Micro irrigation, also known as drip irrigation, provides water directly to plant roots through a network of pipes and emitters. It reduces water usage by up to 60% compared to other irrigation methods and increases crop yields by 20-50%. The document discusses the history and development of drip irrigation in India and around the world. It provides details on drip irrigation system components and how to calculate water requirements. Benefits include water savings, higher yields, and less disease/weeds. Challenges include the need for clean water and proper maintenance to prevent clogging. Drip irrigation is well-suited for orchards, farms, greenhouses, and polyhouses.

1. MORE CROP PER DROP

2. Agriculture is the backbone of Indian Economy
and
Water is the Heart of Agriculture

3. • Micro irrigation is one of the latest innovations for applying
water and it represents a definite advancement in irrigation
technology.
• Frequent application of small quantity of water directly,
above or below the soil surface; usually as discrete drops,
continuous drops, tiny streams, or as miniature sprays
through mechanical devices called emitters or applicators,
located at selected points along water delivery line.
• Types of micro irrigation systems include surface drip,
subsurface drip and spray irrigation.

4. Irrigation may be defined as the process of
supplying water by artificial means to
agricultural fields for crop production. If water
available to the plants from rainfall is not
sufficient, it is supplemented by irrigation water.

5.  Insufficient rainfall
 Uneven distribution of rainfall
 Growing a number of crops during a year
 Improvement of perennial crop
 Development of agriculture in desert area

6. Types of Irrigation
Surface Irrigation
Subsurface irrigation
Sprinkler Irrigation
Drip Irrigation

7. Surface irrigation is defined as the group of
application techniques where water is applied and
distributed over the soil surface by gravity.
Flood irrigation Basin irrigation Furrow irrigation

8. • Subsurface irrigation (or simply sub
irrigation) is the practice of applying water to
soils directly under the surface. Moisture
reaches the plant roots through capillary
action.

9. Sprinkling is the method of applying water to
the soil surface in the form of a spray which is
somewhat similar to rain.
Rotating sprinkler-head systems are commonly
used for sprinkler irrigation

10. • Also known as trickle irrigation.
• Drip irrigation is a micro irrigation method
which optimizes the use of irrigation water by
providing it uniformly and directly to the roots
of the plants rather than the entire land surface
on which the crop is grown, through a closed
network of plastic pipes and emitters.
• Rate of water application is very low and
without any pressure. i.e., drop by drop.

11. Scientist Name Year Research Article Name Result
R.A. Marathe,
K. Dhinesh Babu,
D.T. Chaudhari
2017 Response of Pomegranate to Drip
Irrigation System in Light Textured Soils
of Semi-Arid Regions
6 emitters fixed on 2
laterals placed on both
side of plants 50 cm away
from trunk along the row
system provide to grow
pomegranate on light
textured soils.
E Fallahi,
B Fallahi,
M Kiester,
S Mahdavi,
B Shafii
2017 Water Application for Optimum Yield,
Quality, and Mineral Partitioning in Apples
under different irrigation systems
Fruit from trees receiving
40g N tree had better fruit
colour than 80 g N tree.
Anureet kaur 2016 Comparative response of Bt cotton to
water under drip and check basin methods
of irrigation in semi-arid conditions of
Punjab
highest water use
efficiency accompanied
by 25% higher seed cotton
yield and 18% of saving
in irrigation water as
compared with check
basin method of irrigation.

12. Scientist Name Year Research Article Name Result
Name Singh and M C Sood 2016 Productivity of potato (solanum tuberosum) As
Influenced by wide raised bed planting patterns
Under drip irrigation
paired and triple row
raised bed planting
patterns also minimized
the cost of drip
installation by 35-40%
against conventional
planting with drip
irrigation.
Sikarwar Pushpendra and
Hardaha M.K.
2016 Effect of fertigation levels on growth, quality
and yield of polyhouse cucumber
Fruit length and girth
were not affected by
fertigation levels but fruit
weight was affected.
K.V.R. Rao,
A. Bajpai,
S. Gangwar, Chourasia
k. Soni
2016 Maximising water productivity of wheat crop
by adopting drip irrigation
T3 and T4 treatments
indicating the drippers
spaced at 30 cm could be
recommended to lower
the cost of the drip
system in wheat crop.
S.R. Ughade
U.V. Mahadkar
2016 Nutrient uptake and fertilizer use efficiency of
brinjal as influenced by planting density,
irrigation and fertigation levels under drip
irrigation
Maximum fertilizer use
efficiency was recorded
due to 80% RDF through
drip irrigation.

