Research on flowmeter measurement
tem) and effectively (at the right
time, in the right quantity and at
the right quality). Optimising water
use at farm level requires careful
consideration of the implications of
decisions made during both development (planning and design), and
management
(operation
and
maintenance), taking into account
technical, economic and environmental issues.
The basis of the framework that
was developed is that any water
withdrawn from a catchment for
irrigation use contributes either to
storage change, to the consumed
fraction, or to the non-consumed
fraction at a point downstream of
Development of drip irrigation guidelines
the point of abstraction. The water
that is consumed will either be to
the benefit of the intended purpose
(beneficial consumption) or not
(non-beneficial consumption). Water that is not consumed but remains in the system will either be
recoverable (for re-use) or nonrecoverable (lost to further use).
Conclusion
Studies and research over 50 years
on mainly the agricultural engineering aspects of the techniques of
flood-, mobile- and micro-irrigation
contributed to the knowledge base
of applying irrigation methods correctly to improve the efficient application of water. Especially the re-
search that were carried out from
dam wall release to root zone application have to a large extend consolidated and contributed to local
knowledge on issues regarding irrigation water use efficiency.
The
resulting
approach
of
“measure; assess; improve; evaluate”, promotes an investigative approach to improving efficiency of
irrigation water application.
References
REINDERS FB, “Irrigation methods
for efficient water application: 40
years of South African research excellence” ISSN 0378-4738 (Print) =
Water SA Vol. 37 No. 5 WRC 40Year Celebration Special Edition
Guidelines for water use efficiency from dam wall release to root zone application has been developed