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IRRIGATION FEATURE


          DRIPLINE SELECTION:

          A HOLISTIC PROCESS


































          In the drive to promote the precise application of water and nutrients, drip irrigation

          is advocated as the optimal solution. It offers elevated levels of efficiency, increased
          yield size and quality, as well as resource savings as the main benefits. All of this is
          however, dependent on suitable water availability, the selection of suitable driplines
          and other equipment, correct installation, smart scheduling and maintenance.


               any  important  selection  and  cost to ensure optimal ROI.      •   Filtration requirements
               planning decisions must be made to   To achieve this, selection decisions must be   •   Turbulence coefficient
         Mensure the success of drip irrigation   made in four categories:      •   Pressure exponent
          in the field - once it has been selected as the   •   Dripper type and features  •   Head loss
          most suitable irrigation method based on a   •   Dripline wall thickness  •   Dripper size (longevity)
          holistic view of the farming conditions and   •   Dripper flow rate   •   Wall thickness suitability
          production goals. Dexter Neethling, product   •   Dripper spacing
          manager at Netafim South Africa, lists the                            To make optimal decisions around a dripper’s
          following as some of the important factors   Dripper deliberation     technical  specifications  and  features,
          that should be considered when selecting   According to Neethling, an important part   Neethling lists the following as impacting
          the most suitable irrigation method:  of dripline selection is considering the many   factors:
          •   Climate                        innovative dripper features and determining   •   Installation: surface or sub-surface
          •   Crop and production season     which attributes are required for the task at   •   Required  dripper longevity (seasonal  vs
          •   Soil type, composition and behaviour   hand, keeping cost-efficiency in mind. These   permanent drip)
          •   Water quality and availability  features are:                     •   Topography
          •   Topography                     •   Pressure compensation          •   ROI  calculations  (crop  value  and  other
          •   Electricity availability       •   Anti-siphon                      impacting factors)
          •   Risk of diseases and pests     •   Flap outlet                    •   Possible production challenges.
          •   Fertiliser requirements        •   Root intrusion inhibitors
          •   Capital and running costs of the system  •   Non-drainage         Dripper delivery
          •   The farmer’s knowledge and skills                                 Beyond selecting the correct type of dripper
          •   Installation,  operation  and  maintenance   Beyond  dripper  features  aimed  at  based on the features and characteristics
           limitations                       overcoming  specific challenges, Neethling   discussed here, Neethling explains that two
          •   Possibility of theft           says that every dripper has certain technical   other very important decisions must be
                                             specifications that will determine both its   made to ensure water and nutrient delivery
          Dripline decisions                 suitability to the application and  how well   are in line with requirements.  These are
          Neethling explains that selecting the correct   it can do its job. These data points contain   dripper flow rate and dripper spacing along
          dripline requires you to check the following:  crucial information for the designer when   the dripline.
          •   select the dripline with the most suitable   designing the drip irrigation system, and   These two decisions are impacted by
           specifications and features       include:                           many factors and important information
          •   select a high-quality dripline  •   Size of the effective filtration area  must be collected in order to determine the
          •   balance dripline performance and dripline   •   Working pressure range  correct dripper flow rate and spacing. It all


          20    Landscape SA • Issue 141  2024                           Check us out www.salandscape.co.za
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