CHAPTER ONE

1.0       INTRODUCTION

 Studies have shown that many of our lawn and garden irrigation systems are poorly planned Water is one of our most precious resources. Lawns and gardens make up about half the total and/or have very inefficient watering schedules or need repairs. Hopefully, the tips and suggestions we offer will provide you with the tools necessary to create a beautiful landscape while saving water, time, and money.

Irrigation is the replacement or supplementation of rainwater with another source of water. The main idea behind irrigation systems is that your lawns and plants are maintained with the minimum amount of water required.

Plants properly watered are healthy with more blooms, resilient foliage, and an increased resistance to pests and disease. The amount and frequency of watering varies and is dependent upon weather, soil conditions, and type of plant.

Plant water needs, hydrozoning, irrigation system design and components, as well as irrigation scheduling must all be considered when creating, or modifying, your lawn or garden irrigation system. Go to the Watering Guide found on the Main Menu for irrigation scheduling information.

Furrow irrigation is one of the oldest controlled irrigation methods. A furrow is a small, evenly spaced, shallow channel installed down or across the slope of the filed to be irrigated parallel to row direction. In this method, water is applied to furrows using small discharges to favour water infiltration while advancing down the field. Furrow irrigation can thus be defined as a partial surface flooding method of irrigation (normally used with clean-tilled crops), where water is applied in furrows or rows of sufficient capacity to obtain the designed irrigation system.

The furrow method is an efficient system if properly managed, but a most inefficient one if improperly managed.          For this method, fields must have a mild slope and inflow discharge must be such that advance is not too fast and produce excessive runoff losses, nor too slow to induce excessive infiltration in the upper part of the field. Short blocked furrows with manually controlled water applications are practiced by traditional irrigators. Nowadays, long and precisely levelled furrows with automated or semi-automated control have become increasingly popular.

1.1       HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF IRRIGATION

Irrigation may be the single most strategically important intentional environmental modification humans have learned to perform. While irrigation's impact has not always been as critical to the global agricultural economy and food supply as it is today, it has always had major local impacts and profound historical and social consequences. Some anthropologists and historians point to the development of irrigation as the catalyst for the interaction of engineering, organizational, political and related creative or entrepreneurial skills and activities which produced the outcome referred to as "civilization". In the ancient Persian language, the word abadan, civilized, is derived from the root word ab, water (1). Fundamental differences in social, cultural, religious, political, esthetic, economic, technological, and environmental outlook have been attributed to modern groupings of humankind related to their use of irrigation. The earliest archeological evidence of irrigation in farming dates to about 6000 B.C. in the Middle East's Jordan Valley (1). It is widely believed that irrigation was being practiced in Egypt at about the same time (6), and the earliest pictorial representation of irrigation is from Egypt around 3100 B.C. (1). In the following millennia, irrigation spread throughout Persia, the Middle East and westward along the Mediterranean. In the ancient world, the level of irrigation sophistication varied from one setting to the next. The differences, however, stemmed mostly from variations in understanding of both large- and small-scale hydraulic principles, as well as the capabilities to construct feats of hydraulic engineering. As irrigation moved into more marginal settings, with less productive soils, poorer drainage, and greater salinity and sodicity problems, the success or failure and ultimate longevity of the schemes became more dependent on knowledgeable application and adaptation of scientific principles. America's Mormon pioneers, choosing to settle in a remote salt-impaired desert habitat, were forced of necessity to use trial and error and the enlightened application of all available new knowledge to reclaim their lands from the desert and to practice a sustainable irrigated crop husbandry.

They were so successful in their efforts that their approaches to irrigation and salt-threatened arid land reclamation and management provided the guiding principles for development of irrigation throughout the western U.S. from 1902 (with passage of the Reclamation Act) to the close of the 20th century (3). The science of irrigated agriculture and arid zone soil science in general relied heavily on the foundation and contributions stemming from these mid- 19th century origins (7). Development of irrigation in the western U.S. was further spurred by passage of the Desert Land Act of 1877 and the Carey Act of 1894, which provided

land for settlement and governmental infrastructure for development. The first university level irrigation course is believed to have been taught by Elwood Mead (Lake Mead's namesake) at the Agricultural College of Colorado in Fort Collins, Colorado (8). Mead later took positions with the United State Department of Agriculture and eventually was a commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation. Worldwide, many of the practical modern principles of irrigation system design and irrigated soil management can be traced to the lessons learned in the settling of the American West from 1847 to the close of World War II, when the total U.S. irrigated area had grown to 7.5 million has (6) Following World War II, irrigation development worldwide entered a heady period of rapid expansion. World populations were growing, in part because of increased life expectancies resulting from new medicines and use of DDT to control malaria and other disease carrying insects.

The advances in technology spurred by the first and second world wars were being applied to all avenues of life including agriculture. Electrical, steam and internal combustion power sources became available to pump and pressurize water. New pump designs, the patenting of the center pivot and other sprinkler delivery systems came together in a few short decades between and immediately following the wars to revolutionize the ability to deliver water.

1.2       IRRIGATION SYSTEM

Irrigation is the method in which water is supplied to plants at regular intervals for agriculture. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall. Additionally, irrigation also has a few other uses in crop production, which include protecting plants against frost, suppressing weed growth in grain fields and preventing soil consolidation. In contrast, agriculture that relies only on direct rainfall is referred to as rain-fed or dry land farming. Irrigation systems are also used for dust suppression, disposal of sewage, and in mining. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area. Irrigation has been a central feature of agriculture for over 5,000 years and is the product of many cultures. Historically, it was the basis for economies and societies across the globe, from Asia to the South-western United States.   

1.3       STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

      The site use for irrigation now serves as a building ground for mosquitoes.       Mismanagement of water supply to the department.

1.4       JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

The construction of irrigation in school of Engineering Technology is required of National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). The Department decided to prepare an irrigation scheme for demonstration to students (HND) to facilitate HND Civil Engineering Technology Accreditation.

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This project work will help in a good number of ways to developed gradually as labor or economics allows, developed at a relatively low cost after necessary land- forming activities are accomplished, erosion minimal and adaptable to a wide range of  land slopes.

1.6       SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This project is mainly a construction of irrigation scheme using Furrow method for ND II Civil Engineering Technology, School of Engineering in Nuhu Bamallii Polytechnic, Zaria Kaduna State it is carried out to achieved a dedicated farming system in Nigeria and the graduating student having standard knowledge on practical experience.

1.7       AIM OF STUDY

The aim of this study is to design and construct an irrigation system in school of             Engineering Technology Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, for demonstrative to             students.

            OBJECTIVES OF IRRIGATION

-           Supply water partially or totally for crop need

            -           Improve groundwater strength

            -           Enhance fertilizer application-fustigation

            -           Facilitate countries cropping

You either get what you want or your money back. T&C Apply

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