Drip irrigation, high-tech solution in agriculture

(Baonghean) - Drip irrigation is a technique of watering the roots of plants in the form of slow drops of water, with a constant flow rate thanks to the mechanisms of regulating the water pressure of the drip heads embedded in the pipe or installed outside the pipe. To date, the drip irrigation system is the most water-saving irrigation method, reducing about 30-60% of water compared to traditional irrigation methods...

Drip irrigation model of Mr. Duong Dinh Tan's family in Nghia Xuan (Quy Hop).

Despite the hot season, the vast sugarcane and orange hills of Mr. Duong Dinh Tan's family in Nghia Xuan - Quy Hop are still green. That is thanks to the drip irrigation technology model that he has applied for nearly 2 years. Mr. Tan said: The heat and drought have made the sugarcane in this area underdeveloped, the stems are thin, but my family's sugarcane area is irrigated with drip technology, it is green and plump. Previously, planting 2 hectares of sugarcane, due to lack of irrigation water, the highest yield was only 55 - 60 tons/ha. There were years of drought when the sugarcane withered, many areas were completely lost. Since the 2012 - 2013 crop year, applying drip irrigation according to Israeli technology by Khang Thinh Irrigation Technology Joint Stock Company, representative of Netafim Group (Israel) in Vietnam, the unit directly consulting and transferring drip irrigation technology, the sugarcane yield has been outstanding, reaching nearly 120 tons/ha. According to Mr. Tan, in the past, during the dry season, some sugarcane areas in Trai La used field oil pumps for irrigation, however, it was not effective because it could only pump a small area and the cost was high.

Mr. Tan took me to the "server" area, which is a Dong Phong generator placed close to a "water hole" with a network of pipes. Mr. Tan said: To irrigate 2 hectares of sugarcane, it takes more than 500m of main pipe (hard plastic pipe) and then connected to the auxiliary pipes. Small auxiliary pipes (flexible plastic pipes) are placed along the sugarcane rows. Previously, when irrigating by flood, workers had to carry water hoses all over the sugarcane hill in hot weather, which was ineffective because the water only overflowed and did not soak into the roots. Now, using drip irrigation technology is very easy. The drip irrigation system has freed up labor, saving maximum labor and costs, the whole season of irrigating sugarcane for more than 2 hectares of sugarcane only cost 3 million VND in fuel. Previously, due to drought, sugarcane died and had to be replanted, but thanks to the use of drip irrigation, the sugarcane plants have a 100% survival rate and good growth.

Seeing the effectiveness of drip irrigation technology, in 2014, Mr. Tan invested more money to irrigate an additional 2.4 hectares of sugarcane and 4.4 hectares of oranges, increasing the total irrigation area to 8.8 hectares, with an investment value of over 520 million VND (using 2 water pumps for drip irrigation). Previously, to fertilize sugarcane and oranges, Mr. Tan had to make rows, fertilize, and fill them up, which was very difficult, and fertilizers easily evaporated or washed away. But now, the drip irrigation system also combines fertilization through water, the "fertilizer injector" is a water tank that has been mixed with a predetermined amount of fertilizer and then put into the pipeline system, regulated through the drip system, and distributed evenly throughout the entire area of ​​sugarcane and oranges. It helps keep the root area fresh and porous, increasing the root's ability to breathe, thereby increasing the efficiency of water and nutrient absorption of sugarcane and oranges.

To use drip irrigation technology effectively, Mr. Tan followed the instructions of the technical staff. He recorded it in the drip irrigation monitoring diary. Usually, in the dry season, Mr. Tan watered every 4 days, the pipe system had a distance of 50 cm/drip point, each sugarcane was supplied with 1 liter of water/hour. For oranges, 1.6 liters of water/hour was supplied. With this system, the amount of water supplied met the needs of the plant in time, saving water to the maximum, limiting water loss, suitable for the conditions of the gentle slopes of Quy Hop. According to Mr. Tan, this drip irrigation model has only been used for more than 1 year, through practice, he will continue to research, adjust the amount of water, irrigation cycle combined with adjusting fertilizer and other factors... to further increase the productivity of sugarcane and oranges.

Mr. Hoang Van Thai - Head of the Department of Agriculture of Quy Hop district said: The model of applying drip irrigation technology combined with fertilizing through water for sugarcane and oranges brings practical efficiency to farmers. The total investment cost is about 55 - 60 million VND/ha, the usage time is from 8 - 10 years, so the depreciation each year is only 5.5 - 6 million VND, reducing 30 - 40% of irrigation water/ha, not to mention saving on fertilizer and pesticide costs. Meanwhile, each sugarcane crop doubles its yield from 60 tons, increasing to 120 tons of sugarcane/ha, bringing high income to sugarcane growers.

However, up to now, Quy Hop district has only put into use 2 drip irrigation models in Minh Hop and Nghia Xuan. The reason is that the initial investment cost of the drip irrigation model is too expensive, sugarcane growers are in dire need of the State's attention and financial support to build drip irrigation technology for industrial crops, contributing to improving people's lives.

Article and photos:Van Truong