Irrigation: Nurturing Crops with Controlled Water Application

Irrigation, a cornerstone of agriculture, involves the controlled application of water to enhance crop growth. Crucial for regions facing water scarcity, irrigation ensures optimal soil moisture levels, fostering increased agricultural productivity. As a vital component of sustainable farming, it plays a pivotal role in global food security and economic development.

Understanding Irrigation: Nourishing Crops, Sustaining Agriculture

• Definition: The supply of water to crops at regular intervals is called irrigation. 
  • The time and frequency of irrigation varies from crop to crop, soil to soil and season to season. 
  • In summer, the frequency of watering is higher.

• Importance of Irrigation: Water is absorbed by the plant roots. Along with water, minerals and fertilisers are also absorbed. 
  • Plants contain nearly 90% water.
  • Water is essential because germination of seeds does not take place under dry conditions.
  • Nutrients dissolved in water are transported to each part of the plant.
  • Water protects the crop from both frost and hot air currents.
• Sources of Irrigation:  The sources of water for irrigation are— wells, tube wells, ponds, lakes, rivers, dams and canals.
  • Wells: These are of two types of wells, namely, dug wells and tube wells. 
    • In a dug well, water is collected from water-bearing strata. 
    • Tube wells can tap water from the deeper strata. 
    • From these wells, water is lifted by pumps for irrigation.
  • Canals: Canals receive water from one or more reservoirs or from rivers. 
    • The main canal is divided into branch canals having further distributaries to irrigate fields.
  • River Lift System: In areas where canal flow is insufficient or irregular due to inadequate reservoir release, the lift system is more rational. 
    • Water is directly drawn from the rivers for supplementing irrigation in areas close to rivers.
  • Tanks: These are small storage reservoirs, which intercept and store the run-off of smaller catchment areas.

Types of Irrigation: Traditional Techniques and Modern Innovations

• Traditional Methods: The various traditional ways are the moat (pulley-system), chain pump, dhekli, and rahat (Lever system). 
  • Pumps are commonly used for lifting water. 
  • Diesel, biogas, electricity and solar energy is used to run these pumps. 
• Modern Methods: They help us to use water economically. The main modern methods used are as follows:

• • Sprinkler System: This system is more useful on uneven land where sufficient water is not available. 

• • • Water gets sprinkled on the crop as if it is raining. 

• • • Sprinkler is very useful for lawns, coffee plantations and several other crops.

• • Drip System: In this system, the water falls drop by drop directly near the roots. 

• • So it is called a drip system. 

• • It is the best technique for watering fruit plants, gardens and trees .

• • Water is not wasted at all. 

• • It is a boon in regions where availability of water is poor.

Irrigation Strategies in Cropping Patterns for Optimal Yield 

• Crop Rotation: The growing of different crops on a piece of land in a pre planned succession is known as crop rotation. 
  • If crop rotation is done properly then two or three crops can be grown in a year with a good harvest. 
  • These include different ways of growing crops so as to get the maximum benefit. 
  • These different ways include the following:
    • Mixed Cropping: Mixed cropping is growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land.
    • Inter-cropping: It involves growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same field in a definite proportion or pattern. 
    • The crops are selected such that their nutrient requirements are different. 
    • This ensures maximum utilisation of the nutrients supplied and also prevents pests and diseases from spreading to all the plants belonging to one crop in a field. 

Irrigation: Harvesting, Threshing and Winnowing

• Harvesting: It is the process of cutting the crop after it is mature.
  • Methods of Harvesting: Harvesting is done by two methods. 
    • First is the manual method, where a sickle is used. 
    • Second is the mechanical method, where a huge machine called a harvester is used.

• • Threshing: Threshing is the process of loosening the grains from the chaff. 
    • While it can be done manually, this is carried out with the help of a machine called ‘combine’ which is in fact a harvester as well as a thresher. 

• Winnowing: Winnowing is the process that separates grain seeds from the chaff using the help of the wind. 

• • Due to the wind, the lighter chaff flies away, and the heavier grains fall down.

Irrigation Strategies for Optimal Crop Growth: Storage

• Storage of the grains is an important step in agriculture. 
  • After harvesting, the ready grains are stored in granaries or silos.
  • The grains have to be stored in a dry place that does not have a rodent or fungal infestation.
• Fumigation of storage places is carried out to make it free from microbes.
• Granaries: Granaries are the place where freshly obtained food grains are stored.

Crop Variety Improvement for Enhanced Irrigation Efficiency

• The crop variety improvement approach depends on finding a crop variety that can give a good yield. 
• It can be done in the following ways:
• Higher Yield: To increase the productivity of the crop per acre.
• Improved Quality: The quality of crop products varies from crop to crop. e.g., protein quality is important in pulses, oil quality in oilseeds, and preserving quality in fruits and vegetables.
• Biotic and Abiotic Resistance: Crop production can go down due to biotic (diseases, insects, and nematodes) and abiotic (drought, salinity, water logging, heat, cold, and frost) stresses under different situations. 
  • Varieties resistant to these stresses can improve crop production.
• Change in Maturity Duration: Shorter maturity period of a crop reduces the cost of crop production and makes the variety economical. 
  • Uniform maturity makes the harvesting process easy and reduces losses during harvesting.
• Wider Adaptability: It allows the crops to be grown under different climatic conditions in different areas.
• Desirable Agronomic Characteristics: It increases productivity, for example, tallness and profuse branching are desirable characteristics for fodder crops, while dwarfness is desired in cereals so that less nutrients are consumed by these crops.

Crop Protection Management Strategies in Irrigation Agriculture

• Large Pathogens: Field crops are infested by a large number of weeds, insect pests, and diseases. 
• Varied Methods: Weeds, insects, and diseases can be controlled by various methods. 
  • Pesticide: One method can be the use of pesticides. 
    • It includes herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. 
    • These chemicals are sprayed on crop plants or used for treating seeds and soil. 
• Excessive Utilization: However, excessive use of these chemicals creates problems, since they can be poisonous to many plant and animal species and cause environmental pollution. 
  • Another is mechanical removal.

• Weeds and Protection against Weeds:  Weeds are undesirable plants that may grow naturally along with the crop. 

• • Weeds compete with the crops by absorbing all the water, nutrients, space and light. 
  • Following are the ways in which crops are protected against weed:
    • Tilling: Tilling is a process done before sowing of crops that helps in uprooting and killing weeds.
    • Manual Removal: Manual removal includes physical removal of weeds by uprooting them from the soil or chopping them off to ground level periodically.
    • Weedicides: Chemicals used to kill the weeds are known as weedicides. They usually don’t damage the crop.

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