13. Scientist Name Year Research Article Name Result
Dilip Singh Kachwaya
J. S. Chandel
Ghumare Vikas
Babita Khachi
2016 Effect of drip and furrow irrigation on yield
and physiological performance of strawberry
(Fragaria X Ananassa Duch.) cv.Chandler
In drip irrigation 16–30 %
increase in yield in case of
100 % Etc irrigation
treatment over furrow
irrigations treatment.
Warwick R. Adams,
Ketema T. Zeleke
2016 Diurnal effects on the efficiency of drip
irrigation
irrigating overnight or early
morning, compared to in
the afternoon, will result in
higher water use efficiency.
Ahmed A.M. Al-Ogaidi,
Aimrun Wayayok,
M.K. Rowshon,
Ahmad Fikri Abdullah
2016 The influence of magnetized water on soil
water dynamics under drip irrigation system
The results revealed that
using magnetized water is
recommended especially in
homogeneous soil profiles.
Dilip Singh Kachwaya
J. S. Chandel
Ghumare Vikas
Babita Khachi
2016 Effect of drip and furrow irrigation on yield
and physiological performance of
strawberry (Fragaria 3 ananassa Duch.) cv.
Chandler
The results revealed that
drip irrigation at 120 %
gave significantly higher
fruit yield compared with
drip irrigation at 80 and 60
% ETc and furrow
irrigation.

14. • Basic idea of drip irrigation came from experiments in Germany in 1860's.
• An important breakthrough was made in Germany way back in 1920 when perforated pipe
drip irrigation was introduced.
• During the early 1940's Symcha Blass, an engineer from Israel, observed that a big tree
near a leaking tap exhibited more vigorous growth than other trees in the area. This led him to
the concept of an irrigation system that would apply water in small quantity literally drop by
drop.
• In India drip irrigation was practised through indigenous methods such as perforated
earthenware pipes, perforated bamboo pipes and pitcher/porous cups and was introduced
in the early 70's at agricultural universities and other research institutions.
• In 1981, the Government of India constituted National Committee on the Use of Plastics in
Agriculture (NCPA) under the Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.
• Later NCPA was re-named as National Committee on Plasticulture Applications in
Horticulture (NCPAH) in 2001 in the Ministry of Agriculture under the Department of
Agriculture & Cooperation with Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture as its Chairman.
• GOI is providing subsidy to farmers for the plasticulture applications in water management
(drip and sprinkler) which is channelised through state directorate of horticulture/agriculture.

15. Earthenware pitchers and porous cups have been used for growing vegetable crops in
Rajasthan and Haryana.

16. • To use water efficiently
• No water to runoff or evaporation
• It Reduces water contact with crop leaves,
stems and fruits.
• Agriculture chemicals can be applied more
efficiently.

17. • Pumping set
• Filters
• Mainlines
• Sub-main
• Laterals
• Drippers/emitters

18. • Pumping set:
To create a pressure about
2.5 Kg/sq cm to regulate
the amount of water to be
supplied.
• Filter :
To filter the water in Order
to remove the suspended
impurities from water.

19. • Main lines:
– It is a Distribution system in drip
irrigation. Rigid PVC and high density
polyethylene pipes are used as main pipes
to minimized corrosion and clogging.
– Pipes of 65 mm diameter and with
pressure rating of 4 to 10 kg/sq. cm
• Sub Main:
– It is usually connected to the main lines
through a control valve assembly.
– The function of its to distributes water
uniformly to a number laterals.

20. • Drippers/emitters:
– It is fitted to a drip irrigation
lateral and intended to emit water
in the form of drops or continuous
flow at emitter rates not exceeding
15 liters/hr.
– Drippers function as energy
dissipated, reducing the inlet
pressure head in the lateral, which
generally range from 0.3 to 1.5
atmosphere .

21. Soil Type And Water Movement
The application Of Water Is By
Drippers
21

23. Drip irrigation system

25. Vm = Kc x Kp x Cc x Ep x A
In which
Vm = Monthly Irrigation water requirement,
Kc = Crop coefficient
Cc = Canopy factor
Kp= Pan evaporation factor (0.8)
Ep = Normal monthly evaporation
A = Area to be irrigated, m2

26. State Drip Sprinkler Total
Haryana 24524 548608 573133
Rajasthan 181943 1502329 1684272
Total 3308147 4315098 7623247
Source: Horticultural Statistics at a Glance 2015

28. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
2005 2010 2012 2015
Area under micro irrigation (mm
hectares), 2005-2015
Area under
micro
irrigation (mn
hectares),
2005-2015
3.0
4.94
6.14
7.7
59%
41%
Micro irrigation by
type,2012
Sprinkler irrigation
Drip irrigation
56%
44%
Micro irrigation by
type,2015
Sprinkler irrigation
Drip irrigation
Source - IndiaStat; Grant Thornton analysis

