Question

Give one geographical reason for the following statement.
The drip method of irrigation is the best among all the modern methods of irrigation.

Answer 1

Hint: Drip irrigation, also known as ‘trickle irrigation’, is the system in which water is slowly and frequently applied directly to the root zone of the crop. In this system, water is applied under the pressure, dripping one drop at a time via small emitters.

Complete answer:
The concept of this system is to irrigate only the root zone and not the whole field surface, which makes the water content of the crop root zone at the optimum level.

The system of drip irrigation is one of the most efficient. The efficiency of applied and lost water as well as meeting the crop water need ranges from 80 to 90 percent. What does this mean? Well, the efficiency of the system is the result of only two factors;
- Applying water drop by drop, so that it gets soaked up by the soil before it evaporates.
- Water is applied where it is needed the most i.e., on the crop root zone.

In a drip irrigation system, water is applied under the pressure, dripping one drop at a time via small emitters. Water can also be sprayed over a portion of the field's surface in the form of fine mist or bubbled onto the soil in small streamlets.

Although only a portion of the soil gets irrigated by the drip systems, the amount of wetted soil depends on a number of factors such as the characteristics of the soil, the duration of the irrigation period, emitter discharge, and number and spacing of emitters. The trickle or drip irrigation systems can be divided into four types on the basis of the emitters which control the quantity and rate of water discharge - Point-source emitters (drip bubbler), In-line drip emitter, Basin bubblers, and Micro spray sprinkler.

The drip method of irrigation is the best among all modern methods of irrigation as in this method water is directly given to the crops through perforated pipes. This reduces evaporation and each crop may be irrigated according to its requirements.

Note: Even after having various benefits, the drip system has also certain limitation factors for successful implementation on crop production:
- Due to small outlets the emitters get clogged by soil particles, chemicals, fertilizers or organic materials.
- Due to elevation differences on unlevel fields there is uniformity of water distribution.
- Between two irrigation cycles there is a risk of potential salt accumulation in the crop root zone.
If the system fails, plants are more susceptible to stress.