Introduction:

Soil is the foundation for profitable farming. There are many things that can be wrong with soil (eg. poor nutrition, chemical imbalance, structural problems such as drainage, lack of microbial life etc.). Often minor and relatively inexpensive treatments can make a huge difference to productivity, but the problems need to be identified first, and that requires a solid understanding of soil theory and management practice. Learn about soil properties and requirements in agriculture, and how to apply that knowledge at a management level. 

The main objective of irrigation schemes or systems is to produce a particular desired pattern of plant growth. Maximum vegetative growth does not necessarily correspond to maximum yield of the part of the plant desired e.g. fruit, nuts, or roots. In addition, achieving maximum yield may require inefficient use of available resources, whether it is land, water, equipment, or labor. Water management will become increasingly important to try and cater for the increasing demand for useable water. The aim of irrigation management is to reuse water as much as possible, to collect and store as much water as possible, and to ensure that what water you do use is used in an efficient manner. This course builds on Irrigation and it teaches you to manage the design and operation of large scale irrigation systems.

Course Objectives:

By the end of this course, delegates will be able to:

• Learn about soil properties, classification and plant nutrition
• Know soil testing methods
• Know about land degradation and other soil problems
• Be able to deal with soil problems
• Explain the significance of soil in irrigation
• Explain how to determine when to irrigate in a small scale situation
• Explain the significance of different aspects of moving water including: drainage, pumps, filters, storage and recirculation
• Select an appropriate irrigation system for a given situation
• Explain the principles of design for a simple irrigation system
• Design a simple irrigation system
• Oversee the installation of an irrigation system
• Devise ways to optimize water efficiency (ie. minimize wastage), during irrigation of plants
• Schedule irrigation for a large scale situation such as a large nursery, crop, turf, garden or pasture
• Analyze the design of different drainage systems
• Formulate procedures to operate irrigation controllers, for appropriate tasks
• Manage the maintenance of irrigation systems, both small and large scale
• Design an irrigation system, including its drainage

Who Should Attend?

Anyone assigned irrigation and agricultural roles, General Services Personnel, Water Plant Personnel and Operators, Irrigation and Farming Personnel, Foremen, Supervisors, Pest Controller

Course Outline:

Introduction: Soils & Soil Classification 

· Soil health and Agricultural soils

· What is soil health?

· Soil Composition and Formation

· Classifying Soil Groups and Soil Landscapes

· Soil Profiles

· Soil Horizons

· Key Properties of Selected Soil Groups

· Parent Materials

· Classifying Soils According to Hydrological Properties

Properties of Soils and Plant Nutrition 

· Understanding Soils

· Mineral and Rock

· How Soils Develop Naturally

· Mechanical Weathering

· Chemical Weathering

· Geo-chemical Weathering Processes

· Pedo-chemical Weathering

· Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition

· Organic Carbon

· Soil Colour

· Texture and its Effect on Plant Growth

· Structure and its Effect on Plant Growth

· Consistence and its Effect on Plant Growth

· Depth of Profile and how it relates to Plant Growth

· PH and Plant Growth

· Porosity and Plant Growth

· Plant Nutrition and Nutrient Toxicity 

Soil Testing Methods 

· Tilth and Organic Matter

· Soil Sampling for Chemical Analysis

· General Principles of Soil Analysis

· Tools for Field Sampling and Soil Investigation

· Digging a Sample Pit or Hole

· Finding Out about your Soil

· Settlement Activity

· Soil Structure Activity

· Recording Soil Colour

· Testing Consistence

· Describing Texture

· Test for Free Carbonates

· Soil pH Testing

· Stability of Clods to Wetting (Slaking and Dispersion)

· Bulk Density Testing

Land Degradation and Other Soil Problems 

· Soil Structure Decline

· Water Repellence

· Erosion

· Hard-Layers in Soils

· Transient Bonding; Compaction; Cementation; and Natural Rigidity

· Sub-Soil Compaction: Compression, shearing and smearing

· Soil Acidification

· Alkalinity and Sodicity

· Water-logging

· Salinity

· Chemical Residues 

Introduction to Irrigation

· Objectives of Irrigation

· Sources of water

· Water quality and remedies

· Sediment, turbidity, colour, hardness, corrosion, iron etc.

· Bacteriological impurities

Soil Characteristics and Problems

· Understanding soils

· Different Soils suit different purposes

· Chemical aspects of soil

· Physical aspects of soil

· Soil and Water

· Types of soil moisture

· Transpiration and wilting point

· Identifying the soil

· Improving the soil

· A fee-test for estimating soil moisture level

· Fertigation

Estimating Plant Needs and Irrigation Scheduling

· When to irrigate

· Signs to look for

· Timing of irrigation

· Measuring water available to plants

· Calculating field capacity

· Calculating Permanent wilting point

· Soil water budget

· Crop Water needs

· Effect of climate on crop water needs

· Measuring evapo-transpiration

· Pan evaporation method

· Influence of crop type on water needs (crop factor)

· Calculating crop water needs

· Irrigation system efficiency

· Water volumes and duration

Drainage

· Improving permeability during construction

· Improving surface drainage after construction

· Layout of drains

· Dams and water storage

· Soil degradation

· Erosion

· Soil acidification

· Soil compaction

· Chemical residues

· Waste water treatment using reed beds

· Suitable plants

Types of Irrigation Systems

· Categories of irrigation systems

· Sub-surface and surface irrigation

· Flood irrigation systems

· Pressurised irrigation systems

· Drip and sprinkler irrigation

· Portable, solid and semi-permanent

· Mechanised sprinkler irrigation systems

· Traveling irrigators, Centre pivot, Linear move, Powered side roll

· Fixed sprinkler systems

· Hand move, hose move, permanent

· Sprinkler heads

· Mechanisms that drive rotating sprinkler heads

· Design considerations

Design Specifications of an Irrigation System

· Hydraulics

· Pressure

· Calculating discharge or flow

· Friction loss in systems

· Water hammer

Pumps and Filters

· Types of pumps

· Comparisons of pumps

· Pumps and pressure systems

· Pumping mechanisms

· Pump failure

· Prevention of clogging - trickle irrigation

· Controllers

Selecting the Right System for a Plant

· Water saving measures

· Filtration

Design and Operation of Systems

· Cyclic watering

· Pulse watering

· Sprinkler spacing

· Electrical factors

· Electric automatic systems

COURSE LOCATIONS