scope:

PREFACE

Due to increased agricultural production, irrigated land has increased in the arid and subhumid zones around the world. Agriculture has started to compete for the water use with industries, municipalities and other sectors. This increasing demand along with increments in water and energy costs have made it necessary to develop new technologies for the adequate management of water. The intelligent use of water for crops requires understanding of evapotranspiration processes and use of efficient irrigation methods.

The "http://newindianexpress.com/cities/bangalore/Micro-irrigation-to-be-promoted/ 2013/08/17/" weblink published an article on the importance of micro irrigation in India. Every day, similar news appear all-round the world indicating that Government agencies at central/state/local level, research and educational institutions, industry, sellers and others are aware of the urgent need to adopt micro irrigation technology that can have an irrigation efficiency up to 90% compared to 30-40% for the conventional irrigation systems. I here share with the readers the news on 17 August of 2013 by Indian Express Newspaper, "In its efforts to increase the irrigated area by efficiently distributing the available water in the Cauvery basin, The Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Limited (CNNL) is planning to undertake pilot projects on micro irrigation at four places. The CNNL Managing Director Kapil Mohan said, 'the Cauvery water disputes tribunal has permitted the state to irrigate up to 18.85 lakh acres of land in the Cauvery basin. Therefore, we have to judiciously use the available water to increase the irrigated area. In the conventional irrigation method, a lot of water is required to irrigate even a small piece of land. Therefore, we are planning to undertake pilot projects to introduce micro irrigation in four or five places in the Cauvery basin.' Kapil further said that unless the farmers are willing to embrace micro irrigation, it would be difficult for the project to succeed. Therefore, the CNNL is holding discussions with the farmers in different villages of the basin to select the villages in which the project would be undertaken. The CNNL is also in the process of finalizing the technology that should be adopted while undertaking the pilot project. 'If everything goes as planned we should implement the pilot project within this financial year. If the project yields the desired result, we will think of extending it to the other areas in the basin,' Kapil added. According to the official sources, water would be supplied through micro sprinklers instead of canals in the micro irrigation system. Therefore, one can irrigate more than two acres of land through the system with the water that is used to irrigate one acre of land in the conventional canal irrigation system."

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a combination of two processes: evaporation and transpiration. Evaporation is a physical process that involves conversion of liquid water into water vapor and then into the atmosphere. Evaporation of water into the atmosphere occurs on the surface of rivers, lakes, soils and vegetation. Transpiration is a physical process that involves flow of liquid water from the soil (root zone) through the trunk, branches and surface of leaves through the stomates. An energy gradient is created during the evaporation of water, which causes the water movement into and out of the plant stomates. In the majority of green plants, stomates remain open during the day and stay closed during the night. If the soil is too dry, the stomates will remain closed during the day in order to slow down the transpiration.

Evaporation, transpiration and ET processes are important for estimating crop water requirements and for irrigation scheduling. To determine crop water requirements, it is necessary to estimate ET by on site measurements or by using meteorological data. On site measurements are very costly and are mostly employed to calibrate ET methods using climatological data. There are a number of proposed mathematical equations that require meteorological data and are used to estimate the ET for periods of one day or more. Potential ET is the ET from a well-watered crop, which completely covers the surface. Meteorological processes determine the ET of a crop. Closing of stomates and reduction in transpiration are usually important only under drought or under stress conditions of a plant. The ET depends on four factors: (1) climate, (2) vegetation, (3) water availability in the soil and (4) behavior of stomates. Vegetation affects the ET in various ways. It affects the ability of the soil surface to reflect light. The vegetation affects the amount of energy absorbed by the soil surface. Soil properties, including soil moisture, also affect the amount of energy that flows through the soil. The height and density of vegetation influence efficiency of the turbulent heat interchange and the water vapor of the foliage.

Micro irrigation, also known as trickle irrigation or drip irrigation or localized irrigation or 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. It is a system of crop irrigation involving the controlled delivery of water directly to individual plants and can be installed on the soil surface or subsurface. Micro irrigation systems are often used in farms and large gardens, but are equally effective in the home garden or even for houseplants or lawns. They are easily customizable and can be set up even by inexperienced gardeners. Putting a drip system into the garden is a great do-it-yourself project that will ultimately save the time and help the plants grow. It is equally used in landscaping and in green cities.

The mission of this compendium is to serve as a text book or a reference manual for graduate and under graduate students of agricultural, biological and civil engineering; horticulture, soil science, crop science and agronomy. I hope that it will be a valuable reference for professionals that work with micro irrigation and water management; for professional training institutes, technical agricultural centers, irrigation centers, Agricultural Extension Service, and other agencies that work with micro irrigation programs.

After my first textbook on Drip/Trickle or Micro Irrigation Management by Apple Academic Press Inc. and response from international readers, I was motivated to bring out for the world community this series on Research Advances in Sustainable Micro Irrigation. This book series will complement other books on micro irrigation that are currently available on the market, and my intention is not to replace anyone of these.

