Experimental Investigations on Wick Irrigation: An Indigenous Irrigation Technique to suit Small-land holders

Abstract

The study presents details of experimentation on an unfavourable land with ‘Wick Irrigation’ using adverse
quality of water. Saline water was used for irrigation for growing horticulture crops on alkaline farm without using any
type of fertilizer. Wick Irrigation was compared with the farmers’ regular method of hand watering with basin irrigation.
Wick Assemblies were prepared by installing cotton wicks into the plastic canes of 10 liters and 5.5 liters. Small and
Large ‘Wick Assemblies’ 24 Nos. each were installed at centre-to-centre distance of 1.5 m on the field. Seeds of Tomato
(Solanum lycopersicum) and White Kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) were planted around the small and large ‘Wick
Assemblies’ and 9 Nos. of basins. Water application and Yield of individual ‘Wick Assembly’ was observed. To study
moisture distribution around ‘Wick Assembly’ open pit method was employed. Benefit-Cost calculation was also
performed. When compared to basin method of irrigation the increase in yield for small ‘Wick Assemblies’ was 27.30 %
and for large ‘Wick Assemblies’ it was 54.6 %. The moisture movement was more vertical than horizontal. The wetting
pattern was resembling to a balloon and spread to a horizontal distance of 21 cms and to a depth of 68 cms from the GL
which is widely accepted as an effective zone for drawing out of moisture from the soil by the plants roots. The BenefitCost ratio per acre as compared to conventional farming for small ‘Wick Assembly’ was found to be 1.93 and that for
large ‘Wick Assembly’ is was 2.34. In view of the fact that this technology uses very less water it has a great potential for
gaining popularity among farmers particularly in regions with scarce water. This technology does not call for any
technical skill for its operation and maintenance. Adoption of this technology greatly enhances the economic benefit of
the system and thus would also help uplift the farmers’ economic condition. However, large scale adoption of wick
irrigation is laborious. As the water requirement for wick irrigation is very small it can be taken care of by rain water
harvesting. The use of wick irrigation is only applicable to small-scale agriculture. Wick irrigation is ideal for small
farmers living in remote areas where vegetables are expensive and hard to come by. The experimentation confirmed the
fact that this indigenous method can be successfully employed even for unfavourable land and water.