Introduction
Drip irrigation in sugarcane is a relatively new innovative technology that can conserve water, energy and increase profits. Thus, drip irrigation may help solve three of the most important problems of irrigated sugarcane - water scarcity, rising pumping (energy) costs and depressed farm profits.
Surface Drip
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Subsurface Drip
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Whether or not drip will be successful depends on a host of agronomic, engineering and economic factors. "Drip irrigation is defined as the precise, slow and frequent application of water through point or line source emitters on or below the soil surface at a small operating pressure (20-200 kPa) and at a low discharge rate (0.6 to 20 LPH), resulting in partial wetting of the soil surface.
In the literature, "trickle" is used interchangeably with "drip". Most popular drip versions used in sugarcane are surface and subsurface drip.
Surface Drip: The application of water to the soil surface as drops or a tiny stream through emitters placed at predetermined distance along the drip lateral is termed as surface drip irrigation. It can be of two types - online or integral type surface drip system. Integral dripline is recommended for sugarcane.
Subsurface Drip (SDI):The application of water below the soil surface through emitters molded on the inner wall of the dripline, with discharge rates (1.0 - 3.0 LPH) generally in the same range as integral surface drip irrigation. This method of water application is different from and not to be confused with the method where the root zone is irrigated by water table control, herein referred to as subirrigation. The integral dripline (thin or thick-walled) is installed at some predetermined depth in the soil depending on the soil type and crop requirements. There are two main types of SDI - "one crop" and "multicrop".