This book series is unique because it is complete and simple, a one stop manual, with worldwide applicability to irrigation management in agriculture. Its coverage of the field of micro irrigation includes, historical review; current status and potential; basic principles and applications; research results for vegetable/row/tree crops; research studies from Chile, Colombia, Egypt, India, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and U.S.A.; research results on simulation of micro irrigation and wetting patterns; development of software for micro irrigation design; micro irrigation for small farms and marginal farmers; studies related to agronomical crops in arid, humid, semiarid, and tropical climates; and methods and techniques that can be easily applied to other locations (not included in this book). This book offers basic principles, knowledge and techniques of micro irrigation management, that are necessary to understand before designing/developing and evaluating an agricultural irrigation management system. This book is a must for those interested in irrigation planning and management, namely, researchers, scientists, educators and students.

Volume 1 in this book series is titled Sustainable Micro Irrigation: Principles and Practices, and includes 16 chapters.

Volume 2 in this book series is titled Sustainable Practies in Surface and Subsurface Micro Irrigation, and includes 16 chapters consisting of: Wetting Pattern Simulation of Subsurface Micro Irrigation: Part I, Model Development by M.N. El-nesr, S.M. Ismail, T.K. Zien El-Abedin, and M.A. Wassif; Wetting Pattern Simulation of Subsurface Micro Irrigation: Part II, Model Validation by M.N. El-nesr, S.M. Ismail, T.K. Zien El-Abedin, and M.A. Wassif; Micro Irrigation in Egyptian Sandy Soil: Hydraulic Barrier Technique by M.N. El-nesr, S.M. Ismail, T.K. Zien El-Abedin, and M.A. Wassif; Micro irrigation Design using MicroCAD by M.N. El-nesr, S.M. Ismail, T.K. Zien El-Abedin, and M.A. Wassif; Subsurface Drip Irrigation in Australia: Vegetables by Viola Devasirvatham; Mechanics of Clogging in Microirrigation System by Vishal keshavrao Chavan, P. Balakrishnan, Santosh Deshmukh, and M.B. Nagdeve; Water Movement in Drip Irrigated Sandy Soils by Eric Simonne, Aparna Gazula, Robert Hochmuth, and Jim DeValerio; Crop Coefficients: Trickle Irrigated Common Beans by Victor H. Ramirez Builes, Eric W. Harmsen and Timothy G. Porch; Water Requirements for Papaya on a Mollisol Soil by Ricardo Goenaga, Edmundo Rivera, and Carlos Almodovar; Water Requirements for Tanier (Xanthosoma spp.) by Ricardo Goenaga; Water Requirements for Tanier (Xanthosoma spp.) on a Mollisol Soil by Ricardo Goenaga; Water Requirements for Banana on a Mollisol Soil by Ricardo Goenaga, and Heber Irizarry; Water Requirements for Banana on an Oxisol Soil by Ricardo Goenaga, and Heber Irizarry; Water Requirements for Plantains on a Mollisol Soil by Ricardo Goenaga, Heber Irizarry, and Eladio Gonzalez; Drip Irrigation Management: Plantain and Banana by Ricardo Goenaga, Heber Irizarry, Bruce Coleman and Eulalio Ortiz; Biometric Response of Eggplant under Sustainable Micro Irrigation with Municipal Wastewater Vinod Kumar Tripathi, T.B.S. Rajput, Neelam Patel, and Pradeep Kumar; and Appendices.

Volume 3 in this book series is titled Sustainable Micro Irrigation Management for Trees and Vines.

Volume 4 in this book series is titled Management, Performance, and Applications of Micro Irrigation.

The contribution by all cooperating authors to this book series has been most valuable in the compilation of this three-volume compendium. Their names are mentioned in each chapter. This book would not have been written without the valuable cooperation of these investigators, many of them are renowned scientists who have worked in the field of evapotranspiration throughout their professional careers.

I would like to thank the editorial staff, Sandy Jones Sickels, Vice President, and Ashish Kumar, Publisher and President at Apple Academic Press, Inc., (http:// appleacademicpress.com) for making every effort to publish the book when the diminishing water resources is a major issue worldwide. Special thanks are due to the AAP Production Staff for typesetting the entire manuscript and for the quality production of this book. We request the reader to offer us your constructive suggestions that may help to improve the next edition. The reader can order a copy of this book for the library, the institute or for a gift from CRC Press (Taylor & Francis Group), 6000 Broken Sound Parkway, NW Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL, 33487, USA; Tel.: 800-272- 7737 or search at Weblink: http://www.crcpress.com.

I express my deep admiration to my family for understanding and collaboration during the preparation of this three volume book series. With our whole heart and best affection, I dedicate this book series to my wife, Subhadra Devi Goyal, who has supported me during the last 44 years. We both have been trickling on to add our drop to the ocean of service to the world of humanity. Without her patience and dedication, I would not have been a teacher with vocation and zeal for service to others. I present here the Hymn on Micro Irrigation by my students. As an educator, there is a piece of advice to one and all in the world: "Permit that our almighty God, our Creator and excellent Teacher, irrigate the life with His Grace of rain trickle by trickle, because our life must continue trickling on..."