Choosing The most suitable type of irrigation system for your Banana Plantation:

Tips for Choosing the right type of irrigation system

The following factors should be considered:


Precipitation or Rate of Application:

To be of greatest benefit, precipitation should have the following characteristics:

1.) The Amount should be sufficient to replace moisture depleted from the Plant.

2.) The Frequency should be often enough to replenish the missing soil moisture.

3.) The Intensity should be low enough so that the applied water can be absorbed by the soil.


The Water Source:

The type of irrigation system selected should accommodate the quantity and quality of water present in the area. Whether the type of sprinklers/Drippers and filters can adapt the silts and impurities present in the water source to minimize maintenance cost and have a balance water distribution. Below elaborates how quantity and quality affects the selection of the type of irrigation system.



Water source Quality:


The quality of water at the water source must be evaluated according to its physical and chemical aspects.

Physical aspects of water quality are water impurities, organic debris, sand and silt, which block the orifice of the sprinklers with small diameters. Drip and Micro sprinklers are best suitable to lakes and wells since it is debris-free water source. Water source from rivers are adaptable to overhead and undertree sprinklers because of its large diameter orifice. However, it is constrained to murky waters that leave stains to fruits thus, undertree sprinklers are designed considering the height of the nozzle. On the other hand overhead sprinklers operation might be suspended when murky water is observed in the water source.

The chemical aspect water quality on the other hand is specific on the iron content of the water. According to a Drip company, “Iron bacteria” can flourish in water, which contains only minimal amounts of iron. The bacteria metabolize the iron, which is in soluble form, and produce an insoluble red iron (ferrous) oxide sludge, which quickly blocks filters and emitters.

Water source Quantity:

Sprinklers with large diameter orifice discharges large amount of water thus, require high pressure and sufficient water supply in the water source.


Soil Classification

Intake rates are most often related to soil texture, although other factors, such as stability of structure may sometimes be more important as stated by NETAFIM. It is also important in preventing runoff. Table 1 shows the basic intake rate of the different soil texture considering the soil structure and organic matter content.

TEXTURE BASIC INTAKE RATE REDUCED FOR POOR CONDITION:

Coarse Sand 20-25 mm/hr 10-16 mm/hr

Fine Sand 15-20 mm/hr 6-12 mm/hr

Fine Sand Loams 10-15 mm/hr 4- 8 mm/hr

Silt Loams 6-10 mm/hr 3- 6 mm/hr

Clay Loams 3- 8 mm/hr 1- 2 mm/hr

Table No.1: Basic Intake Rate of the Different Soil Texture (Source: Gil Levy / Irrigation Manual).


Source: Gil Levy / Plantations Manuals / Irrigation 2009.

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