Channel irrigation system irrigation system main country of buyer

When you hear aboutchannel irrigation systems, the first thing that comes to mind is that everything is as simple as that: I dug trenches, let in the water, and the job is done. But in fact, this is where the bulk of mistakes lie, especially when it comes to selecting equipment for a specific customer. For example, last year my colleagues and IShandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology Co.,LtdWe came across a project in Uzbekistan, where local farmers had been using outdated concrete trays for years, not even suspecting that water losses reached 40% due to banal cracks and improper slopes.

Why duct systems are still relevant

Despite the boom in drip irrigation,channel irrigation systemsremain a workable solution for large areas where budgets are limited and water is available in abundance. I remember how at one of the facilities in the Fergana Valley we were planning to switch to automated systems, but the customer insisted on modernizing the existing channels - and he turned out to be right. After installing our filters and frequency converters, the same channels began to operate with an efficiency above 85%, although initially I was skeptical about this idea.

The key here is topography. If the terrain slope exceeds 3%, classic canals begin to behave unpredictably: somewhere the banks are washed away, somewhere the water stagnates. We have to combine it - in difficult areas, install PVC pipes with remote valves, and leave earthen channels in flat areas. By the way, we tested exactly this hybrid approach last season for a cotton cluster near Samarkand, and the result exceeded expectations - saving water by 30% without completely rebuilding the infrastructure.

Another nuance that is rarely written about in textbooks is seasonality. In summer, at the peak of the heat, evaporation from the channels can 'eat up' up to 25% of the resource if coatings are not used. We tested polymer membranes, but in the end we settled on local automation: humidity sensors at the edges of the fields + remote-controlled valves that supply water only when the level drops critically. By the way, such a solution is in the cataloghttps://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru— section 'Integration of water and fertilizers'.

Mistakes when choosing equipment

Often customers demand the 'most modern' without taking into account local specifics. We had a case in Kazakhstan - an agricultural holding purchased expensive American electronically controlled shutters, but abandoned them a month later: dust storms damaged the sensors. I had to quickly change to mechanical dampers of our production, which, although less accurate, work in any conditions.

Filtration is a separate headache. Forchannel irrigation systemswith open water sources (rivers, ditches), standard mesh filters clog within a week. We are inShandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology Co.,LtdWe have developed a combined system: gravel pre-filters + self-cleaning screens with backwashing. But even this is not a panacea - with a high sludge content, additional settling tanks have to be installed, which increases the cost of the project by 15-20%.

Automation of valves would seem to be a small thing, but this is where savings are most often made, and then compensated for by manual labor over the years. Our principle: install motors with manual backup. In Uzbekistan, where power outages are frequent, this saved more than one harvest. By the way, our engineers recently improved the design - now the drives are powered by solar panels, which is ideal for the Central Asian region.

Design for a specific customer

The main country of the buyer for us is always a complex of factors: not only climate, but also legislation, and even farming traditions. In Uzbekistan, for example, crop rotation with alfalfa, which requires different levels of flooding, is still common. It was necessary to design channels with variable depth and a system of overflow wells - a solution that is not in standard catalogs.

When you work with government customers, bureaucracy is added. In Turkmenistan, we spent six months agreeing on the use of polypropylene pipes instead of asbestos-cement pipes - local standards did not provide for this. As a result, they proved their effectiveness through a pilot site, but it took more time than the construction itself.

Now we are actively developing the direction of 'smart' fields, wherechannel irrigation systemsintegrated with soil sensors. We recently completed a project in Tajikistan: 200 hectares of rice paddies, where the water level in the canals is automatically regulated depending on the growth phase of the crop. Productivity increased by 18%, although the customer initially doubted the feasibility of such investments.

Field tests and improvements

Any calculations on paper pale in comparison to real conditions. I remember how at our first site in Kyrgyzstan we installed perfectly straight channels according to the project, and a month later we received complaints - it turned out that groundwater had washed away the supports. We had to urgently reinforce the walls with geogrids, although this was not initially included in the estimate.

Another lesson is counting wild fauna. Muskrats often live in the canals and gnaw through plastic pipes. Now, wherever there is a risk, we install metal mesh at the entrance openings. Trifle? Yes, but without such small details the object will not work stably.

Filter testing is a different story. We test equipment on water with varying degrees of pollution: from relatively clean to almost swampy. This is the only way to find an adequate solution. By the way, our filter with double cleaning (sand + mesh) showed the best results in conditions of high algae content - this was also noted by customers from the coastal regions of the Aral Sea.

Prospects and limitations

Many people are now switching to closed pipelines, butchannel irrigation systemsIt’s too early to write it off. Their main advantage is their ability to be repaired by local residents. In remote areas where there are no service engineers, this is critically important.

We are inShandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology Co.,LtdWe are experimenting with covering channels with a polymer film - this reduces evaporation losses, but is still expensive for mass implementation. Perhaps in a couple of years, when prices for materials fall, this solution will become the standard.

The main direction of development is hybrid systems. For example, main channels remain open, and distribution networks are already pipes with droppers. We tested this approach in a pilot project near Tashkent, and it showed excellent results: water savings of up to 50% while maintaining ease of maintenance.

As a result, even though technology moves forward,channel irrigation systemsremain a viable solution for many regions. The main thing is not to blindly copy Western models, but to adapt the equipment to local conditions. As our experience shows, even a simple earthen channel with proper automation can be more effective than an expensive but ill-conceived system.