Irrigation: Must Know Concept for NABARD Grade A Exam 2022

What is Irrigation?

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to soil to supplement rainfall for production. Irrigation provides a favorable environment for higher crop growth and yield.

Different methods are used to apply irrigation water to the crop depending on the land slope amount of water and equipment available, the crop, and the method of cultivation of crops. The various methods of irrigation are given below

Methods of Irrigation

There are several methods of Irrigation that are mentioned below. Kindly go through them to prepare for the upcoming NABAD Grade A exam 2022.

Surface Irrigation Method.

• These are the most common method of irrigation throughout the world.
• It is defined as the group of application tech. where water is applied and distributed over the soil surface gravity.
• Surface irrigation is often referred to as flood irrigation which means the water distribution is uncontrolled and therefore inherently inefficient.
• The most common surface irrigation methods are flooding, check basin, basin, border strips, and furrow methods.

Flooding:

• The flooding method of irrigation is exclusive for low land rise though it is used for some other crops also, water is allowed from the channel into the entire field, since standing water is present at least for small depth, spreading of eater is easy. Labour requirement for irrigation is less in this method.

Check Basin method:

• It’s the most common method of surface method of irrigation, it is suitable for close-growing crops like groundnut, wheat, finger millets, etc.
• In this method, the field is decided into rectangular or square plots surrounded by bunds on all four sides.
• Water from the head channel is supplied to the filed channel one after the another
• The advantage of this method is that the water can be applied uniformly
• More labor is required for field layout and irrigation
• Moreland is wasted under channels and bunds.

Basin Method:

• It is almost similar to the check basin method except that in the latter method the entire field is irrigated, while in the basin method only the basin around the tree is irrigated.
• Basins are generally rectangular or round in shape.
• Their size increases with the age of the tree, this method is suitable for fruit crops.

Border strip Method:

• The field is laid into long narrow strips bordering with small bunds.
• Length varies from 30 to 300 meters and breath 3 to 15 meters.
• The most common sizes are 30 to 50 m in length and 3 to 5 m in width.
• This method is suitable for close growing crops and medium to heavy textured soil.
• This method is not suitable for sandy soil.
• Labour requirement is less for field layout and irrigation is less.

Furrow Irrigation:

• It is conducted by creating small parallel channels along the field length in the direction of the predominant slope.
• Water is applied to the top end of each furrow and flows down the field under the influence of gravity.
• The speed of water movement is determined by many factors such as slope, surface roughness, and furrow shape but most importantly by the inflow rate and soil infiltration
• The spacing between adjacent furrows is governed by the crop species, common spacings typically range from 0.75 to 2 m.
• The crop is planted on the ridge between furrows which may contain a single row of plants or several rows in the case of a bed-type system.
• Furrows may range anywhere from less than 100 m to 2000 m long depending on the soil type, location, and crop type.
• Shorter furrows are commonly associated with higher uniformity of application but result in increased potential for runoff losses.
• Furrow irrigation is particularly suited to broad-acre row crops such as cotton, maize, sugar cane, tomatoes, etc.

Expert Tips to Prepare Irrigation for NABARD Grade A Exam 2022

Kindly go through the Expert tips to prepare the Irrigation chapter for NABARD Grade A Exam 2022.

• Go through the NABARD Grade A previous year's questions paper to understand the types of questions asked from the Irrigation chapter.
• Know the important areas of the Irrigation syllabus of the ARD section.
• Cover the important topics from any standard book available in the market.
• Practice quizzes and mock tests to assess yourself.

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