Wagon-wheel irrigator for small gardens

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Authors
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
Date
1996
Language
en
Type
News Item
Accessibility
Open Access
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Citation
CTA. 1996. Wagon-wheel irrigator for small gardens. Spore 62. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Permanent link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/47303
Internet URL: http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jcta62e/
Abstract/Description
A simple drip-irrigation system for small family vegetable gardens designed to use household waste water, has been developed in South Africa and could be used elsewhere. The system is set up like a wagon-wheel and at the centre, or hub, is a 200...
Notes
A simple drip-irrigation system for small family vegetable gardens designed to use household waste water, has been developed in South Africa and could be used elsewhere. The system is set up like a wagon-wheel and at the centre, or hub, is a 200 litre (44 gallon) drum. An outlet from the base of the drum leads into a plastic pipe which goes completely round the drum. Leading off the central pipe (like wheel spokes) are four- metre long pipes laid out to water the beds. Holes are drilled in these lateral pipes every 30cm so that water will drip out and water the crops growing alongside. To prevent the holes getting blocked a piece of string is threaded through the holes and knotted at each end. Pulling the string back and forth unblocks the holes. The irrigator can be modified to have parallel lines of pipes, or increased with a further circle outside the first ring. The system is particularly effective if the water is brackish, as drip-irrigation systems are the best way to utilize poor quality water. <Picture> Wagon-wheel irrigator for small gardens The irrigator will water 18 square metres of garden. Where it is necessary to water the vegetables three times a week, water consumption will be about 600 litres, and that will be sufficient to produce about 500kg of vegetables a year. The irrigator is being used by communities in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa in an arid area which has less than 250mm rainfall per annum and where all-year-round vegetable production has not previously been possible. Using the irrigator, tomatoes, green peppers, pumpkins, maize and leafy vegetables are being grown. Institute of Viticulture and Oenology Nietvoorbij Stellenbosch Western Cape, SOUTH AFRICA
Subjects
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT;
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