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Pitcher Irrigation Technique for Arid and Semi-arid Zones
... Particularly in resource-constrained settings, several application studies on different crops have demonstrated that clay pots have a positive effect on plant growth and yield while also significantly reducing water usage and increasing water efficiency compared to conventional irrigation systems. The applicability of clay pot irrigation across different crops has been studied in regard to tomato and lettuce [45], Swiss chard [22], cabbage [37,50], ornamental plants [25], peppers [39], watermelon, and cauliflower [54]. ...
... Tomatoes [28,32,39,54], maize [26,32], bitter gourd [40], pumpkin [42], watermelons [29,54], okra, cucumber, eggplants, coffee [38], cauliflower [54], Swiss chard [22,39], cabbage [37], pepper [39], bitter gourd [40,54] Greenhouse tomatoes [61], apples [58], lettuce [55], wolfberry [75], persimmon [55] Cherry trees [18] Application studies of clay pot and clay pipe irrigation have been performed on several crops in mostly arid regions. The planting and establishment of subtropical crops like coffee, oranges, and other tree species require particular attention to the availability of water for irrigation, especially during the first year of establishment and at up to three years. ...
... Tomatoes [28,32,39,54], maize [26,32], bitter gourd [40], pumpkin [42], watermelons [29,54], okra, cucumber, eggplants, coffee [38], cauliflower [54], Swiss chard [22,39], cabbage [37], pepper [39], bitter gourd [40,54] Greenhouse tomatoes [61], apples [58], lettuce [55], wolfberry [75], persimmon [55] Cherry trees [18] Application studies of clay pot and clay pipe irrigation have been performed on several crops in mostly arid regions. The planting and establishment of subtropical crops like coffee, oranges, and other tree species require particular attention to the availability of water for irrigation, especially during the first year of establishment and at up to three years. ...
Arid and semi-arid areas are suffering from declines in fresh water availability, making food security in these regions strongly dependent on the adaptability of agricultural production to the minimum usage of irrigation water. In response to this critical need, efforts have been directed towards enhancing irrigation efficiency and exploring innovative clay-based subsurface irrigation systems. These systems use clay materials as porous emitters and operate on the principle of capillary water movement from the pottery to the root zone, effectively reducing water evaporation and demonstrating significant water-saving potential. This article presents the results of a systematic literature review, with a specific focus on identifying recent developments and innovations in clay-based subsurface irrigation technologies, describing cases of applicability and indicating directions for future research. This review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and involved the screening of 233 articles that were found through searches on the databases Web of Science and Science Direct combined with searches of Google Scholar and citation searches. As a result, 58 research articles were investigated. The webtool Rayyan was used for the screening of the articles and the synthesis of the results. The spectrum of clay-based irrigation systems identified in the investigated articles includes traditional methods such as clay pot and clay pipe irrigation as well as more recent advancements in the field such as Subsurface Irrigation with Ceramic Emitters (SICE), Self-regulating Low-Energy Clay-based Irrigation (SLECI), and Ceramic Patch Subsurface Drip Irrigation Line (CP-SDIL) and pottery dripper technologies. This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of each irrigation system, highlighting their main characteristics, advantages, and limitations. Particular attention is paid to the reported outcomes related to yield responses, water use efficiency, and suitability for various agricultural applications. This review indicates as a primary benefit of these systems their potential to allow water conservation, which is especially advantageous in regions with a restricted irrigation water supply. However, a major drawback is the challenge of scaling these systems effectively. Hence, the recommended areas for future research centre on the necessity of substantial economic assessments of and discussion on the potential social impact to promote the scalability of clay-based irrigation systems.
... Pitcher irrigation is an old-new irrigation method that has been practiced in many part of the world such as India, Iran, Africa and South America (Mondal, 1974;Dubey et al., 1991). The technique is simple, cheap, and could have large water-saving potential. ...
