IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT BAG303

Need to know how to manage or design a large scale Irrigation System?

This course builds on our Irrigation course and teaches you to manage the design and operation of large scale irrigation systems, such as in a nursery, for a large crop, turf, garden or pasture.

Water management and efficiency
Irrigation scheduling for large crops
Drainage system design
Irrigation controllers or maintenance
Fertigation
Design and Evaluation

Irrigation can be Complex but it can also be the difference between success and failure on many farms

This course takes your knowledge of irrigation to the next level; whether as an irrigation supplier, installer or user.

COURSE STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS

There are 8 lessons as follows:

Water management
Irrigation scheduling
Drainage
Irrigation controllers
Irrigation maintenance
Fertigation
Design evaluation
Irrigation design

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Duration: 100 Hours (Nominal Duration).

AIMS

On successful completion of the course you should be able to do the following:

Devise ways to optimise water efficiency (i.e. minimise wastage), during irrigation of plants.
Schedule irrigation for a large scale situation such as a large nursery, crop, turf, garden or pasture.
Analyse the design of different drainage systems
Formulate procedures to operate irrigation controllers, for appropriate tasks.
Manage the maintenance of irrigation systems, both small and large scale.
Manage the fertigation of plants through an irrigation system.
Evaluate the design of large scale irrigation systems.
Design an irrigation system, including its drainage.

WHAT THE COURSE COVERS

Here are just some of the things you will be doing:

Explain different factors which cause water to be wasted including:
- Evaporation
- Run off
- Over spray
- Scheduling
Determine where water is wasted, in both the operation and management of a specified irrigation system
Determine changes to achieve more efficient water usage, in a specified system.
Develop guidelines for determining when to irrigate in a particular situation.
Determine through an analysis, when to irrigate on a studied site, by evaluating soil moisture and other characteristics of a site, periodically over two months, and referencing annual rainfall statistics over a period of years.
Record in a log book, plant growth and soil moisture for an existing irrigation system operated using two different watering patterns, each for one month, and over two consecutive months.
Compare differences in varying the scheduling of a watering system over two months
Prepare an irrigation schedule for a specific garden or crop.
Develop criteria for designing a specified drainage system.
Explain the design criteria for a specified drainage requirement.
Devise strategies for dealing with drainage requirements in emergencies, including:
- extreme weather (eg. hail, storm)
- burst pipe
- blocked drains
Determine appropriate drainage requirements for a specified situation, and over a specified area, including:
- Type of drainage required
- Specifications of drainage required
Evaluate the operation of a drainage system, installed under irrigation on a site studied by the learner.
Compare four different irrigation controllers with reference to different criteria including:
- Labour costs
- Maintenance
- Reliability
Determine appropriate applications for four different types of irrigation controllers
Explain the operation of a specific brand of time clock, studied by the learner.
Explain the operation of a specified computerised irrigation controller.
Develop three different procedures to operate a specific irrigation controller, in order to satisfy three different specified purposes.
Determine routine site maintenance requirements for different types of irrigation systems including:
- spray irrigation
- micro irrigation
- surface irrigation
- flood irrigation
Explain routine site maintenance requirements for different types of irrigation systems including:
- spray irrigation
- micro irrigation
- surface irrigation
- flood irrigation
Develop a procedure for maintaining water quality, in a specified irrigation system, at a workplace visited by the learner.
Explain water quality maintenance activities required for efficient irrigation practices in a specific situation.
Compare the service supplied by different irrigation suppliers, in terms of scope and quality.
Develop an irrigation monitoring program, for a specific irrigation system, studied by the learner.
Write a maintenance schedule for a specified irrigation system.
Explain the use of fertigation, in a specific horticultural workplace.
Determine appropriate applications for fertigation in one specific industry sector.
Determine inappropriate fertigation applications in different specific industry sector.
Explain why certain applications for fertigation are inappropriate.
Compare the suitability of six different specified fertilisers for fertigation.
Determine resources required to undertake fertigation in a specified situation, including:
- equipment
- materials
- manpower
Collate available data on a specified irrigation system, including:
- system performance data
- water supply
- water consumption
- crop production or plant growth data
- climatic trends
- soil characteristics
- monitor irrigation performance
Analyse collated data against different criteria including:
- benchmarks
- specifications
- predictions
Compile a comprehensive report evaluating a system, which includes:
- data evaluation
- performance indicators
- conclusions
- recommendations
Prepare design specifications for storage and distribution of water.
Explain appropriate methods for recycling, re-use or disposal of water, for three different specified irrigation systems.
Are there any legal or health considerations?
Design a drainage system for a specified irrigation system, including:
- Sketch plans
- Materials lists
- Cost estimates
Determine costing for a specified drainage system.
Prepare a report recommending design modifications to an existing irrigation system in a specified situation.
Prepare a design for a micro irrigation system for an area of forty square metres, to a standard which is adequate for a contractor to install the system; and including:
- Plans
- Calculations
- Materials specifications

Learn To Water When and Where it is Needed

Proper scheduling of irrigations involves determining how much water to apply and when to apply it.

Soil acts as a reservoir of water for the fruit tree. This reservoir becomes depleted by both the plant extracting its water needs, and by water being lost to the air through evaporation. Though rainfall (ie. the replenishing of water supply) can be erratic, evaporation which contributes significantly to the depletion of water tends to be relatively constant from place to place and year to year. Evaporimeters are operated by meteorological stations throughout the country, measuring evaporation on a routine basis. Readings from these evaporimeters are often published in local papers, and can be used as a reliable guide to the rate at which water is being depleted from soil in an area.

Soil type and root development of the trees also have an effect upon the scheduling of irrigation.

Regulated Deficit Irrigation
This is a method designed to maximise fruiting by limiting vegetative growth. Research indicates reducing water to the point of causing some stress in early summer will greatly reduce vegetative growth without affecting vegetative growth. The last six to eight weeks before harvest is when the fruit grow rapidly, and during that time, vegetative growth is reduced. Given that the soil is normally moist when flowering occurs at the start of spring (or late winter), the RDI technique tries to delay irrigating a tree over spring until a tree shows obvious signs of water stress.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN MORE?

ENROL TODAY!
Just go to the top of this page for pricing and enrolment options. If you have any questions you can contact us now, by:
Phone (UK) 01384 44272, (International) +44 (0) 1384 442752, or

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