Seven Questions About Drip Irrigation Technology for Fruit Trees!

1. What is drip irrigation technology for fruit trees?

Drip irrigation of fruit trees is an irrigation method in which water is evenly and slowly dripped into the soil near the root area of fruit trees through drip tape irrigation systems installed on the capillary, such as emitters, orifices or drip irrigation belts.

2. What kind of orchard is suitable for drip irrigation?

Drip irrigation is most suitable for orchards with water shortage and better water quality and management conditions.

3. What is a dripper? What kind of drippers are commonly used in drip tape irrigation systems?

Dripper is a kind of drip irrigation device. After the pressure water flow in the capillary tube dissipates energy, it irrigates the soil with discontinuous water droplets. It is called drip irrigation device, or dripper for short. 

The types of drippers include long runner drippers and orifice drippers. The microtube dripper is also called the hair dripper, with an inner diameter of 1.5 mm, which can be inserted on the wall of the capillary. The advantage is that the cost is low, the capillary can be cut off, and the side-plug installation can be adopted, which can improve the integrity of the capillary and bury it underground. The management method is safe and can prolong the service life of drip irrigation equipment. Orifice dripper, the capillary is buried in the ground for fixed use, a 7mm inner diameter catheter is led out of the ground, and the catheter is connected to the orifice dripper.

4. How many drip irrigation drippers are required for each fruit tree?

Generally, 3-8 drippers are arranged per fruit tree. Among them, fruit trees with large sandiness and large canopy should increase the number of drippers per tree, reduce the irrigation quota and shorten the irrigation period; for orchards with small crowns, the number of drippers per plant can be appropriately reduced, the irrigation quota can be increased, and the irrigation cycle can be extended.

5. How much drip irrigation flow per hectare of orchard is needed?

According to the water source and its water supply, the drip irrigation scale is determined. Usually, it is appropriate to control 1 hectare of fruit trees with a water volume of 1.5-1.9m³ per hour.

6. How to formulate the drip tape irrigation system?

The total water demand of fruit trees from April to October is an average of 510-620 mm for many years. The peak water demand period is from June to August. The peak water demand intensity is 3.5-4.2 mm per day. The average daily drip irrigation water supply is 19.5-25.5 m³, per hectare. The amount of water dripping is 75-150m³.

Generally, the water is irrigated 5-9 times a year, and the irrigation period is 3-7 days. The water flow rate of the dripper per hour should not exceed 15 liters. When used on the ground, it should not exceed 7 liters per hour, generally 2-6 liters per hour.

7. What is tubule outflow perfusion?

The capillary of the micro-irrigation system leads out a conduit with an inner diameter of 4 mm, and the water flows out of the conduit to perform micro-irrigation on the root area of the fruit tree, also known as spring irrigation. The conduits are located at 2/3 of the crown radius under each fruit tree. The height of the duct is 0.3 meters above the ground.