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Management Processes of the Organisation
Published in Hector M. Malano, Paul J.M. Van Hofwegen, Management of Irrigation and Drainage Systems – A Service Approach, 2018
Hector M. Malano, Paul J.M. Van Hofwegen
Lowdermilk (1981) defines irrigation management as “…The process by which water is manipulated (controlled) and used in the production of food and fibre”. The author also stresses that it is not water resources, dams or reservoirs to capture water; nor codes, laws or institutions to allocate water; nor farmers’ organisations; nor soils or cropping systems. It is, however, the way these skills and physical, biological, chemical, and social resources are utilised for improved food and fibre production. This definition is specifically focused on the process of water management itself rather than on the management of resources involved in the delivery of irrigation and drainage services. Lenton (1986) on the other hand defined irrigation management as: “…..The process in which individuals set objectives for irrigation systems, establish appropriate conditions, and identify, mobilise and use resources so as to attain these objectives, while ensuring that these activities are performed without causing adverse effects.” This definition emphasises the achievement of the project objectives set out for a particular irrigation system as the key element that drives management of irrigation. However, irrigation system objectives emphasised in this definition are primarily of social and economic nature, e.g. poverty alleviation, food security, etc, rather than of a management nature.
Hydraulic Design and Management of Surface Irrigation System
Published in Megh R. Goyal, Susmitha S. Nambuthiri, Richard Koech, Technological Interventions in Management of Irrigated Agriculture, 2018
Philip K. Langat, Richard K. Koech
Surface irrigation is often perceived to be an inexpensive, inefficient method of irrigating crops, bound by inherent characteristics, traditional practices, and most wasteful water application. The efficiency of surface irrigation is a function of the field design, infiltration characteristic of the soil, and the irrigation management practice. The complexity of the interactions of these factors makes it difficult for irrigators to identify optimal design or management practices. A well-designed and managed surface irrigation system may have application efficiencies of up to 90%. However, in practice, many irrigation systems worldwide operate with significantly lower and highly variable efficiencies. Application efficiencies for individual irrigations ranging from 14 to 90% and with seasonal efficiencies commonly between 31 and 62% in Australian sugar and cotton industry.10
Advanced Tools for Irrigation Scheduling
Published in Guangnan Chen, Advances in Agricultural Machinery and Technologies, 2018
Susan A. O’Shaughnessy, Ruixiu Sui
With today’s challenges from water restrictions, climate variability, and environmental regulations, it is not enough for farmers to adopt efficient sprinkler irrigation systems to sustain profitability. Today, farmers must ensure that their sprinkler design, application methods, and farming practices are as efficient as possible to comply with water regulations and cope with water restrictions. Scientific irrigation scheduling is meant to help a farmer maintain crop water productivity (economic yield per unit of water used by a crop), manage goals of maximizing yields and returns, or use water efficiently in the situation of limited water resources. Other benefits from scientific irrigation management include controlling soil water depletion at the root zone, reducing evapotranspiration (ET) during non-critical growth stages, water conservation, preventing non-point source pollution, eliminating water wastage, decreasing deep percolation, and preventing nutrient leaching. Sprinkler design, agronomic practices, irrigation application methods, tillage practices, and inputs of water, fertilizer, and chemicals should be optimized to maximize return and minimize negative impacts to the environment (Howell, 1996) (Figure 11.3).
Irrigators’ willingness to pay for the adoption of soil moisture monitoring tools in South-Eastern Africa
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2020
Fentahun Abebe, Alec Zuo, Sarah Ann Wheeler, Henning Bjornlund, Andre van Rooyen, Jamie Pittock, Makarius Mdemu, Mario Chilundo
The potential productivity increase of irrigated over rainfed agriculture is one of the reasons it is expected to play a fundamental role in producing food for the growing population (Faurès et al., 2007). Many argue that irrigation is not used fully enough across SSA (You, 2008) and that there is considerable scope for improving the efficiency of irrigation management. SSA has a low share of irrigated agriculture in total crop production, with 3.4% of its cultivated area irrigated (FAO, 2016c). Many small-scale irrigation schemes in SSA perform well below expectations (Bjornlund et al., 2018; Stirzaker & Pittock, 2014; Sullivan & Pittock, 2014) mainly because of poor operation and maintenance (Moyo et al., 2017). Also contributing to the failure of irrigation in the region are the lack of appropriate extension services, technical support, institutions, stakeholder empowerment, training and education (for stakeholders such as farmers, communities, extension agents and water user associations), credit and market access (Bjornlund et al., 2017; Mwamakamba et al., 2017; Pittock et al., 2017; Wheeler et al., 2017). One current technique to improve irrigation management includes soil moisture monitoring technology, to manage irrigation water losses and provide farmers with data to make better-informed decisions about when to irrigate and for how long (Bjornlund et al., 2018; Pittock et al., 2018; Stirzaker et al., 2017).