Sprinkler Irrigation
- A minimum of 1.0 kg/cm2 pressure needed to operate one sprinkler head to cover a diameter of 12 m
- Owing to the non economy of operating one sprinkler head, a pressure range of 4-5 kg/cm2 is normally needed for operating 4 sprinkler heads at a time
- It is better to operate under wind speed less than 15 KMPH to avoid drift loss in normal field holdings
- Use of sprinkler early in the morning and late in the evening is preferable to minimize the evaporation losses
- Ideally suitable for hilly terrains with undulating slope
- Suitable for estate crops like tea, coffee etc.
- Suited to crops like groundnut, cotton and the crops which are not susceptible to easy flower shedding
- 30 – 40 % saving in cost than conventional irrigation
Water requirement of field crops with sprinkler irrigation system:
| Crop | Actual water used (mm) | Water saving over surface irrigation (%) | WUE Kg/ha/mm |
| Groundnut | 390 | 24.7 | 5.13 |
| Cotton | 308 | 50.5 | 9.8 |
| Soybean | 380 | 50.0 | 4.77 |
| Blackgram | 140 | 50.0 | 8.82 |
| Lucerne | 124 | 63.0 |
5. General constraints and remedies
- Initial cost for installation is high
- Land holdings are small
- Equipment has a long life of 10 years
- Grouping of farmers to operate the system will minimize the cost per unit holding
- One kilogram per square centimeter pressure is needed to operate one sprinkler to cover a diameter of 12 m.
- Training the farmers will equip them with the knowledge about sprinkler
- Periodical checkup of nozzles to avoid blocking and proper coverage of diameter
- Wind distorts the sprinkler pattern and affect uniformity