Archive for irrigation systems
October 8, 2009 at 3:33 pm · Filed under irrigation systems ·Tagged automatic irrigation, circumstances, cold climate, drain valve, draining water, electricity, freeze proof, heavy snow, irrigation components, irrigation controller, irrigation system, pi, productive results, rotor, shut off valve, simple steps, temperate climate zone, timer, water flow, water pipes
One can winterize the present irrigation system. There are several simple steps to follow. The main valve can be turned off and the water flow can be controlled which flow to the irrigation system. There are several settings in the automatic irrigation controller and we can set it to “rain “settings for effective results. There are several valves present in the pipes. Just turn on the valves so that the pressure from the pipe is released. There are certain irrigation components which may freeze due to substantial circumstances. Draining water from such components will earn better productive results.
Locations of the irrigation system:
Based on the location of the irrigation system one can winterize the irrigation system. One is winterization of irrigation system during temperate climate and another is winterization of the irrigation system during cold climate. In the temperate climate zone usually substances do not freeze very often. Even if there is heavy snow in that particular area the snow melts off very quickly. There is no necessity to insulate the water pipes kept outside houses as it does not freeze very quickly. In this zone the water flow to the irrigation system is shut and an important factor is that the main shut off valve from where water flows to the irrigation system should be freeze-proof.
Steps to avoid freezing:
It would become a problem if the main shut off valve is not freeze proof and one should see that the valve does not break due to freezing. In case of an automatic system the timer should be shut off so that lot of electricity can be saved. The power given to the controller can be shut off as an alternative. There are chances for the pump to get damaged while shutting the controller off. The gear drive rotor sprinkler could freeze the water, so the water can be drained by using a drain valve installed in the pipe where water flows to the irrigation system. An alternative is that the rotor can be removed and water can be drained out to avoid freezing. The pipes can be insulated by sticking the foam insulating tapes above the ground pipes.
Insulation:
The air vents and backflow preventers should not be blocked. The best way to do this is to insulate the valve or backflow preventers using R-11 fiberglass. Heavy plastic bags provide an important means of insulation and that can be wrapped around the valves and backflow preventers. One should see that the air flow is provided in the plastic bags and it does not get wet to enable a permanent insulator. Since it is permanent one need not worry about changing the insulators very often as they will survive for a longer period.
Usage of compressors:
The scenario in the cold climate is totally different and one has to take considerate measures to protect the irrigation system. As told above the main valve should be closed and the timer should be shut off to gain electricity which greatly depends on the controller used whether it is mechanical or solid-state controller. The valves in the pipe should be removed and the water in the pipes should be drained or heating cables can be placed upon the valves and these heating cables are insulated. To blow water from the pipes special drain valves are used. The drain valve is installed in both high point and low points in the pipes and the valves can be put in an accessible box and the locations can be writer over box to avoid getting strangled in this climate. The water should be completely blown out and so making use of a compressor is a very good choice. Do not close the valves while compressor is running. When the blowing process is finished the controller is set to the “rain mode”.
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September 22, 2009 at 4:19 am · Filed under Greenhouse, irrigation systems ·Tagged air circulation, arithmetic, atmosphere, atmospheric temperature, automatic green house irrigation systems, back door, common man, degree celsius, flowers, geometric growth, glasses, Greenhouse, improvement rate, plants, rare conditions, sunlight, temperature air, vegetables
Greenhouse cultivation has become more common these days. The necessary awareness needed about the greenhouse has reached even the common man. The world as a whole is itself becoming a greenhouse. But still for improvement of the vegetable rate, which is going in the arithmetic improvement rate to meet the on going, geometric growth rate of the humans is very much required. Cultivation of vegetables and flowers in the greenhouse is a very painful task than growing it in the fields of their chance.
Difficulties faced in Greenhouse
The difficulties faced in a greenhouse are countless. The most major difficulties faced in the greenhouse are the factors consisting of temperature, air circulation and moisture. The temperature has to be correct for the plants to grow which is usually greater than the surrounding temperature and only in the most rare conditions it is lesser than the outside temperature. The air circulation has to be high as this is a closed atmosphere usually the available air in the room will be the minimal as possible. Then watering is a major problem faced by this group of plants, as it cannot be done as easily as it is done in the field. Where we can make paths and water can be sent to the respective plants.
