Irrigation irrigation systems

When you hear 'irrigation systems', the first thing that comes to mind is just pipes and water. But in reality it is a complex organism, where every valve and filter affects the yield. Many people still believe that it is enough to buy a pump and sprinklers, but I have seen dozens of projects where this approach ruined crops due to waterlogging or salinization of the soil.

Main mistakes when designing irrigation

Last year in Kazakhstan I came across a system where engineers installedwater filtrationwithout taking into account local hardness - after six months the drip lines turned into calcareous 'corals'. We had to completely change the equipment, although initially it was possible to simply add acid washing.

Another common problem is pressure discrepancy. I remember that powerful pumps were installed on a farm near Astana, but they forgot aboutfrequency automatic equipment. The result is constant pipe breaks in low-lying areas. It was fixed only after installing frequency converters from Shandong Lingyao, which stabilized the pressure.

By the way, about Shandong Lingyao - their website https://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru often helps out when non-standard solutions are needed. Not an advertisement, but a statement: their approach tointegration of water and fertilizersreally different from typical offers.

Selection of equipment: what is important besides price

I advise you to always check the compatibility of components. Once we purchased “economical” solenoid valves, but they did not interface with the controllers—we had to overpay for adapters. Now we work only with trusted manufacturers that have uniform management protocols.

Particular attention is paid to materials. In the arid regions of Uzbekistan, ordinary PVC cracks within a season, so they switched to low-density polyethylene. More expensive, but lasts 5-7 years without replacement.

Forremote valve controlI recommend modules with redundant communication channels. Somehow we lost the entire season due to the fact that the cellular operator upgraded the towers - the system went “deaf.” Now we duplicate it with a radio channel.

Real cases: from failure to success

In 2022, a project was implemented in the Fergana Valley with Shandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology LLC. Their zoning decision was interesting - they divided the field not by geometry, but by soil type. This allowed saving 30% of water on loams.

But in the Krasnodar region there was a failure: they tried to automate the old system of the 80s. It turned out that the concrete channels were leaky - all the moisture sensors showed the weather, and not the actual condition of the soil. The lines had to be completely rebuilt.

Now we are implementing their systemintelligent hardware integrationin the greenhouse complex - show interesting results on fertilizer savings. But there is a nuance: when there are sudden changes in temperature, the logic of the algorithms breaks down, we are finalizing it together with their engineers.

Operating nuances that suppliers are silent about

No one will warn you that humidity sensors need to be calibrated once a month. Somehow we caught a situation where the system was watering an already flooded field - it turned out that the sensors were “stuck” from dust.

Winter preservation is a separate headache. Last year, we didn’t completely drain the water from the underground pipes—in the spring we got “ice jams” on the corners. Now be sure to blow it with a compressor.

Fordesign and construction of hydraulic structuresI advise you to immediately lay repair wells more often than required by the standard. We saved money on this in Tatarstan - then we had to open up the asphalt to repair the valve.

Perspectives and personal observations

Modern systems no longer just supply water - they are becoming part of agricultural technologies. I see how Shandong Lingyao LLC is developing its directionsmart agricultural parks, where irrigation is integrated with drones and satellite monitoring.

But technology is technology, and you still can’t do without an agronomist with experience. Somehow, a smart system suggested watering when it rained, but the algorithm did not take into account that frost was coming. Good, the duty officer turned it off in time.

I think the future lies in hybrid solutions - where automation consults with humans. Like in their projectshigh quality agricultural fields- there is a 'joint management' mode, when the farmer can adjust the program according to his observations.