Surface Irrigation - Basin Irrigation

Basin Irrigation


This is the most common simplest and oldest method of controlled irrigation in Pakistan. There are many variations in its use. However, in general, it involves dividing the field into smaller unit areas so that each has a nearly level surface. Ridges are constructed around the field farming basin within which are constructed around the field forming basin filled to the desired depth can be controlled. The basins are filled to the desire depth and the water is retained until it infiltrates into the soil. When irrigating rice the depth of water may be maintained for considerable period of time by allowing water to continue to flow into the basins.




Suitability

                Basin irrigation is used on many different soils. The prime important soil character influencing the design of basin is the water infiltration rate. This and the size of the available stream determine the area that can be enclosed in each basin.  Basin may vary in size from 1 one square meter used for growing vegetables to as much as 7.5 hectares for the production of rice and other grain crops.
Sandy soils require smaller basin as compared to the clayey soils. The objective in selecting the basin size is to enable the irrigator to flood the entire area in a reasonable length of time, so that the desired depth of water can be applied with a high degree of uniformity over the entire basin. Cotton, grain, maize, groundnuts, grams, pasture and many other field crops are suited to this system of irrigation. It is seldom used for crops which are sensitive to wet soil conditions around the stems. The primary requirement in basin irrigation is a field level in both directions so that irrigation water applied to basin must be stored in filtrate into the soil.

Advantages

                Adequate control of water, uniform distribution, high application efficiency with proper design and operation is obtained by this method. It is useful for leaching and conservation of water. It is suited to smaller flow rates and smaller land holdings.

Disadvantages

                The levees interfere with the movement of farm machinery equipment. This method is therefore not suited to mechanize farming. It is sometime difficult to drain excess water on clayey soils. Considerable land is occupied by the levees and ditches, reducing the area available for production. Excessive loss of water occurs through additional watercourse system and over irrigation practice. Because of smaller units, mostly, the corners are left unplanned. Basin method utilizes greater energy of farm power per unit area.






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