Evaluation Of Irrigation Efficiency On Some Farms In Golestan Province

In the present study, irrigation efficiency was evaluated in some irrigated areas including 20 farms under surface irrigation and 6 farms under sprinkler irrigation in some regions of Golestan province in 2008 and 2009. Application efficiency in surface irrigation method were determined by dividing absorbed water in the roots zone (soil moisture deficit) to the amount of applied water to each field (by measuring input water). In sprinkler irrigation, in addition to application efficiency (similar to surface irrigation) uniformity coefficient (CU) was also measured. Results have shown that application efficiency ranged between 21 to 81 percent and 54 to 80 percent for surface and sprinkler irrigation, respectively. And also uniformity efficiency in sprinkler irrigation was fluctuated between 52 to 88 percent. The main reasons for failure to achieve acceptable irrigation efficiency in some fields are: inappropriate irrigation time, choosing the wrong flow rate, improper size, the non-uniformity of the field and lack of attention to the water holding capacity in soil.