Flood irrigation is an old technique where water is flooded onto fields to irrigate crops. It can be wasteful and inefficient, but has different styles like basin, furrow, and pulse irrigation. It can also attract pests and mosquitoes. It is used in residential landscaping in areas with abundant water resources.
Flood irrigation is an irrigation technique where a field is essentially flooded with water that is left to soak into the soil to irrigate the plants. This type of irrigation is one of the oldest techniques known to man and can be used in some developing nations and regions where water resources are abundant. There are several styles of flood irrigation in use, with varying degrees of efficiency. This type of watering has been criticized because it can be extremely wasteful when not done with care.
The original irrigation was done by hand, with people carrying buckets into the fields and pouring water into them. Eventually, people developed irrigation canals to carry water from wells and springs, eliminating the need to carry it by hand. This type of watering is a natural consequence of this early watering; when it’s time to irrigate, the water is released and allowed to flood a field.
One form of flood irrigation is basin irrigation, in which water floods a basin surrounded by levees, usually made up of earth. This technique can be useful for crops that must remain submerged, such as rice, and for soils that absorb slowly. In furrow irrigation, water flows in furrows between crop rows, reaching the roots as it is absorbed. Pulse irrigation involves the use of pulses of water that spurt, soak and gush again.
The big problem with flood irrigation is that not all of the water used reaches the plants. Up to 40% can be lost through evaporation and runoff. Runoff recovery can help address this problem, as can the use of pulse irrigation, which encourages water absorption, rather than letting standing water evaporate. Another problem is that flood irrigation can encourage the growth of some types of crop pests, which is not desirable, and standing water can attract mosquitoes and other insects, making it very important to irrigate flat fields with adequate drainage.
While flood irrigation is primarily seen in agricultural use, it is also sometimes used in residential landscaping. This is more common in areas where there is plenty of water available and is carefully managed to avoid flooding roads and sidewalks and causing other problems. In some regions, entire neighborhoods are equipped for flood irrigation, and irrigation is controlled remotely from the water company for people who want to sign up.
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