Menu
Excess water in the crop root zone soil is injurious to plant growth. Artificial drainage is essential on poorly drained agricultural fields to provide optimum air and salt environments in the root zone. Crop yields are drastically reduced on poorly drained soils, and, in cases of prolonged waterlogging, plants eventually die due to a lack of oxygen in the root zone.Waterlogging in irrigated regions may result in excess soil salinity, i.e., the accumulation of salts in the plant root zone.
Sources of excess soil water that result in high water tables include: high precipitation in humid regions; surplus irrigation water and canal seepage in the irrigated lands; and artesian pressure.Agricultural drainage is the removal of excess water from the soil surface and/or soil profile of cropland, by either gravity or artificial means. In some soils, the natural drainage processes are sufficient for growth and production of agricultural crops, but in many other soils, artificial drainage is needed for efficient agricultural production.
Agricultural drainage improvement can help reduce the year-to-year variability in crop yield, which helps reduce the risks associated with the production of abundant, high quality, affordable food. Improved access of farm equipment to the field provides more time for field activities, can help extend the crop production season, and helps reduce crop damage at harvest.
Agricultural drainage conditions around the world can be grouped according to three agro-climatic zones: the temperate zone, the arid and semi-arid zone and the humid and sub-humid zone.
In the temperate agro-climatic zone the major role of drainage is to prevent waterlogging, i.e., excess water in the root zone of crops from surplus rainfall. It also serves the purpose of improving the traffic ability of the farms for farm machinery etc. The field drainage system is generally sub-surface.
In arid and semi-arid zone the function of drainage is to prevent irrigation induced waterlogging and salinization of soils. These zones suffer from population pressure and intensive agriculture through irrigation is resorted to which makes drainage provision essential to maintain the sustainability of agricultural lands.
In humid and semi-humid regions the role of drainage is a combination of waterlogging control, salinization prevention and flood protection. Generally open drainage systems are applied as the rainfall intensities are so high that the sub-surface drainage becomes insufficient or exorbitantly inexpensive.
Related items you may like
Irrigation
Sources of Irrigation
Application of Irrigation water
Canal Irrigation +
Flood Irrigation +
Deficit Irrigation +
Supplemental Irrigation +
Sprinkler Irrigation +
Drip Irrigation +
Lift Irrigation +
Centre Pivot Irrigation +
Tidal Irrigation +
Micro-Irrigation Technologies for Small Holders +
Automatic Irrigation Systems +
Pressurized Irrigation +
Irrigation in Viticulture +
Purpose of Irrigation
Instruments and implements of Irrigation
Irrigation Management
Irrigation and environment
Capacity Development
Drainage
- Canalization
- Head of a canal
- Canal
- Straight canals
- Slightly sinuous canals
- Moderately sinuous canals
- Very sinuous canals
- Rabi and monsoon sections of a canal
- Canal land width, or Right-of-way
- Accumulative escaping power of canal
- Parent canal
- Offtake canal
- Distributary canal
- Distributary head, Secondary canal intake, or Lateral turnout
- Sub-minor head, or Quaternary canal intake
- Fall, Drop, Drop structure, Fall structure, Canal weir
- Fayoum canal weir
- Scouring escape, Sediment escape, Silt escape, Canal Scouring sluice
- Canal overflow spillway
- Canal spillways
- Shaft and culvert canal spillway, Combined overflow spillway and culvert, Subway, Syphon
- Stand pipe and culvert canal spillway
- Siphon spillway (canal)
- Marseilles canal type outlet
- Culvert aqueduct with full canal banks
- Culvert aqueduct with canal bank retaining walls
- Irrigation pipe aqueduct, Pipe aqueduct, Pipe flume
- Syphon, Inverted siphon, Irrigation syphon, Canal syphon, Syphon superpassage
- Lift irrigation area, or Lift area
- Canal evaporation losses
- Conveyance losses, Transmission losses, Total losses, or Canal losses
- Continuous-flow irrigation
- Average supply (of a canal)
- Overload of a canal
- Night-storage irrigation system
- Intermittent-flow irrigation system
