Types and Importance of Irrigation
Irrigation can be defined as a process of putting a manageable amount of water in the soil when need There are four major ways in which irrigation can be done. The greatest method is the surface method irrigation. In this type of irrigation gravity is responsible for the spreading of water to the ground. Siphons, gated pipes and turn out structures are used to direct water to the furrows and basins that have already been created in the field. The qualifications of this method are that the land must be gently sloping and the soil should have medium to a fine texture. Sprinkler irrigation is the other mode of irrigation. The method entails releasing water to the air in form of spray and then allowing it to get to the plants the same way as rain. The method is expensive since one requires some money to buy equipment needed for the method such as pipes and sprinklers. The advantage of the method is that it can be applied in all terrains.
Drip is another irrigation method. In this method water is applied through emitters direct to the soil inform of drops or streams. The advantage of this method is that it can be used in all soil types. Another irrigation method is subsurface irrigation. Water is applied below the soil surface in this irrigation method. Depending on the depth of the water table this may vary. Irrigation has been of great impact to the society today. The greatest advantage of irrigation is that it has helped to protect crops against drought. Great harvest is experienced due to crops thriving well. Irrigation has helped to improve food security in countries and therefore reducing hunger-related mortality.
The other benefit of irrigation is that it helps to preserve soil nutrients. Leaching can be caused by runoff water which is brought about by manual watering. The another benefit of irrigation is to increase the rate at which the plant grows. Plants become greener and thus can make food faster through photosynthesis. This helps to save on the time that could be wasted if the plants developed stunted growth. The another benefit resulting from irrigation is minimal weed growth retain the land. An irrigation system ensures that no water gets to where it does not cause productivity. This helps to limit potential weed growth in the land. One is also able to manage time as a result of irrigation. One is able to conserve the time that he or she would have used to water the land manually.
Irrigation has helped in turning land that was initially not productive into great use. This helps to reduce land wastage since more land is put into use. plant Irrigation is an easy thing to carry out since it does not necessarily require tap water but can use groundwater-surface water as well as recycled water. Irrigation materials are not hard to get since apart from them being available in the market they are also present in online markets. Many online shops have gotten into online marketing of irrigation tools at considerably low costs that will not exploit the customers.