Performance assessment, monitoring and evaluation of a portable sprinkler irrigation system at CSIR-Crops Research Institute

Increased pressures on the finite water resources of the world are requiring the irrigation sector to become more accountable for its water use. There are a multitude of factors which can affect the uniformity of an irrigation system. An evaluation or performance assessment of irrigation systems can point out flaws or otherwise of an irrigation system for improvement. An evaluation of a recently installed sprinkler irrigation system was done to gather the necessary data needed to determine the systems performance and also to determine whether excessive application loses were occurring in the system. The assessment took into account the operating pressures, lateral and sprinkler discharges, sprinkler distribution patterns and uniformity coefficient. Operating pressures and discharge deviated marginally from manufacturer's specifications. A uniformity coefficient of 84.13% suggested a good system with very minimal water loses.