Principles and Management of Clogging in Micro Irrigation

Micro irrigation, also known as trickle, drip, localized, high frequency, or pressurized irrigation, is an irrigation method that saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters. It is done through narrow tubes that deliver water directly to the base of the plant. Clogging is a menace in the success of drip irrigation systems, and the situation is more complex under subsurface drip irrigation. Irrigation planners and engineers have found a variety of innovative methods to help to minimize clogging.

This book emphasizes the implications of micro irrigation clogging, especially under the subsurface placement of laterals. The book offers remedies to decrease clogging and methodologies to improve the performance of micro sprinklers. This valuable resource addresses this critical problem, covering:

• Challenges in clogging under subsurface drip irrigation
• Principles, practices, and management of emitter clogging
• Efficiency of acidification for unclogging of emitters
• Performance characteristics of micro sprinklers

The book will serve as a reference manual for professionals in biological and civil engineering, horticulture, soil and crop science, and agronomy, as well as for graduate and undergraduate students in related fields. It will be a valuable reference for professionals who work with micro irrigation/wastewater and water management and for technical agricultural centers, irrigation centers, agricultural extension services, and other agencies that work with micro irrigation programs.

Megh R. Goyal, PhD, PE, is a retired professor in agricultural and biomedical engineering from the General Engineering Department in the College of Engineering at University of Puerto Rico–Mayaguez Campus; and senior acquisitions editor and senior technical editor-in-chief in agriculture and biomedical engineering for Apple Academic Press Inc. He received his BSc in engineering in 1971 from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India; his MSc in 1977 and PhD in 1979 from the Ohio State University, Columbus; and his master of divinity in 2001 from Puerto Rico Evangelical Seminary, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, USA. He spent a one-year sabbatical leave in 2002–2003 at the Biomedical Engineering Department at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, USA. Since 1971, he has worked as soil conservation inspector (1971); research assistant at Haryana Agricultural University (1972–75) and Ohio State University (1975–79); research agricultural engineer/professor at the Department of Agricultural Engineering of UPRM (1979–1997); and professor in agricultural and biomedical engineering in the General Engineering Department of UPRM (1997–2012).

He was the first agricultural engineer to receive a professional license in Agricultural Engineering in 1986 from College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico. On September 16, 2005, he was proclaimed as "Father of Irrigation Engineering in Puerto Rico for the twentieth century" by the ASABE, Puerto Rico Section, for his pioneering work on micro irrigation, evapotranspiration, agroclimatology, and soil and water engineering. During his professional career of 45 years, he has received awards such as Scientist of the Year, Blue Ribbon Extension Award, Research Paper Award, Nolan Mitchell Young Extension Worker Award, Agricultural Engineer of the Year, Citations by Mayors of Juana Diaz and Ponce, Membership Grand Prize for ASAE Campaign, Felix Castro Rodriguez Academic Excellence, Rashtrya Ratan Award and Bharat Excellence Award and Gold Medal, Domingo Marrero Navarro Prize, Adopted Son of Moca, Irrigation Protagonist of UPRM, and Man of Drip Irrigation by Mayor of Municipalities of Mayaguez/Caguas/Ponce and Senate/Secretary of Agriculture of ELA, Puerto Rico.

He has authored more than 200 journal articles and textbooks, including Elements of Agroclimatology (Spanish) by UNISARC, Colombia, and two Bibliographies on Drip Irrigation. Apple Academic Press Inc. (AAP) has published his books, namely Biofluid Dynamics of Human Body, Management of Drip/Trickle or Micro Irrigation, Evapotranspiration: Principles and Applications for Water Management, Sustainable Micro Irrigation Design Systems for Agricultural Crops: Practices and Theory, Biomechanics of Artificial Organs and Prostheses, and Scientific and Technical Terms in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. During 2014–15, AAP is publishing his ten-volume set, Research Advances in Sustainable Micro Irrigation.

Vishal Keshavrao Chavan, MTech, is currently working as a senior research fellow in the Office of the Chief Scientist under Dr. Mahendra B. Nagdeve of the AICRP for Dryland Agriculture at Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, the premier agricultural university in Maharashtra, India. His work included the evaluation of the basic mechanism of clogging in drip irrigation system. His area of interest is primarily micro irrigation and soil and water engineering. An expert on clogging mechanisms, he has published four popular articles and three research papers in national journals, and he attends international conferences. He obtained his BTech degree in agricultural engineering in 2009 from Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, in Maharashtra, India; and his MTech degree from the University of Agricultural Sciences, in Raichur, Karnataka, India, in soil and water engineering.

Vinod Kumar Tripathi, PhD, is working as assistant professor in the Center for Water Engineering & Management, School of Natural Resources Management, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi, India. He obtained his BTech degree in agricultural engineering from Allahabad University, India; his MTech degree from G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, India, in irrigation and drainage engineering; and his PhD degree from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. During his PhD research, he developed a methodology to improve the quality of produce by utilizing municipal wastewater under drip irrigation. His area of interest is geo-informatics, hydraulics in micro irrigation, and development of suitable water management technologies for higher crop and water productivity. He has taught hydraulics, design of hydraulic structures, water and wastewater engineering, and geo-informatics to postgraduate students at the Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi, India. He is an international expert in evaluating funded plans for rural water supply and sanitation. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed research publications and bulletins and has attended several national and international professional conferences.

Vinod Kumar Tripathi, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Center for Water Engineering and Management at the School of Natural Resources Management of Central University of Jharkhand, Brambe, in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. He has developed a methodology to improve the quality of produce by utilizing municipal wastewater under drip irrigation during his PhD research. His areas of interest are geo-informatics, hydraulics in micro-irrigation, and development of suitable water management technologies for higher crop and water productivity. He has taught hydraulics, design of hydraulic structures, water and wastewater engineering, geo-informatics to postgraduate students at Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi, India. He is an international expert and has evaluated funded plans for rural water supply and sanitation. He has published more than 32 peer-reviewed research publications and bulletins, and has attended several national and international conferences.

He obtained his BTech degree in agricultural engineering in from Allahabad University, India; his MTech degree from the G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, in Pantnagar, India, in irrigation and drainage engineering; and his PhD degree in 2011, from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.