29. • Saving water up to 40 - 60%
• Yield increase from 20 - 50%
• Reduced labour cost
• Highly uniform distribution of water
• No soil erosion and evaporation
• Less incidence of disease, pest and weed
• Reductions in deep percolation, in surface runoff and in evaporation from
the soil.
• Poor quality water can be more safely used
• High returns per unit area and time
• High water use efficiency
• No need for a drainage system.
• Fertilizers application
• Over irrigation is avoided

30. • Requires very clean water. The small openings or paths in an emitter can
be clogged by soil particles, organic matter, minerals and sediment in the
water and algae growth.
• The sun can affect the tubes used for drip irrigation, shortening their usable
life. Longevity is variable.
• System is subject to damage by animals, rodents, insects, and machines.
• Generally, not suited or recommended for close growing crops like
grasses.
• Requires a higher level of design and management than other systems.
• May require higher initial and annual investment than other types of
irrigation.
• Require skilled labour for operating the system

31. In farms, orchards
Drip irrigation in orchards

32. In Greenhouse and Polyhouse
Drip irrigation in polyhouse

33. For cultivation in roof gardens
In shopping malls and embankments
In steep slopes
In residential gardens

34.  Fertigation is a process,
in which, fertilizer is
dissolved, diluted and
distributed along with
water in drip or sprinkler
irrigation system.
 In other word, fertigation
is the process of
application of water
soluble solid fertilizer or
liquid fertilizers through
micro irrigation system.

35.  Uneven growth in fertilizer consumption resulting
in state-wise crop-wise variation in consumption.
 Mining of nutrients from the soil at alarming rate
(soil fertility depletion due to inadequate and
imbalanced fertilizer use).
 Decline in crop response to fertilizer.
 Stagnation in fertilizer production.
 Weakening relationship between fertilizer use and
food grain production.
 Increasing dependence on fertilizer imports.

36. • Maximize profit by applying right amount of
water and fertilizer at right time.
• Minimize adverse environmental effects by
reducing leaching losses of fertilizers and other
chemicals below the root zone.

37. WATER TECHNOLOGY CENTRE,TNAU

38. • Modern fertigation equipment should be able to
regulate:
- quantity applied
- duration of applications
- proportion of fertilizers
- starting and finishing time
• It is important to select an injection method that best
suits the irrigation system and the crop to be grown.
• Each fertilizer injector is designed for a specified
pressure and flow range.

39. 1. Fertilizer tank (By pass system)
2. Venturi Injector
3. Fertilizer injection pump

40. In this system part of irrigation water is diverted from the main line of
flow through a tank containing the fertilizer in a fluid or soluble solid
form.

41. This is very simple and low cost device. A partial vacuum is
created in the system which allows suction of the fertilizers
into the irrigation system through ventury action.

42. These are piston or diaphragm pumps which are driven by the
Water pressure of the irrigation system and such as the injection
rate is proportional to the flow of water in the system. A high
degree of control over the fertilizer injection rate is possible.

43. Advantages
 Relatively uniform fertilizer applications and
distribution
 Flexibility in timing of application
 Less fertilizers used and minimum nutrient loss
 Reduced costs, save labour and energy
 Even distribution of nutrients throughout the root
zone
 Reduced energy demand

44.  Potential contamination hazard from equipment
malfunctions
 Backflow prevention devices required
 Careful handling of liquid fertilizer required
 May require expert design and installation

45.  Lacking the information
 Selection of appropriate fertigation technology
 Its rate of application
 Amount to be applied and frequency of application
 The fertigation material is either not available in desired form or available
at higher price
 Lack of knowledge about chemical technique
 Require safety measures

46. Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY), Dept of
Agriculture, Haryana
50% subsidy on installation of Sprinkler Irrigation System.
• For judicious use of ground water 50% subsidy on installation
of sprinkler irrigation system is being provided to the farmers
in the state with a max. limit of Rs 7500/ha.
For Drip Irrigation 50-60% subsidy is provided to farmers.
35% of total cost of installation for small and marginal
farmers provided by govt.
25% of total cost of installation for other farmers in non
DPAP/NE and H region provided by govt.
35-50% of total cost of installation DPAP/NE and H region
provided by govt.

47. • Drip irrigation is a latest surface and sub-surface methods of
irrigating water with higher water demands in arid region.
• It may not be applicable to all farms. Yet, when properly
designed, installed and managed, drip irrigation may help
achieve water conservation by reducing evaporation and deep
drainage when compared to other types of irrigation such as
flood or overhead sprinklers since water can be more precisely
applied to the plant roots.
• In addition, drip can eliminate many diseases that are spread
through water contact with the foliage. It also results reduced
energy costs.