Development and Evaluation of an Automatic Surge Flow Irrigation System.pdfVIP

JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE SOCIAL SCIENCES 1813–2235/2006/02–3–129–132 Development and Evaluation of an Automatic Surge Flow Irrigation System 1 BEHROUZ MOSTAFAZADEH-FARD , YASSIN OSROOSH AND SAEED ESLAMIAN Irrigation Department, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran 1Corresponding author’s e-mail: behrouz@cc.iut.ac.ir ABSTRACT Surge flow irrigation can reduce the irrigation water losses and improve irrigation performance. In this study attempts have being made to design, manufacture and evaluate an automatic surge flow irrigation system. The system includes an automatic surge valve, which can be programmed by user based on field conditions such as soil infiltration characteristics changes during the irrigation season. The surge valve is inexpensive, portable and wireless and its energy is supplied by a chargeable battery, which the battery can also be recharged by a solar panel for a long duration uses. To evaluate the performance of the system, the surge valve including constant head water delivery system to the furrows were installed in an furrow irrigation experimental farm and based on input data given to the system the furrows were irrigated automatically by surge method with cycled inflow of 10 min on and 10 min off. The results showed that the system is able to accurately and automatically irrigate the furrows by surge method based on information given to the system. For the same discharge and volume of water applied to the furrows the water advance along the furrows were faster for surge flow as compared to the continuous flow. Key Words: Furrow irrigation; Surge flow irrigation; Automation INTRODUCTION Stringham and Keller (1979) introduced the concept