Drip irrigation is to place the water supply pipe directly near the plant, so that the water can directly penetrate into the roots of the plant, and control the water quantity according to the needs of plant growth. This not only avoids the huge waste of water resources by flood irrigation, but also enables plants to obtain reasonable water. Generally speaking, compared with flood irrigation, drip irrigation can save water by 40%-50%, increase crop yield and improve crop quality, which has a great impact on world agricultural development. Without drip irrigation, it is hard to imagine that desert agriculture will develop, let alone that artificial soil and brackish water can be used for irrigation. Japanese irrigation experts wrote in Scientific American magazine that Jews (Israel) have made two great contributions to the world, one is the Bible, and the other is drip irrigation.
According to previous research, drip irrigation technology has the following advantages.
(1) Increase crop yield by more than 20%. Drip irrigation can provide water and fertilizer timely, appropriately, evenly and slowly according to the law of crop water consumption, so that the soil in the root layer of crops can always maintain the best state of moisture, ventilation and nutrients, and create a good environment for crop growth and development. When drip irrigation is used, the wetting range of the ground is small, which can also reduce the harm of pests and diseases and yield loss.
(2) Make maximum use of water and save water by more than 50%. Drip irrigation avoids water loss and deep leakage loss, and the surface is locally moist, thus reducing ground evaporation. Drip irrigation rate is less than soil infiltration rate, which avoids runoff loss and no water drift loss. Drip irrigation in greenhouse in winter can obviously reduce humidity and increase ground temperature.
(3) Improve fertilizer efficiency. Drip irrigation combined with fertilization (water and fertilizer integration technology) is very convenient, easy to apply less and more, which is conducive to increasing crop yield and reducing fertilizer consumption. Fertilizer can be directly applied near the roots of crops according to crop consumption, so as to keep the best balance of soil nutrients. This kind of accurate and timely fertilization can only be achieved by drip irrigation.
(4) Reduce the damage of saline-alkali to crops. Because of the high irrigation frequency, the soil salt concentration is diluted, and the salt is excluded from the root layer of crops, thus avoiding the damage to crop leaves caused by salt accumulation caused by sprinkler irrigation.
(5) It is beneficial to realize automatic control. Applying water, fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide through drip irrigation system can also reduce operation and management costs.
(6) Strong adaptability to terrain. Drip irrigation system can also be used for steep slope irrigation with a slope of 50%-60%. Pipelines can be directly arranged on sloping land and uneven terrain for irrigation, and it is not necessary to level the land, so it is labor-saving to build ridges and ridges.