Methods to overcome
The temperature is provided to the plants is usually carried out by the structure of the building itself. This has a inclined glasses which is capable of sending the sunlight inside but not allowing it to escape the way it came in. as by this fact it makes it trapped in so by fact causing the temperature of the building to be higher than the surrounding temperature. The temperature will be 70 degree Celsius if the atmospheric temperature is 0 degree Celsius. This can be achieved if proper design is made in the greenhouse. The air circulation is monitored when we use vents in the windows and a special type of window, which will take care of the needy, replaces the back door. And about the watering scheduled and proper watering has to be done in order to make the proper growth of the plants.
Automation
There is automation available for the optimization of the all the above-suggested things. You can optimize the watering system, which is a little modification of your fire exhaust system. This is capable of providing timely and correct water quantity. The other is the ventilation and temperature. These things are also controlled by the usage of climate controllers in the greenhouse.
In common greenhouse cultivation the problems faced and the methods to deal with it are mentioned here. The automation process that are available and the complementation principles that can be taken to improve the production are dealt with detail.
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September 17, 2009 at 9:29 am · Filed under Greenhouse, irrigation systems, Orchard, Useful Methods, Vegetative Production ·Tagged article summary, Drip irrigation, Greenhouse, greenhouse irrigation, hose pipe, hoses, interval, irrigation sprinklers, irrigation systems, known fact, natural water sources, night time, prime importance, proper water, sensors, soil moisture, special instruments, uniform manner, water cans, water plants, water requirements
It’s a well a known fact that plants require sufficient amount of water to survive. With no chances of obtaining natural water sources for the plants placed in greenhouse, there is a great need to develop an artificial greenhouse irrigation to fulfill the water requirements of plants.
Why greenhouse irrigation?
Watering the plants using the water cans will solve a part of this problem but the efficiency of this method will be very less and also there is a great amount of hand work that is required to water plants. This method will only let the user to water plants only to a certain extent and the entire plant region cannot be covered using this method. There is also other option of using hose pipe to water the plants, but it will not be possible to water the targeted region. Hence there is a great demand for greenhouse irrigation that will greatly water all the areas in a uniform manner
Nowadays, it has become possible to water all the parts of the greenhouse in an automated manner using irrigation systems such as drip irrigation, sprinklers, misters and seep hoses. The watering operation can be operated by using parts such as controllers and sensors.
Automatic greenhouse irrigation
There are water timers that will be very significant in watering the plants in regular interval of time all through the day. There are many advantages that are associated with this system since it will let you to irrigate the greenhouse even during night time without your actual presence. This can also be of great importance in watering the plants when you go out from your home for a period of time.
There are also special instruments that will measure soil moisture and will water plants according to specific needs of plants, hence maintaining proper water requirements in the best possible manner.
Article Summary: Greenhouse irrigation is an essential part that should be given prime importance since these are the only source that provides water to the plant and prevent drying up of soil. There are many technologically advanced methods that will be providing many good solutions for water requirements of plan. There are also methods to automate this greenhouse irrigation process to maintain proper watering of plants.
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September 16, 2009 at 3:35 pm · Filed under irrigation systems ·Tagged conventional irrigation, crops, grasses, initial investment, lack of water, lawn irrigation system, lawn irrigation systems, maldistribution, plants, principle of moments, roots, sprinklers, uniformity, Water supply
Sprinkle your field
Lawn irrigation systems can be implemented in many places. You can use them in your gardens also. The lawn irrigation system is best suited for plants that need just the right amount of water. Because if you provide an irrigation system that over irrigates the field then there are many chances for the crops to also get washed away along with the water. Many fields which include the crops which do not have a strong base roots and which can not withstand the strong current of water flowing through the conventional irrigation system can be irrigated with the help of lawn irrigation systems. This is the reason why all the gardens and the backyard grasses are irrigated using the lawn irrigation systems.
