is CROPWAT.

 CROPWAT Model
CROPWAT is a decision support system developed by the Land and Water Development Division
of FAO for planning and management of irrigation. CROPWAT is meant as a practical tool to carry
out standard calculations for reference evapo-transpiration, crop water requirements and crop
irrigation requirements, and more specifically the design and management of irrigation schemes.
It allows the development of recommendations for improved irrigation practices, the planning of
irrigation schedules under varying water supply conditions, and the assessment of production
under rain fed conditions or deficit irrigation. (Adriana Marica et al.)
Figure : 3-10 Climatic Data Simulation in CROPWAT Figure 3‑12 Scheduling Criteria Given by
CROPWAT
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Drip Irrigation for Potato Crop in Sahiwal
Results were obtained from potato crop sown in Maher Riaz ul Haq Farm in Sahiwal. Water
requirement for drip irrigation was determined given in Table 4.1.

Table 4‑1 Water Applied by Drip Irrigation and ETo for Potato Crop in Sahiwal
(2016-17)

Actual Water requirement Volume ETo ETo

Month
mm m3 mm/day mm/month

November 15.84 303 2.12 25.44

December 32 605 1.39 41.7

January 61.16 1195 1.53 45.9

February 67.85 600 2.14 59.92

March 4.13 41 3.49 6.92

 Table 4‑2 Water Requirements in Furrows for Potato Crop on Monthly Basis
Months Water Applied in Furrows mm Volume m3

November 66.69 1350

December 100.03 2025

January 64.22 1300

February 35.81 725

March 0 0

Crop Water Requirement from CROPWAT

 The CROPWAT software was used as supporting system in the research data results are shown in the
table4.3. In this table evapotranspiration water requirement and effective rainfall in millimetres are
shown in table 4.3.
Table 4‑3 CROPWAT Software Results for Potato Crop for district Sahiwal

ETc Water Requirement Eff. Rainfall Total Irrigation

Months
(mm/month) mm mm Mm
November 12.72 12.3 0.9 13.2
December 29.105 27.7 2.1 29.8
January 52.785 53.7 2.1 55.8
February 70.62 30.2 38.2 68.4
March 5.235 3 2.1 5.1
It was observed by the data that values of ETo are smaller in December and January while in
February and March is higher.

Actual Water Applied for Drip Ir- Water Applied in Furrow mm

rigation Total Water Requirement 120.00
for Drip Irrigation Water Applied mm
80
100.00
70
60 80.00
50
60.00
40
30 40.00
20
20.00
10
0 0.00
November December January February March November December January February March
Figure 4‑2 Actual Water Applied by Drip Irrigation Figure 4‑4 Water Applied by Furrow
Irrigation System
 Crop evapotranspiration and effective rainfall was also given by the model. In this Figure 4.5 it shown
that depth of rainfall is observed to be maximum in February because these areas like Sahiwal
regions received more rainfall in previous climatic data. Rainfall is the main parameter for irrigation.
In February minimum irrigation is given due to heavy rainfall in that area. Monthly
evapotranspiration is given in Figure 4.6 which indicated that more water is needed in January and
February.
 Effective rainfall is given by the CROPWAT in Figure 4.5.It indicates that there is more rainfall in the
month of February. So in February there is less need of water by any method to the crop.

Effective Rainfall mm
45 ETo mm/month ETc mm/month
80
40
Effective Rainfall mm 70
35
60
30
50
25
40
20
30
15
20
10
10

0
5
Figure 4‑5 Effective Rainfall in Sahiwal (2016-2017) 0 Figure 4‑6 Evapotranspiration for Potato Crop
November December January February March
November December January
in Sahiwal
February
(2016-17)
March
 Total Water Requirement
80 mm/month
70
Total Water Requirement
60
mm/month
50
40
30
20
10
0
November December January February March

Figure 4‑7 Total Water Requirements for Potato Crop in Sahiwal

80
70 Irrigation Requirement
ETc mm/month
60
Effective Rainfall mm
50
40
30
20
10
0
November December January February March

Figure 4‑9 Evapotranspiration, CWR and Effective Rainfall for Potato Crop in Sahiwal
Drip Irrigation and Furrow Irrigation
There was a huge difference observed in drip irrigation and furrow irrigation. Water applied
for furrow irrigation is maximum required for potato crop. Irrigations for both techniques are
given as follows in Table 4.6.

