Supplement
Centre Pivot and Lateral Move Systems
World ' s population is growing quickly, and we ' re not only talking about adding more people, we ' re talking about more people with better lives. Agriculture faces a big challenge; it has to produce food to feed 9 billion people by 2050. Experts say that there will be no enough resources to provide food for our population. Moreover, some aquifers under the surface are going down the drain.
When you think of irrigation, you might picture the simple sprinkler systems that are so common in residential gardens. However, more complex systems are required to provide the volume of water and spread needed for irrigation on a larger scale, as on farms. All irrigation systems need the basics, such as access to water, sufficient agricultural piping – usually in the form of polyethylene piping – and pumps. Different landscapes, weather systems and crop types require different irrigation systems though. In this photo essay, we look at beautifully captured examples of farm irrigation in all its manifestations.
Today, the value of centre pivots has increased even further as the tools available in the form of computer controls and sprinkler technology have reached a new plateau. Centre pivot applications have also expanded into the realm of applying not only water but also nutrients and chemicals to the crop via fertigation and chemigation. Advances in sprinkler technolog y for mechanized irrigation have answered many of the previous challenges. Today a grower can apply water and chemicals with precision uniformity and high irrigation efficiency. �e improvements in irrigation efficiency, uniformity, and the control of runoff illustrate major technological advancements.
�ese systems begin with a water source, usually in the centre of a eld. �is source can be a well, canal, or other consistent water supply. From the water source, pipes or hoses allow the water to be transported along the entire length of a eld. Wheeled towers allow the pivot to move slowly around the eld.
Sprinkler heads spray or sprinkle the growing crops from the main pipe, or from drops that dangle below the structure just a few inches above the plants. Centre pivots are well-engineered structures that effectively deliver water to large circular elds. Each has a main water delivery pipe suspended
May- June 2017
FARMERS
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