Sprinkler irrigation system

When you hear “sprinkler system,” the first thing that comes to mind is uniform watering without human intervention. But in practice, everything is more complicated: I have seen dozens of cases where sprinklers were running idle due to incorrect selection of nozzles or ignoring the terrain. This is especially critical for slope areas - there you cannot do without stepwise pressure regulation.

Design features that are not always obvious

Standardsprinkler irrigation systemIt is assembled as a constructor, but the key mistake is saving on filters. I remember in the Krasnodar Territory I had to redo an entire area because of sand in the water: small particles disabled the nozzles of rotary sprinklers in two months. Now I always recommend multi-stage filtration - even if the water initially seems clean.

Pressure is a different story. Manufacturers indicate ideal parameters, but in reality it is necessary to take into account losses in the highways. For example, for slave sprinklers with a radius of 15 meters, a stable 3.5 bar is required, but if the pipes are laid with height differences, we add a minimum of 0.7 bar of reserve. I checked it in practice: if there is insufficient pressure, 'dead zones' are formed at the edges of the field.

Pipe materials are also a point where mistakes are often made. HDPE can withstand ultraviolet radiation, but is afraid of mechanical damage, and PVC is fragile in frost. Last season in the Rostov region, cracked lines were replaced after a winter with -25°C - now for such regions we use only polypropylene with reinforcement.

Selection of equipment for specific crops

For vineyards, for example, conventional fan sprinklers are not suitable - special drip-sprinkler hybrids are needed. Shandong Linyao Intelligent Agriculture Technology LLC offers solutions where you can regulate not only the water flow, but also the droplet size. This is critical for leaves of varieties such as 'Rkatsiteli' that are sensitive to waterlogging.

Grains are a separate issue. The speed of absorption is important here: on loams you have to split up the watering into cycles of 20-30 minutes with breaks, otherwise puddles will form. The website https://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru has good examples of projects for wheat fields with humidity sensors - they allow you to automate this process without constant monitoring.

Vegetable beds require low-pressure systems. Standard sprinklers produce too large droplets, which damage delicate seedlings. You have to use micro-sprinkling with a flow rate of 30-50 l/hour - but here you already need frequency converters to stabilize the pressure.

Installation nuances that are not written about in the instructions

Marking the field seems simple, but if you do it without a level, distortions of 2-3 degrees lead to concentration of water in the lowlands. Once they altered the system in the Stavropol region precisely because of this: an agronomist complained about the unevenness of seedlings, and the reason turned out to be a simple violation of geometry.

Sprinkler placement is an art. Manufacturers recommend a triangular pattern for uniformity, but in windy areas it is better to reduce the pitch by 15%. Tested in Kalmykia: with a standard arrangement, wind drift reached 40%, after correction it dropped to an acceptable 7-8%.

Maintenance in winter is a separate headache. Blowing with a compressor is not always effective if the system has check valves. It is necessary to additionally install drainage wells at the lowest points. The freezing of one such line in Tatarstan cost the economy 400 thousand rubles for replacement - an expensive lesson.

Integration with automation systems

Modernsprinkler irrigation systemis already unthinkable without controllers. But here it is important not to overdo it: I have seen projects where they tried to put sensors on every sprinkler - this is redundant for most farms. Zonal control with a weather station for evaporation correction is sufficient.

Remote control is a double-edged sword. Convenient, but requires stable internet. In the outback they often rely on GSM modules, but they are sensitive to interference. Shandong Lingyao LLC offers hybrid solutions with local logic - commands are executed even if the connection is lost, which is important for remote fields.

Energy supply is an often overlooked point. Pumping stations require stable voltage, and in rural networks there are sags. You have to install stabilizers or (which is more reliable) backup generators. One pump failure during the peak of the growing season can ruin the entire season.

Economics and practical efficiency

Payback periodsprinkler irrigation systemhighly dependent on culture. For vegetables - 1-2 seasons, for perennial herbs - up to 5 years. But many people forget to take into account the cost of maintenance: replacing nozzles every 3-4 years, cleaning filters, electricity.

Water consumption is an interesting point. It would seem that sprinklers are less economical than drip irrigation, but for some crops this is an advantage. For example, for potatoes in arid regions, sprinkling creates the necessary microclimate and reduces the temperature of the leaf surface.

Labor intensity is a subjective parameter. After automation, one operator can service up to 200 hectares, but this is subject to proper distribution of lines. If you have to constantly run around the field with keys, it means the project was done poorly. A good system requires only 2-3 hours of attention per week for routine maintenance.

Prospects and limitations of technology

Sprinkler irrigation is gradually replacing center pivot sprinklers for small areas. The reason is the flexibility of the configuration for complex terrain. But for fields over 50 hectares it is still more profitable to use 'carousels', although they are less accurate.

New materials - polymer composites - can increase the service life of sprinklers to 10-12 years. But for now this is an expensive solution, available only to large farms. For medium-sized enterprises, steel elements with an anti-corrosion coating are optimal - they last 6-8 years with proper winter storage.

Climate change is making adjustments: more frequent droughts require systems with the ability to operate in fogging mode. Shandong Lingyao LLC has such installations in its portfolio - they can reduce the temperature in greenhouses by 5-7°C without wasting water.

Overall,sprinkler irrigation system- not a panacea, but a tool. Its effectiveness is 80% dependent on proper design and configuration. The company's technologies https://www.lyzhihuinongye.ru show that even in difficult conditions it is possible to achieve an irrigation uniformity coefficient above 85% - but this requires a deep understanding of both agronomy and hydraulics.