Table 4‑6 Drip Irrigation and Furrow Irrigation Water Requirements for Potato Crop

Drip Water Requirement Furrow Irrigation Water Requirement

Month
mm Mm

November 15.84 66.69

December 32 100.03

January 61.16 64.22

February 67.85 35.81

March 4.14 0
 120.00

Water Applied in Furrows mm

100.00

Water Applied in Drip mm

80.00

60.00

40.00

20.00

0.00
November December January February March

Figure 4‑17 Comparison of Water Applied by Drip & Furrow Irrigation Systems
 120.00

Water Applied in Furrows mm

100.00

Water Applied in Drip mm

80.00

60.00

40.00

20.00

0.00
November December January February March

Figure 4‑18 Line Comparison of Drip & Furrow Irrigation System for Potato
Cost Benefit Analysis

Cost of every activity on drip irrigation and furrow irrigation was noted and calculated. Cost
analysis and effectiveness of drip irrigation was checked by drip cost benefit analysis.

Table 4‑10 Comparison of cost Analysis of Drip Irrigation and Furrow Irrigation

Drip Irrigation Furrow Irrigation

Crop Activity
Rs. Rs.

Irrigation 17350 21840

Cultivation+ Sowing 46750 46750

Fertilizer 117400 107050

Seed 100000 100000

Spray 59850 31350

Harvesting 20000 20000

Total 361350 326990

 140000

Drip Irrigation
120000
Furrow Irrigation

100000
COST RUPEES

80000

60000

40000

20000

0
Irrigation Cultivation+ Sowing Fertilizer Seed Spray Harvesting

Figure 4‑19 Cost Analysis Comparison of Drip and Furrow Irrigation for Potato Crop
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSIONS
 The following conclusion were found after the research study
 Drip irrigation system is much better than furrow irrigation system for potato crop
because it saves water, enhances yield, conserve energy and a sophisticated technology.
 During this research, it was noticed that for potato crop 47 % water was saved, 9.52%
energy conserved and 21.25% yield enhancement was carried out.
 CROPWAT is good support programme in decision support system for water
management.
 Water applied by drip irrigation system is much closer to the given water requirements
by CROPWAT model.
 According to the cost benefit ratio point of view, it was concluded that drip irrigation
system saves the losses up to 12.6% than furrow irrigation system.
 According to whole study period of research, it was concluded that drip irrigation
system is an economic system according to water saving point of view.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations and suggestions were made after the research study
 Drip Irrigation system should be adopted by the formers for vegetable crops such as
potato.
 There is a lack of indigenous capacity and technical support to the farmers for
installation, Operation and Maintenance of the drip system. There is a need of trainings
and courses for the farmers.
 The drip system and its spare parts are not readily available from the local markets.
Only a limited number of manufacturers, suppliers and technicians are available in the
big cities of Pakistan. There is need of its availability in the local market.
 CROPWAT is the decision support system for the farmers to save water and they can
obtain maximum yield by using minimum water use.
 Drip systems are costly and beyond the affordability of small and medium farmers.
There should be more subsidies by the Government for the farmers.
 Technical and financial support systems may be promoted through the Action Plans
with respect to manufacturing of cost effective systems.
 
 The key players with respect to providing the technical support are OFWM and
Agriculture Extension Dept., manufacturing agencies, research institutions and
farmers organizations/NGOs are supported for the promotion of drip irrigation
system.
 Farmers in the others areas may also be encouraged and motivated for installation of
sprinkler and drip systems.