Lawn irrigation systems
Lawn irrigation systems work with a sprinkler fixed at the top portion of the pipe which projects out from the ground. The sprinkler works on the principle of moments. When the water flows on the flaps they cause force on the flaps there by causing the flaps to turn along with the top sprinkler. This ensures proper spraying of the entire fields. This also increases the uniformity of the production of the crops in the fields. This also reduces the lack of water to plants as in conventional irrigation this is the only disadvantage. This is called as the maldistribution of water. That is, some of the plants get more water while the others starve of water. Thus causing them to dry and they might die because of the insufficient water supply to those plants.
Disadvantage of lawn irrigation systems
Although there are many advantages in the case of the lawn irrigation system, there are also the same number of disadvantages in the lawn irrigation system. One of the major disadvantages of this system is that you can not be able to implement this on a large field which is in hundreds of acres as you need to install them for every 3 meters or so. This increases the initial investment in the irrigation systems. These irrigation systems are mainly used in the small farm lands where the flow of water is continuous. Also these systems use many mechanical devices which could fail during their life period. Hence to minimize this you need to invest a lot on the maintenance cost for them.
Article Summary: Lawn irrigation system is the most economical way to irrigate small and medium fields which grow crops and other flowers. They can be timed using timers so that no man is necessary to sprinkle and irrigate the fields. Thus the crops can grow healthy when they get water in time.
Resource Box Info: This article discusses about the implementation, applications and some of the advantages and disadvantages of the lawn irrigation systems. For more information on the irrigation system you can visit http://agricultureguide.org/agriculture/irrigation/.
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September 16, 2009 at 3:30 pm · Filed under irrigation systems ·Tagged agricultural fields, banks, best food, boats, crops, dujiangyan irrigation system, excess water, fishing, hunting, irrigation systems, many different ways, military persons, ood, rainy season, rainy seasons, rocky terrain, source of water, stuffs, transportation purpose, vegetables
Food is the basic need for the human race to survive in this plant. These can be obtained from many different ways. For example hunting and fishing are some ways to gather food for the survival. But the best food of all is the crops and vegetables as they contain lot of good stuffs and that too in adequate amount for healthy life. But for growing these, a man should take proper care of them such as to provide good place to culture on and mainly good irrigation system. The irrigation in the early period was very difficult as they had to cut down many trees on their way and to provide path amongst the rocky terrain. So many irrigation systems were just a few feet wide which could irrigate only some acres of land. This was not sufficient to irrigate a huge area of about hundreds of acres of agricultural fields. This was the time during which the Dujiangyan irrigation system can into picture.
Dujiangyan irrigation system
This irrigation system was designed and implemented first in the china in the middle of 200 B.C. This is one of the oldest irrigation systems and this is still in function these days. They are the major source of water for many fields in china. They are placed in the min river in china. This irrigation system has a major function to regulate the flow of water. That is, during the rainy season they need to store the water so that they can manage the next summer season. This river was selected first as fields which are situated in the banks were flooded often in a single year. So the best method to stop this is by building an irrigation system in its banks.
Secondary function of the irrigation system
The irrigation system’s secondary function was to divert the flow of excess water during the rainy seasons which caused flooding of the agricultural fields. These were also used for transportation purpose. Some military persons or vessels travel through this irrigation system only. This is because this is the cheapest way to move on as they need work to row the boats as they will move downstream along with the river. By implementing these irrigation systems, the Chinese were also able to solve the problem over water between the neighboring agricultural field owners.
Article Summary: The best irrigation system that the world has ever seen is the Dujiangyan irrigation system which is still functioning in proper order. As they were made of natural materials like wood and bamboo stick they still stay intact to serve their function.
