Creation of a land irrigation system

When you hear “creating an irrigation system,” the first thing that comes to mind is to buy pipes, lay them out across the field and turn on the water. But it’s like assembling a tractor from construction kit parts without instructions: the wheels seem to be spinning, but it only plows in your dreams. In fact, it all comes down to soil hydrology, topography and that notorious “water balance” that everyone talks about, but rarely honestly considers.

Why design is not about drawings, but about a shovel and a rain gauge

Last year, at one of the sites in the Rostov region, the team of Shandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology LLC and I encountered a classic mistake: the customer sent ideal geodetic maps, but on site it turned out that the spring floods changed the slope by 15 cm. It would seem nonsense? But with drip irrigation, this led to stagnation of water in the lowlands and drying out in the uplands. We had to relay the main pipes right in the field, although according to the documents everything was 'perfect'.

By the way, aboutwater filtration— many save on this, they say, “the water is already clean.” And then after a season they complain that the emitters are clogged with silt. In such cases, we install multi-level disk filters, but even they do not help if the source is a pond with blooming algae. It has to be supplemented with a settling tank system, which is rarely taken into account in estimates.

Funny thing: sometimes farmers ask for 'turnkey automation', but when they find out what theremote valve controlA stable cellular connection is needed, but in the outback there is none, so they return to manual shutters. Technology is not about buttons, but about infrastructure.

Integrating water and fertilizer: when smart systems become a challenge

This is where even experienced agronomists stumble. We were implementing a fertigation system for a greenhouse farm near Krasnodar - it seemed that we had calculated everything down to the milligram. But they did not take into account that when phosphate fertilizers and calcium nitrate are simultaneously supplied, sediment forms in the pipes. The result is clogging of the droppers and spotting of the tomatoes. We had to redesign the mixing units with separate supply lines.

Colleagues from Shandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology LLC recently shared a case: they combinedintegration of water and fertilizerswith a weather station. The system itself adjusted watering based on air humidity, but in windy weather the sensors did not work correctly—the plants received a double dose of nitrogen. Conclusion: artificial intelligence without human control is still dangerous.

By the way, about “smart equipment” - I often hear that it can be installed on any field. But in steppe zones with dust storms, soil moisture sensors have to be cleaned literally every three days. Trifle? And without it, all automation turns into a pile of metal.

Frequency converters and pumps: where savings turn into disaster

I remember how in 2020 I persuaded a customer in Tatarstan to install frequency regulators on pumps - they say, we will save 30% of electricity. Saved. But when all the valves turned on simultaneously in the July heat, the converter could not withstand the current overload. We had to water it by hand for a week while we waited for a replacement from Germany. Now I always calculate the power reserve at least 1.5 times.

By the way, aboutfrequency automatic equipment- many manufacturers boast of 'European quality', but do not mention that their pressure switches are designed for clean water. In our conditions with sand and suspended matter, imported membranes fail within a season. You have to install additional mudguards - the simplest solution, but it is often forgotten in the pursuit of 'innovation'.

On the website https://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru we once published calculations on the operation of pumps in calcareous soil conditions - so half of the questions there were about why the windings burn out. The answer is simple: when constantly operating at low speeds, due to frequency regulation, the engine does not receive enough cooling. Trifle? No, the basis of reliability.

Design of hydraulic structures: when theory meets reality

The most painful example is the construction of a reservoir in the Stavropol Territory. According to the design, the bottom slope was supposed to be 3 degrees, but during operation it turned out that silt accumulates twice as fast as calculated. Cleaning was more expensive than the container itself. Now we always install additional settling pockets and increase the angles of inclination - although it is more expensive during construction, it is cheaper to maintain.

Whendesign of hydraulic structuresMany people forget about winter operation. In the same Stavropol, an ice crust 60 cm thick damaged the intake units - it was necessary to install aeration systems after the fact. Or they could have provided for it at the design stage, it would have been 20% cheaper.

Colleagues from Shandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology LLC once talked about a project in Kalmykia: there they had to completely recalculate the evaporation of water from outdoor pools - losses reached 40% per month. We had to introduce floating coatings, although they were not initially included in the estimate.

High quality agricultural fields: myths and reality

Everyone wants 'high quality fields', but few are willing to pay for drainage. Classic: they sowed alfalfa on a leveled field, and after the first rainfall they got gullies half a meter deep. It turned out that the subsoil waters approach the surface at 80 cm, and not at 120, as in the surveys. Now we always drill exploration wells ourselves, rather than trusting archival data.

When creatingsmart agricultural parkssystems are often overloaded with sensors. I saw a project where there were 15 sensors per hectare - in theory this gave an 'accurate picture', in practice half of them failed due to rodents or equipment. Sometimes it’s easier to put fewer points, but with duplication.

On the last projecthigh quality agricultural fieldsnear Belgorod, zoning was applied according to soil types - sandy areas were watered more often, loams less often. Productivity increased by 18%, but additional controllers had to be purchased. It paid for itself in two seasons, although the customer initially had doubts.

What's in the bottom line? Experience versus templates

Creating an irrigation system is always a compromise between ideal calculations and field reality. No two projects are the same, even in neighboring fields. The most expensive mistakes occur not because of miscalculations in hydraulics, but because of little things like unaccounted for water hardness or voltage drops.

Technologies LLC Shandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology is a great tool, but it does not replace an agronomist with a shovel who knows where the water is in the spring. The best systems are not born in offices, but on the edge of engineering and peasant ingenuity.

And yes - never skimp on filters. It's like insurance: it seems unnecessary until you encounter a problem. Tested on dozens of objects from Kuban to the Volga region.