Abstract:
Several micro-irrigation emitters were evaluated for their individual
performance and were compared among themselves on the basis of different
performance parameters, and the results were used to analyse the credibility of
the claim of the manufacturers. The emitters were tested for their quality of the
workmanship, uniformity of flow rate and for their distribution performance. A
total of thirty micro-sprinklers (ten models in three replications) were
evaluated. The distribution performance of each of the devices was described
by different performance parameters. The performance parameters used for
this purpose were uniformity coefficient, coefficient of variation, distribution
characteristic etc. The distribution patterns (densograms) were drawn and
carefully studied to analyse the nature of distribution performance of the
emitters. The values of the performance parameters were used to grade the
devices using different statistical and ranking tools. It is generally concluded
that only the manufacturer data should not be taken into consideration while
selecting the irrigation devices and from the farmers’ point of view it is safer
to depend more on the technical information resulting from scientific
investigations.