Pivot irrigation systems are bad for roads

The complaint is nothing new, but it usually doesn't come from just one farmer. Everybody knows that Pivot irrigation machines are the best solution for crops but are bad for roads.

During the Mississippi County Commission that took place on Thursday, the commissioner said that he received a complaint about some center pivot irrigation systems hosing down roads with the end guns. When the center-Pivot water is hitting gravel roads, it erodes and ends up making ruts there. Besides, the water from end guns also damages paved roads.

The person who made the complaint wants that this farmer to not let his irrigation end guns hit the road and wants other farmers to have the same consideration for county property.

The problem can be solved in five minutes, just by turning off the end gun. But it may not be the hassle of turning off the end gun as much as not wanting to leave three to five acres without irrigation.

Lower levels of arsenic in rice

By using pivot irrigation

A report published in the American Chemical Society journal ('Environmental Science & Technology') reveals that the use of center-pivot irrigation to grow rice can reduce the concentration of arsenic in rice. The concentration found is 50 times lower than rice grown under flood irrigation.

At present, many research projects are being carried out about the use of pivot irrigation in growing rice, rather than the traditional field flooding methods, in the United States and worldwide. This particular study took place in Italy.

Consumers are concerned about this matter worldwide, especially in the regions where rice is a staple food source, as it is extremely toxic and carcinogenic. Arsenic is found throughout the environment—in water, air and soil. Human activities also add arsenic to the environment. Rice comes from all over the world and is grown very differently from region to region, which may greatly vary the levels of arsenic within the same kind of product.

Arsenic can be absorbed by the rice plant, particularly in fields with continuous flooding.

As demand for rice increases, a solution to this issue is needed. Growers must identify a profitable method to grow rice with center pivot sprinkler irrigation.

Record yields on rice fields

A production of rice under center-Pivot irrigation systems, located in Missouri (United States) reached record yields. While the majority of fields were well-suited for flood irrigation, one field had sandy loam soils and hilly terrain, which previously made it impossible to produce rice. The kind of soil cannot maintain a flood, so Pivot irrigation is a good alternative. It was the first experience with rice for the producer, but it didn't mean more work than in the corn field. They just ran the center-Pivot more time.

A grower who produces rice with a center pivot can be 5% more profitable than if he had flooded his field. Data collected throughout the years, on traditional and non-traditional rice fields, have recorded cost savings that rice producers have experienced with center pivot irrigation and linear machines versus flood.

Though a rice producer may use more pesticides and herbicides with a center pivot, the fertilizer costs remain the same as with a flooded field. Because a rice field irrigated with a center pivot does not need to be flat, and crop protection products can be applied through the irrigation machine, growers may see a 75 percent or more difference in labor costs, and a 50 percent or more difference in maintenance costs. Compared with a flooded field, fuel costs are also lower for rice produced with a center pivot due to a significantly smaller volume of water that is pumped throughout the growing season.

What's so great about Pivot irrigation?

Benefits to irrigating crops with a center Pivot

Flying across the USA, passengers notice green circles and half-circles, on the ground below. Those circles are created when a farmer waters his crops with Pivot irrigation.

There are two major benefits to a Pivot system. The first is simply that plants receive water on a regular, consistent basis. Pivot irrigation systems allow plants to receive water every 3 days, on average. This allows the water to soak into the ground, promoting deep root growth which in turn encourages healthy plants.

The second benefit to a center pivot is that water loss because of evaporation and drifting in the breeze is minimized. Pivots allow the sprinkler heads to be lowered to just inches above the tops of the plants, thus ensuring that most of the water reaches the crop and doesn't blow away in the wind. Water conservation is a serious concern today. Evaporation and wind drift are a concern also because many farmers are allowed a limited amount of moisture to get their crops to harvest.

Varied Terrain is Okay for Pivot Irrigation

Center pivots offer the ability to irrigate fields that have surface slopes that make it impossible to irrigate with surface methods. Many crops benefit from this type of watering system: alfalfa, corn, soybeans, sunflowers and more do very well with Pivots.

Benefits of Pivot irrigation

Flying across the USA everybody can observe center pivot irrigation: the cause for those green or brown circles or half-circles on the earth below. This type of crop watering system is very effective at creating valuable farmland out of previously unusable dry or even desert ground.

These systems begin with a water source, usually in the center of a field. This source can be a well, canal, or other consistent water supply. From the water source, pipes or hoses allow the water to be transported along the entire length of a field. Wheeled towers allow the pivot to move slowly around the field.

Sprinkler heads spray or sprinkle the growing crops from the main pipe, or from drops that dangle below the structure just a few inches above the plants.

Two important benefits of pivot irrigation are that crops receive regular, consistent water, and that water evaporation and wind drift are greatly reduced. Besides, Pivot irrigation allows the farmer to determine how much water the plants receive, as well as how often the plants receive that water.

Water loss is minimized. In dry areas, water evaporation and wind drift can result in a major loss of water to crops. In the high plains where strong winds are common, wind drift can prevent water from reaching the plants on the ground. Also, warm dry air will cause water to evaporate at a much higher rate than other places.

Pivot irrigation in Libya

Libya is a country placed in the north of Africa, and now is getting oil by BP. This country is not known for having large reserves of water ready to be used agricultural applications. The government is led by a man considered a little bit eccentric, but he's very conscious in watering crops by using center-pivot systems.

With this initiative, Libya is really trying to green the desert with center Pivots, but there are some other countries like Jordan (it's practicing pivot irrigation), Israel (irrigating for years via its patented drip irrigation system), Syria, Qatar... that are working with the most advanced irrigation systems. This kind of mechanized irrigation machines have been designed to reduce water loss through evaporation, by using sprinkler methods that feed water from the Pivot pad within a circle, distributing piped water to the whole plot.

Pivot irrigation machines are being used in many countries around the world, including India and desert regions of the USA. However, the way they're growing crops is so unique in Libya. The photo shows a picture of typical images taken by NASA space shuttles passing overhead in Libya.

In a country like Libya (95% of the territory is composed by the Sahara desert) this type of agricultural mechanization is not a cheap investment, and is only possible by being able to extract water from underground aquifers. Each circle is about 0.6 miles in diameter, and is able to grow a number of different crops: vegetables, sunflowers, grains, corn, fruits, and crops for animals.