A Comparative Field Study of the Alternate Every Other Furrow Surge Irrigation and the Every Furrow Surge Irrigation Techniques

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to compare the alternate every other furrow surge irrigation (AFO) to the every furrow surge irrigation (EFO), under Mediterranean conditions in Turkey at the Cukurova University experimental farm. The experiment was undertaken in order to determine the appropriate throughput at furrow lengths of 110 m. In general, depending on the water flow (0.87-1.16 L/s) and the duration of the irrigation application (228-272 min), there may be differences on the amount of water under the same flow rates with the use of similar forms of operating furrow application of the AFO, which was determined to be more advantageous than the application of the EFO. The application efficiencies were quite similar by 78% in the EFO and 84% in the AFO, respectively. The reason for these high efficiencies was found to be due to the lacking irrigation application concerning the time of irrigation and the rate of water flow. Significant water savings were achieved by AFO compared to the EFO technique in the field by using the furrows in turns at each irrigation operation. The average soybean yields for both two years were 252 kg/da for the EFO and 259 kg/da for the AFO application. The results of the experiment revealed that the AFO furrow irrigation technique was the appropriate surface irrigation technique for the studied area.