- Operation of a canal with constant volume
- Operation of a canal with volume control
- Irrigation return flow
- Change of slope (of a canal)
- Farm irrigation structures
- Collective irrigation system
- Individual irrigation system
- Perennial irrigation
- Seasonal irrigation
- Supplemental irrigation
- Systematic irrigation
- Flow irrigation, or Gravity irrigation
- Pumping irrigation
- Inundation irrigation
- Irrigation from a storage reservoir
- Irrigation from groundwater
- Irrigation by flood water spreading
- Sailab irrigation (a term used in India and Pakistan)
- Micro basin irrigation
- Irrigation by spreading
- Irrigation
- Irrigation interval
- Irrigation dose
- Ideal irrigation interval
- Irrigation season
- Fall irrigation (USA)
- Winter irrigation (USA)
- Early irrigation (USA)
- Sub-irrigation
- Overirrigation
- Irrigation canals
- Navigation canals
- Power canals
- Double purpose canal
- Perennial canal
- Seasonal canal
- Inundation canal
- Link canal, Carrier canal, or Feeder canal
- Contour canal
- Ridge canal
- Side slope canal
- Main canal, Main line, Pipe main, or Principal canal
- Branch canal, Lateral, or Primary canal
- Distributaries, or Secondary canals
- Minors, Distributor minors, or Tertiary canals
- Sub-minors, or Quaternary canals
- Distributary canal
- Parallel canal, or Side canal
- Surface irrigation
- Flood irrigation
- Basin method of irrigation, or Irrigation by beds
- Flush irrigation
- Spate irrigation
- Border irrigation, or Border method
- Flooding from ditches, or (contour ditch irrigation)
- Corrugation irrigation
- Furrow irrigation
- Surge irrigation
- Duration of irrigation
- Secondary flow, Two discharge, or Cutback irrigation
- Primary flow irrigation (single discharge)
- Wave irrigation
- Irrigation through buried drains, Irrigation-drainage, or Vallenhove process
- Irrigation by nappe control, or Ramspol process
- Selection of irrigation parameters
- Sprinkler irrigation
- Irrigation terminal
- Irrigation device
- Perforated pipe sprinkler irrigation
- Irrigation sprinkler machine
- Centre pivot irrigation
- Lateral-move irrigation machine sprinkler method
- Solid set irrigation
- Piloting of irrigation
- Irrigation cycle
- Micro-irrigation, Localized irrigation, Drip irrigation, Trickle irrigation
- Mobile micro-irrigation
- Pulse irrigation
- Surface drip irrigation
- Buried drip irrigation
- Drip irrigation functioning by propulsions
- Micro-irrigation network
- Micro-irrigation nozzle-line
- Irrigation dose
- Semi-automatic control (of irrigation)
- Micro-irrigation system with hydraulic sequential operation
- Automatic control (of irrigation)
- Porous wall microirrigation tubing
- Proportional irrigation pump
- Irrigation water
- Irrigation water requirement, Irrigation need
- Net irrigation requirement, Farm delivery requirement, or Delta at farm
- Crop irrigation requirement
- Diversion requirement, Gross irrigation requirement, or Delta at head of main canal
- Optimum irrigation requirements
- Irrigation efficiency, Farm irrigation efficiency, Farm delivery efficiency, Water conveyance and delivery efficiency, or Overall efficiency
- Irrigation water-requirement
- Subirrigation
- Surge irrigation
- Irrigation water use efficiency
- Unit irrigation efficiency
- Economic efficiency of irrigation
- Irrigation efficiency
- Agronomic efficiency of irrigation or Agronomic productivity of irrigation
- Degree of durability of irrigation
- Canal Scraper
- Programmed irrigation
- Fully automatic irrigation system
- Irrigation development project or system
- Irrigation
- Surface irrigation
- Basin Irrigation
- Overhead irrigation
- Sub‑irrigation
- Microirrigation
- Trickle irrigation
- Drip irrigation
- Total irrigation
- Supplemental irrigation
- Preplant irrigation
- Organic irrigation
- Conjunctive irrigation planning
- Irrigation project
- Irrigation potential
- Assessment of irrigation charges
- Increment in land revenue, Water advantage rate, or Canal advantage rate
- Irrigation cess
- Water rate, Water charge, Irrigation rate, or Irrigation assessment
- Primary benefits, Primary effects, Direct irrigation benefits, or Direct irrigation effects
- Secondary benefits, Secondary effects, Indirect irrigation benefits, or Indirect irrigation effects
- Economic value of unit of irrigation water
- Revenue value of a unit of irrigation water
