Irrigation is an essential process in agriculture. It is the artificial process of applying controlled amounts of water to crops to fulfill their water requirements. Irrigation has been around for thousands of years, existing in parallel with agriculture. The process has seen various evolutions over the past when compared to the earliest methods. There are many different ways of irrigating the crop fields, but Drip Irrigation happens to be the most efficient. A few Israeli innovations in the method, and it is all set to change the landscape of water consumption in agriculture.
Irrigation: Types and Methods
There are several methods of irrigation available. Everything revolves around the quantity of water supply and way of doing it. Before talking about irrigation practices in, it must be realised that agriculture is also done without irrigation, where water supply is solely dependent on rainfall. It is called rain-fed agriculture.
The types of irrigation are as follows:
Surface Irrigation: It is the oldest form of irrigation, with it being in usage for thousands of years. Also known as flood irrigation, this system requires the water to move across agricultural fields to wet it and contribute in sufficient water supply. Gravity plays a key role in the direction of water flow here. The negative highlight of this system is its low water application efficiency.
Sprinkler Irrigation: In sprinkler irrigation, water is supplied to one or more central spots within the field via hoses or pipes and distributed by overhead high-pressure sprinklers. The sprinklers rotate due to the high pressure, providing a 360° water distribution from the spot.
Drip Irrigation: By far, the most water-efficient system of irrigation, this method is best to counter the general water loss in irrigation. In this system, water is supplied at or near the root zone of plants, one drop at a time.
Sub-irrigation: It is a method of artificially raising the water table to allow the soil to moisten from below the plants’ root zone. This method is generally suitable for areas with high water tables.
There are a many more types of irrigation but these are the primaries. Unless agriculture is rainfall dependent, irrigation plays a crucial part in it.
A closer look into Drip Irrigation
We know how much agriculture has evolved as an activity in recent decades. Constant innovations are a regular feature in this field, with new-age technologies like drones, GPS-guided tractors to genetically modified seedlings finding their way into usage. The only facet lagging behind in the agricultural innovation race is irrigation. Statistics say that surface irrigation is still the major system in farmers’ fields, accounting for 85% of all irrigation.
Surface irrigation is popular because of cash-cheap nature, gelling well with the economical farmers. But the price to pay for exploiting the already scarce natural resource is huge. About 70% of the water goes to waste, in addition to a few other problems like over-watering the crops, run-offs carrying excess fertilizers and contaminating water bodies, etc.
Micro-drip irrigation is an innovation that probably is a solution to the problem. The concept of creating a plastic drip irrigation system was of an Israeli engineer named Simcha Blass. This system was revolutionary in the sense that it greatly reduced water wastage or increased water use efficiency in agriculture.
The problem lies in the non-popularity of this technology, with global application in less than 5% of irrigated acres. The principal limiting factor is cost. The price of setting up this system is hefty. Again, as the systems currently are, pushing water through hundreds of feet of pipe requires a lot of force, which farmers supply with either electric or diesel pumps. The dripper lines are also prone to clogging by silt particles or algae found in natural water, so regular filtering adds to the total maintenance expenses.
There are hundreds of companies manufacturing and helping set these systems up, but the real trouble lies in its cost.
This is where the Israeli irrigation startup N-Drip has come in.
Innovating Drip Irrigation
The problem with traditional drip irrigation technology is costs. Now, N-Drip, the Israeli startup is developing a system that not only promises radical water savings but also without a big slash in monetary requirements. It is a win-win with respect to both farmers and resources.
N-Drip is the brainchild of Uri Shani, a professor of soil physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a former chairman of Israel’s water authority. He is an expert in water management and solutions. His former work as chairman of water authority saw Israel bounce back from an alarming drought to having a freshwater surplus.
Professor Shani was concerned with the water scarcity led displacement worldwide. As agriculture is a major water consuming sector, he decided to contribute by helping make the drip irrigation system go mainstream. This, by inventing a new system that can run without the pumps and filters.
Working of a Drip Irrigation setup:
The system includes black plastic dripper lines. Along each one is a series of holes, and fastened inside every hole is a plastic widget called an emitter. Water moves through an exceedingly narrow, maze-like channel inside the emitter, regulated so it comes out in measured droplets. The resistance produced by those emitters is the reason of increased pressure requirement to move water from one end of a field to the other in a traditional system.
Working of an N-Drip innovated Drip Irrigation setup:
Professor Uri Shani had the idea of designing a new kind of emitter. This one would offer very little resistance enabling the water pressure provided by gravity (during the 1- to 2-foot descent from the irrigation canal to the field below) alone to propel the water all the way down hundreds of feet of tubing and out into the ground.
The new kind of emitter turned out to be succesful. The alteration was replacing the zigzag channel with a rod suspended inside a cylinder, with water flowing through the tube shape formed between them. In this new system, no single particle of debris could block the water’s flow.
Final Result
The field trials of N-Drip irrigation system are taking place in various locations. The results are positive and the system is working efficiently as it not only uses less water but also increases crop yields. The technology is witnessing global usage and the promoters are encouraging adoption. N-Drip stands a good chance at modernizing millions more farms, and transforming freshwater consumption globally.
To date, N-Drip has raised $25 million in funding. Its system is in use in hundreds of farmers’ farms for about 4,000 acres’ worth of crops. The crops range from potatoes to cotton to soybeans.
The startup does have a long way to go before realising its ultimate goal. Numerous obstacles will stand in its way but constant analysis and re-innovations will lead the way.
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