Picher irrigation is a traditional technique used to supply water to plants under drought conditions in arid regions. Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate water seepage rates from ceramic pots/pitchers, made from baked clay-sand local materials, under various environmental and hydraulic conditions. Seven ceramic pots (simulating ceramic emitters) with various dimensions were used in the experiments. Handmade ceramic pots of about 1 L in volume and 26 cm tall were used in the experiment. The hydraulic conductivities of the pots were measured using falling head method and the values ranged from 0.275 to 0.704 mm/d. Seepage rate from ceramic pots were measured in the air and when buried in the soil under constant and falling head method inside a temperature and humidity-controlled chamber. Results indicated that seepage rate is affected by various conditions including potential evaporation, soil suction pressure and moisture condition, and hydraulic head. Seepage rate from ceramic pots were higher under constant head condition and when buried inside soil than that under falling head or in the air. Seepage rates were found to increase steadily with potential evaporation but decrease gradually with increased soil moisture around ceramic pots. The value of hydraulic head seemed to have the largest effect on pitchers’ seepage rate. The seepage rate under a constant head of 30 cm above the mouth of the ceramic pot tested in the experiment was 2500 mL/d but decreased to only 114 mL/d under a constant head of -25 cm below the mouth of the pot. The experiments revealed that ceramic pitchers can be used to supply water even under negative head thus eliminating the need for pressurized flow inside irrigation pipes. Keywords: Arid regions, Drylands, Evaporation, Hydraulic head, Pitcher irrigation, Subsurface irrigation.
... In the recent past, many investigations have been carried out to develop pitcher irrigation into a scientific irrigation technique by evaluation of flow hydraulics and various management alternatives. From the preliminary scientific investigations it is revealed that this method of irrigation is a practical alternative to drip irrigation, is most efficient in terms of water conservation and is recognized as a low-depth high-frequency irrigation method (Alemi, 1980;Dubey et al., 1991;Batchelor et al., 1996;Bainbridge, 2001). It is an ancient, but very efficient irrigation system used in many arid and semi-arid regions (Siyal et al., 2009).The buried clay pot irrigation maintains stable soil moisture, enables crops to grow in both basic or saline soils and is suitable for using saline waters not applicable with conventional irrigation (Mondal, 1974(Mondal, , 1984Alemi, 1980;Mondal et al., 1992). ...
Three types of pitchers made of different materials were used with saline waters of varied concentrations (5, 10, 15 and 20 dS m(-1)) separately to study the effect on flow rate, wetting front advance, moisture and salt distribution in the wetted zone of soil around pitchers. It was found that the pitcher made of clay and sand yielded the lowest flow rate, ranging from 0.42 to 0.62%, followed by the pitcher made of clay, sand and resin, 0.51-0.69% and the pitcher made of clay, sand and sawdust, 0.91-1.02% .The wetting front advance was highest for the pitcher made of clay, sand and sawdust, followed by the pitcher made of clay, sand and resin, and the pitcher made of clay and sand. The mean soil moisture content around the pitcher made of clay and sand was found to be the minimum and varied from 8.53 to 13.3%, followed by the pitcher made of clay, sand and resin, and the pitcher made of clay, sand and sawdust with 9.56-13.7% and 14.5-20.8%, respectively. In the case of the pitcher made of clay and sand, and the pitcher made of clay, sand and resin, the maximum salt concentration in the soil profile ranged between 1.09 and 3.88 dS m(-1) and in the pitcher made of clay, sand and sawdust, it ranged from 2.30 to 6.07 dS m(-1). The initial salinity of water was found to be substantially reduced around the pitcher made of clay and sand, and the pitcher made of clay, sand and resin in comparison to the pitcher made of clay, sand and sawdust. In all cases, salinity levels around the pitchers were well within the safe limit of growing crops. The study reveals that pitcher irrigation may be a promising option for growing plants using highly saline waters, sustaining hardly any salinity hazard or moisture stress. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Salinity is one of the most serious problem faced by the world irrigated agriculture. Recounting the damages inflicted by salinity Hall (1974), writes that “History is on their (forces of degradation) side, as are the laws of physics, chemistry and biology. Today, every arid land region of the world is in some immediate or final stage of this process”. But there can be no doubt that our long term economic survival depends upon how we come to terms with the problem raised by soil and water salinity.
