A Historical Review of Innovations and Developments of Subsurface Irrigation Systems

This paper contains a comprehensive historic review of attempts for innovation and development of Subsurface Irrigation Systems from the early stage in different countries and regions. Firstly, the differences between two irrigation systems namely: "Underground Irrigation" and "Subsurface Irrigation" has been clarified and then the technical problems within innovations from the start of written history research on subsurface irrigation has been discussed. Describing all activities performed by the subsurface irrigation pipes, this study attempts to introduce the most important technical barriers which prevent the distribution of subsurface irrigation systems including methods available in the market such as subsurface drip irrigation, Porous irrigation tubing, and KISSS. Due to the limitations to mention all the technical issues related to different methods of subsurface irrigation, and to better understand the ability of each method, "Researcher's Evaluation" is mentioned at the end of each part. The last part of this paper is attributed to the development process of a new subsurface irrigation system "Subsurface Irrigation with Clay Pipes".