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September 16, 2009 at 3:01 pm · Filed under irrigation systems ·Tagged drip system, ground cover, household, irrigation leak, irrigation system leak, irrigation systems, leak, leak detection, leaks, measures, micro irrigation system, proper manner, sensors, sprinkler system, water leak, water pipes, Water supply
It is very common to see an irrigation system leak in a home. Hence it is greatly necessary to select repair measures that will be providing good level of defense for this kind of the problem. There are many chances of irrigation leaks that might happen either in aboveground condition or else in the belowground condition. If the leak occurs in the aboveground system, then there are chances that the leak might happen in drip system or the micro irrigation systems. Hence it should be the responsibility of all people to check for potential irrigation leakage spots in the pipe and fix the problem as soon as possible. There is a chance of saving thousands of gallons of water every year per household if the water leak is detected and corrected in a proper manner.
Types of leak irrigation detection
There are mainly two types of checking for irrigation system leak namely the active leak system and also the passive leak systems. In the passive irrigation system leak, there will be number of sensors that will indicate the leak spots and you need to carry out appropriate actions to stop the leakage. In the active irrigation system leak detection, the sensors will detect leak spots and also action will be taken to repair the leak spots to prevent any further leakage of the irrigation system.
Tips to find leakages above ground
Be aware that if the leakage occurs in aboveground conditions, then chances are great that they might be occurring in drip or micro irrigation systems. Remove all the ground cover that surrounds the surface of water pipes. You can also turn on the water supply and search for any spraying or leaks that occur. By doing the above steps it will be greatly possible to remove any aboveground irrigation leaks.
Tips to find leakages below ground
The above ground leakages will most commonly occur in regions of the micro irrigation system and also the high pressure sprinkler system. By capping all the under ground, it is possible to reduce the chances of leakage. Do not dig the ground in search of leakages as far as possible and try to unearth the system to a maximum level.
Article Summary: Irrigation system leak is a common problem which most of the individual face in day to day life. Thus there should be great level of importance that should be given to prevent any leaks in irrigation systems to large amount of water. There are many devices that are available to detect irrigation leak spots and also to undertake repair actions. It is also possible to identify leak spots manually.
Resource Box Info: This article discusses about various techniques and methods that are available to prevent irrigation system leaks and also gives essential tips to identify leak spots. If you want to have more information about irrigation system leak, fell free to visit http://agricultureguide.org/agriculture/irrigation/ .
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September 16, 2009 at 2:48 pm · Filed under irrigation systems ·Tagged atmosphere, carbon dioxide, crop cultivation, crops, Drip irrigation, essential nutrients, farmers, Fertilizers, glucose, granules, gravity, gravity irrigation, hilly terrains, innovative thinking, irrigation system, irrigation systems, irrigation water, plants, productivity, roots, soil erosion, starch
Importance of irrigation for farmers
Water to crops is equally necessary compare to the food for humans. Crops convert the water and the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for converting into the glucose which is available in the form of seed and granules in the crops. Hence if we need to have a good crop cultivation then it is very important that you provide a good irrigation system to the fields so that the crops get enough amount of water to convert them to starch and glucose. A good irrigation system provides water to all the plants in the fields. The best irrigation system should distribute equal amount of water to all the crops. No crop should get les amount and no crop should get more amount of water. As if a crop is provided with more amount of water then they many lead to soil erosion and the crop may not have nutrients in the soil to grow, thus limiting the productivity of the field.
Some methods of irrigation by farmers
Water is distributed by either using power or just simply by means of gravity. The water is distributed by gravity automatically thus requiring no external power. This type of method is mainly used in hilly terrains where the terrain is inclined in nature thus giving way for automatic powerless irrigation. Some other innovative thinking has lead to another type of irrigation called as the drip irrigation in which water is injected directly into the root part of the plant so that they can absorb the water in very less time and hence can produce the crops in a very fast manner. This can also be added with the injection of water and fertilizers and other essential nutrients into the roots of the plants directly as if the fertilizers are sprayed in the soil then there is very less chance for the plants to absorb the fertilizers.
Disadvantages in irrigation system for farmers
Gravity cannot be used in very inclined regions as they can cause large amount of soil erosion that too in a particular piece of land. Also it will be difficult to cultivate crops and harvest them in inclined placed. They might cause fatigue to the farmers who harvest them. The disadvantage in the drip irrigation system is that the initial cost becomes too high that it can not be implemented by poor farmers. This can also be implemented only over a large piece of agricultural land.
