The irrigation system is the supply of water to the fields. Irrigation

In agriculture, you can rely on rain, hoping at the same time to get a good harvest, and such years do happen. However, in most cases, a dry month in the summer can nullify all the efforts of farmers, so an irrigation system becomes necessary. This is the cornerstone of the successful cultivation of food: grain, vegetables, fruits. Only thanks to artificial irrigation, many areas, only conditionally suitable for agriculture, have turned into lush gardens. Irrigation has its subtleties and nuances, and they should be understood.

What is irrigation?

Irrigation itself is part of a broader science, land improvement, that is, the transformation of land for best use. Reclamation includes both drainage of marshy areas, and the reverse process - watering. By and large, the irrigation system is a complex of structures and mechanisms that allows to deliver water to the area, which is in dire need of additional irrigation.

In addition, irrigation refers to the whole complex of measures designed to deliver water for irrigation to any place where it is required, regardless of methods - from the construction of ponds and canals to the rise of groundwater to the surface. Humanity at all times needed water, so the irrigation system is so necessary. The definition in this case is extremely concise - any system that allows delivering water for watering plants, can be considered irrigation.

Evolution of irrigation systems

The most primitive method of watering is manual labor without the use of mechanization. That is, if the water in the vessels is delivered from a natural source. Despite the development of technical thought, this method is still being applied, and not only in developing countries of Africa - many summer residents in our country still carry water with buckets to water the beds. This is labor with extremely low efficiency, so people have always tried to mechanize the process. So there were all kinds of irrigation facilities, from Central Asian irrigation canals to Roman aqueducts, which still impress the imagination with their thoughtful technicality.

The delivery of water by gravity was not possible everywhere, and windmills and water mills soon appeared that not only could grind grain, but also raise water, direct part of the flow in spite of gravity - upwards. At the moment, the use of pumps and pipelines has made it possible to reduce human participation to a minimum, since a modern irrigation system is first and foremost the automation of the process.

Surface watering

Still a popular, but rather risky and unreasonable type of irrigation - this is a shallow watering. If the water supply to the fields is carried out on the surface of the earth, along the furrows, aryks and canals, evaporation increases substantially. It does not exclude some other negative phenomena.

For surface watering, a simple irrigation system is used. These are flowing ditches, furrows, into which water is directed from a central channel or other source. Also, surface irrigation can be conventionally referred to as an irrational method of irrigation, when hollow waters are retained in confined spaces by analogy with flood meadows.

Sprinkler systems

The irrigation system, in which a sprinkler system is used, is closer to natural phenomena. The water from the channels laid along the field rises to the sprinkler, which then dissipates the moisture, imitating the rain. In fact, it is a large pump moving along the channel with a long tubular system to form a cloud of water droplets.

Compared with surface watering, this irrigation scheme lessens the soil, spares the planting and promotes a uniform moistening of the soil at the required depth. The disadvantages of this system include a larger water discharge for evaporation.

Drip irrigation

In conditions when it is necessary to save water, but there is an urgent need to grow food, a drip irrigation system is more economical and reasonable. The peculiarity of drop irrigation lies in the fact that water does not spread over the surface. Its open sources may also be completely absent.

Water is supplied by drops through the holes in a special watering sleeve, which is fixedly laid along a row of plants. Thus, you can water strictly those plants that need attention. The rows are almost dry. Such irrigation facilities are usually supplied with automatic systems, including watering at a certain time and shutting down as unnecessary.

Radish watering

Another interesting way to supply plants with moisture is a radical irrigation, when the carrier of water flow is not on the surface of the earth, but in deepening, practically at the roots. Conditionally, it can be considered a radical irrigation of activities associated with raising the level of groundwater, so that plants receive moisture exclusively to the place of demand. These two subspecies have a significant difference: the installation of the basal tubes is not suitable if irrigation of large areas is necessary. But raising the level of groundwater is quite suitable and capable of turning a moderately arid terrain into productive land.

The positive and negative effects of artificial irrigation

Unfortunately, irrigation not only brings positive moments, but has quite serious consequences for the condition of the soil, so irrational watering as a result can only do much harm. Land use should be considered in the long term, as far as possible to preserve and improve agricultural soils, this will give a good reserve for the future. How can conventional irrigation of fields harm?

It is worth mentioning a positive moment. It is irrigation that makes it possible to significantly expand the areas of land suitable for the cultivation of agricultural plant crops. There is more food in the world, and this is a good side of artificial irrigation.

Negative consequences include such phenomena as irrigation erosion of soil and rapid salinization of lands, and this is not an empty threat. That's why experts are constantly exploring irrigation methods to minimize possible damage. This also includes unthinking consumption of fresh water, which in some areas is more than wasteful. Superficial watering, in comparison with a drop, is more efficient at times, while it very quickly leads to soil erosion and its salinization. If, in agriculture, farmers and agrofirms abuse mineral fertilizers, which gives a short-term surge in yield, salinity takes on a catastrophic rate.

The development of new methods of irrigation is an investment in the future. Mankind has made significant progress in this matter, but it certainly did not use all the possibilities. There remains the hope that predatory agriculture and primitive irrigation will sooner or later become a thing of the past.