Pitcher irrigation is particularly useful for horticulture in arid zones. It is of interest to see the correlation of water flow (WF) through the pitcher wall into air, water, and soil with the moisture deficit in air (MD). The pattern of WF into the three media was studied for four pitchers filled with water up to the neck, under natural atmospheric conditions and under hydraulic head (HH). WF without HH was in the order air>soil>water, the amount being negligible in water. WF under HH was also in the same order, but with a significant increase in WF. In all cases WF correlated linearly to level of dryness of the air. Hydraulic conductivity (K-s) for all the pitchers also varied in the order air>soil>water. K-s in water was independent of MD, whereas K-s in soil and air increased with MD. Thus total WF through capillary pores of the pot is due to pressure of hydraulic head only when WF is into the water medium. In air and soil there is an additional WF due to the MD in the medium. This is seen as a negative pressure or an equivalent negative hydraulic head. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
As population grows mainly in developing countries resulting in an increase in water scarcity particularly in arid
areas, irrigated agriculture is required to produce more food while using less water, and to do so without
degrading the environment. The extent of improvement of water management in arid lands involves very high
costs and irrigation methods that can help meet this challenge by giving growers greater control over the
application of water is desirable. Clay pot is an efficient and cheap irrigation method that does not require water
of high quality. Despite the significant efforts at Kapkuikui informal irrigation scheme to increase food
production using furrow irrigation method, production has been declining over time due to water scarcity and
fields abandoned as a result of salinity raising the need for improvement of the water productivity using an
environmentally sound irrigation method. The objective of the present study was to evaluate water use savings
under clay pot compared to furrow irrigation methods using field trials of maize and tomato crops and also soil
water balance techniques. In addition, analysis of the salinity of irrigation water and soil at the scheme was done.
Results indicate that the irrigation water sourced from springs at the scheme is saline with a salinity of 0.85g/l.
The clay pot system was found to be more efficient than the furrow irrigation method by saving 97.1% of
applied water for the maize crop and 97.8% for the tomato crop respectively. In terms of yield increases, the clay
system was more productive per unit of water than the furrow irrigation method. The maize grain yields was
32.2% higher than that under the furrow, while fresh fruit tomato yields was 43.7% higher in the clay pot system
than the furrow.
The hydraulics of pitcher irrigation in saline water condition was studied in laboratory conditions in terms of flow behaviour of pitcher, soil moisture distribution, wetting front advance and distribution of salt concentration in the soil using different pitcher making materials. The Pitcher Type 1 (PT1) made up of local soil and sand yielded the lowest mean hourly depletion ranging from 0.42 to 0.62% depending on salinity of the water used. It was followed by PT2 made up of local soil, sand and resinous material with a mean hourly depletion of 0.51-0.69% and PT3 with local soil, saw dust and sand with a mean hourly depletion of 0.91-1.02%. In all cases, with the increase in salinity level of the water used (ranging from 5 to 20 dS/m), the depletion rate and moisture content in the soil profile were found to decrease. Similarly, it was found that PT1 yielded the lowest wetting front advance and salt movement followed by PT2 and PT3. It was observed that the wetting front advance in the soil decreased with increasing salinity level of the water. The salt concentration in the soil was minimum near the pitcher and maximum at the soil surface and periphery of the wetted zone. In case of PT1, the maximum salt concentration in the soil profile ranged between 1.09 and 3.88 dS/m using water with a salinity ranging from 5 to 20 dS/m, respectively. Similarly, for PT2 the maximum salt concentration in the soil profile also ranged from 1.09 to 3.88 dS/m and for PT3 from 2.30 to 6.07 dS/m. A paired t-test revealed that the moisture as well as the salt distribution of PT3 differed significantly from PT1 and PT2 at [alpha] = 0.05. Even, if the salt concentration remained the same and the moisture content remained within field capacity for PT1 and PT2, PT1 is preferred in comparison to PT2 and PT3 as the pitcher material of PT1 is locally economically available.
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