Article Summary: Although there are many techniques which are used to cultivate crops in large quantities, the demand is still high than the produced goods. The farmers are developing more and more irrigation systems to cope up with the increase in the demand for the food supplies and the crop cultivation.
Resource Box Info: This article describes various irrigation process followed by the farmers in a place where the annual rainfall is usually less compared to other place in the country. You can visit the following site to get more information about the irrigation systems of the farmers http://agricultureguide.org/agriculture/irrigation/ .
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September 16, 2009 at 2:36 pm · Filed under irrigation systems ·Tagged atomizing, center pivot, center pivot sprinkler, circular area, computer system, crop field, crops, Fertilizers, irrigation system, irrigation systems, lack of water, latest trends, maldistribution, malnutrition, nozzle, shape center, shape of a rectangle, sprinklers, sprinkling, temperature sensors, timer, Water supply
Unmanned irrigation Systems
Center pivot sprinkler are the latest trends that has developed in the irrigation system in a very great manner. These irrigation systems are operated without a man. These center pivot sprinkler are the systems which work based on the timer that is pre loaded in its circuit which helps it to sprinkle daily at a particular time in the day and in the evening. This ensures that no crop gets dried because of the lack of water supply to them. This also maintains the productivity of the crops in a field. This type of irrigation systems are used in fields which are basically round in shape.
Center Pivot Sprinkler
In this type of irrigation system the sprinklers spray the water from a huge nozzle that is mounted on a center pivot through which a pipe runs through. This pipe carries water through it. Some fields also add some fertilizers which are water soluble and they are sprayed in the fields directly. There are many advantages in this type of irrigation system. Some of the systems also use the moisture and temperature sensors of the environment and in the sand. By sensing these parameters the computer system embedded in the irrigation system could come to know when and where to irrigate, thus controlling the parameters and the health of the crop that is produced in the field.
Disadvantages of Center Pivot Sprinkler
Any system in the world will have both advantages and the disadvantages in it. This holds good for center pivot sprinkler also. Some of the disadvantages of the sprinkler are that this is not suitable to irrigate a large field which is in a shape of a rectangle or a square. This is because the sprinkling takes place in a circular area only. Hence if you have a square field then the corners of the field will not be sprinkled thus causing malnutrition and maldistribution. And another disadvantage in this system is that some of the water and the fertilizers that are sprayed after atomizing are sometimes carried away by the wind if the crop field is situated in a windy region. These may again lead to improper distribution of the water and the fertilizers to the crops. Also there are more chances of these atomized particles to evaporate into the atmosphere hence loss of water directly and fertilizers in a very large amount.
Article Summary: The circular shape of the irrigation system can also lead to less cultivable area and the maintenance cost for this type of irrigation system is also very high compared to the conventional type of irrigation system.
Resource Box Info: One can visit the following website to get the cost of the equipment of the centre pivot sprinkler http://www.agricultureguide.org/.
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September 6, 2009 at 6:16 am · Filed under Drip irrigation, hazelnut, irrigation systems, Orange / Citrus, Orchard, Useful Methods ·Tagged 4 months, agricultural practices, citrus fruits, climatic conditions, cultivators, Drip irrigation, fruit trees, fruit tress, furrow irrigation, hazelnuts, hilly regions, hybrid crops, irrigation systems, massive supply, oranges, orchards, sprinklers, tree crop, tree crops, type of nuts
Agriculture field has envisaged several progresses in recent years. One can validate those progresses from the output of cultivable land in some part of world. In countries like Australia, due to hot climate it is possible to raise certain type of nuts. Hazelnuts can be cultivated in these regions. Some of fruit tress can be cultivated in European countries. Fruit trees such as apples can be cultivated in hilly regions. Though the climatic conditions and product after cultivation differs, the common thing that binds all crops is irrigation. The irrigation fruit trees are considered to be challenging task for cultivators. Since different tree crop require different watering amount, it complicates the issue of irrigation. But irrigation of fruit tress can be done by certain qualified methods.
Fruit trees cultivation
Fruit trees can be cultivated in different landscapes. The agricultural practices have shown that fruit trees cultivation involve large amount of time to make the crop earn fruits in large number. Based on the techniques employed in science and technology, one can develop hybrid crops that fruits in short interval of time. Also one can be sure about the type of irrigation that is to be employed based on the type of crop cultivated. Generally cultivation of fruits such as oranges and other citrus fruits are done in places where cool atmosphere is maintained through some 3 or 4 months in a year.
How to irrigate fruit trees
Generally fruits are cultivated in orchards. These orchards are generally irrigated by drip irrigation and sprinklers that tend to provide massive supply of water with better range in short duration of time. Fruit trees can be irrigated based on the shape and size of the land that is used for cultivation. Some of major irrigation systems employed for cultivation involve furrow irrigation. The furrow irrigation can be employed to facilitate increased supply of the water to tree crops that are placed along the channels. Also some fruit trees require only optimum range of moisture content to be maintained upon. Hence drip irrigation can be employed.
Article Summary:
Irrigation of fruit trees is generally dependent on the water productivity that can be achieved through the crops. The water productivity of different crop varies. Accordingly type of irrigation employed can differ from furrow irrigation to sprinkler irrigation. Based on water supplies available in a particular location, cultivation of fruit tree can be instituted. In difficult terrains, channels are made to irrigate fruit crops.
Resource Box Info: One can acquire useful information about irrigation fruit trees from this article. To obtain sufficient information regarding the topic, one can run down pages at website http://www.agricultureguide.org/. Also one can vital information regarding special irrigation systems employed in modern day agriculture.
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September 6, 2009 at 6:09 am · Filed under irrigation systems ·Tagged agricultural practice, agricultural practices, center pivot irrigation, circular patterns, construction details, different kinds, hectares, hydraulic actuators, irrigation method, irrigation practices, irrigation system, irrigation systems, irrigation techniques, maintenance cost, researches, salient features, science and technology, sophistication, terrains, water source
Agriculture practices have diversified simultaneously with the progress in the field of science and technology. Newer ways in agricultural practices are developed by the researches that are conducted based on the people’s requirement placed before the scientific fraternity. General exploration of land has brought in special type of terrains to be cultivated. These unique terrains require different kinds of irrigation technique to be employed. Also based on varied irrigation practices, the crops can be cultivated in small production or large-scale production. Irrigation techniques differ based on the type of land that is to be cultivated with prominent environment conditions. Based on the amount of water source present and sophistication infused by advancements, one can use numerous special irrigation systems. Of them, center pivot irrigation system is also popular among all countries in the world.
What is center pivot irrigation?
Center pivot irrigation includes unique machine that transports water in circular patterns in order to cover up all the field area. The area of filed covered by center pivot irrigation is largely dependent on the length of machine employed. Also it can be utilized to cover up several hectares of land to be irrigated within short interval of time. Some of salient features of center pivot irrigation can be discussed with some brief note over the construction of the center pivot irrigation machine. The irrigation machine tends to provide proper supply of water throughout the field. The construction details show that hydraulic actuators that are present initiate the movement of the machine. The tubing used for the manufacture of machine can be aluminum.
Pros and cons of center pivot irrigation
There are several advantages and disadvantages associated with the development of center pivot irrigation method in regular agricultural practice. One can witness high initial cost to be spent by the farmer. Also the maintenance cost of the machine could be cashing for the farmers. This can be compensated with the large-scale production of crops. The main advantage of the center pivot irrigation system is that it can be used to irrigate long distance with only limitation that surface topography should be flat.
Article Summary:
Center pivot irrigation is unique irrigation methodology employed to irrigate crops in circles. The land is covered by circular pattern irrigation obtained by transferring pivot machine that supplies water through rotary motion. This kind of irrigation is also termed as overhead type sprinkler irrigation. The area that is irrigated is dependent on the total reach of segments of tubing available over the machine.
Resource Box Info: This page provides information regarding the use of center pivot irrigation system in regular irrigation practice. Also some practical knowledge about application of this irrigation system has been discussed. For some details about this topic one can read through pages at http://www.agricultureguide.org/.
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Agricultural Biodiversity 