Kavitha, P and R. Vijayaraghavan
The study conducted in Thondamuthur block of Coimbatore District with 107 drip users revealed re-inventions in drip irrigation technology at farm level. About 75 percent and 4.26 percent of innovators in coconut and grapes respectively used tap type of dripper instead of emitter. About 3.33 percent and 10.64 percent of innovators in coconut and grapes respectively had removed filters from their drip irrigation systems.
Introduction
Irrigation has been responsible in large part for the fast growth in agriculture and it will continue to be a major factor in the future too. This calls for water users in agricultural sector to look at scientific management of water resources. The major opportunity in increasing irrigation efficiency at the farm level lies in adopting suitable methods of water application. Drip irrigation, a recent development in irrigation technology provides an efficient method of water application and helps in the achievement of twin objectives of higher productivity and better water management.
In the process of converting an innovatve idea into a product, innovators face unpredictable constraints. Hence, changes and improvisations to the original idea are common. Therefore, flexibility in the process of adopting an innovation may reduce mistakes and encourage customization of the re-inventions to fit it more appropriately to local and or changing conditions. As a result of improvisation, an innovation may be more appropriate in matching the system’s pre-existing constraints and more responsive to new constraints that arise during the innovation – decision process. This study documents some such technological improvisations by the users of drip irrigation system.
Review of literature on re-inventions
An investigation of 101 innovations in scientific instruments by Von Hippel (1976) found that in about 80 percent of the cases, the innovation process was dominated by the user. The user might even build a prototype model of the new product, and then turn it over to a manufacturer.
A national survey of schools adopting educational innovations promoted by the National Diffusion Network, a decentralised diffusion system by Emrick (1977) found that 56 percent of the adopters implemented only selected aspects of an innovation – much of such re-invention was relatively minor, but 20 percent of the adoptions amounted to large changes in the innovation.
Mansingh (1992) recapitulated that reinvention occurred in the recommended practices of grapes for operations like spacing, manure and fertilizer applications, thinning of bunches, drip irrigation and withholding irrigation prior to harvest. He also reported that nearly one-fifth of the respondents switched over to drip irrigation and that they tied the laterals over the pandal instead of placing them on the ground.
About study area
Coimbatore District was selected for the study based on the highest area brought under micro irrigation (1911 ha) and the potential area available for micro irrigation in the future (45212 ha). Coimbatore is an inland district in the southern part of the Peninsula and lies between 10010′ and 11030″ of the northern latitude and 76040′ and 77030′ of eastern longitude and at an altitude of 426.72 metres above the mean sea level.
Coimbatore South was selected randomly for this study. This taluk consists of three blocks, which Thondamuthur was selected for having the highest number of drip irrigation systems installed. A sample of 107 drip users was chosen adopting the proportionate random sampling technique. Of the samples, after post-stratification, it was found that there were 50 drip users for coconut and 47 for grapes.
Re-inventions in the drip irrigation system in coconut
It was found that 75 percent of the drip users had replaced the emitter system by the tap system to suit their local conditions (table 1). All the re-inventors felt that clogging was less in the tap system compared to the emitter system. And hence, frequent cleaning was prevented. Less than half of the-re-inventors (40 percent) felt that by this modification power fluctuations were managed better, since the discharge rate was more in the tap system than in the emitter system. About 8.33 percent of the re-inventors felt that frequent repairs of high pressure motor was prevented in thetap system whereas in the emitter system discharge rate is less and hence the high pressure motor gets loaded frequently. Electricity saved was cited as the reason by 13.33 percent of the re-inventors.
About 10 percent of the drip users in coconut crop had completely removed the emitter component from their drip irrigation system. All the re-inventors had cited clogging of emitters by sand, ants and algae as the main constraint. Power fluctuations managed and electricity saved were the other reasons cited for their re-invention. About 3.33 percent of the drip users in coconut crop added 100 ml oil everyday to the water tank while operating drip irrigation system. All the 10.00 percent of the re-inventors felt that by this process, salt encrusting the pipeline was prevented.
Table 1 : Re-inventions in the drip system in coconut (n=60)
| Sl. No. | Re-inventions | Re-inventors | Reasons | Re-inventors * | ||
| No. | % | No. | % | |||
|
1. |
Use of tap instead of emitter in drip system |
45 | 75.00 | a. Clogging reduced in tap syste
b. Power fluctuations managed c. Electricity saved
d. High pressure motor gets loaded in emitter system |
45
18
5
6 |
100.00
40.00
8.33
13.33
|
|
2. |
Removal of emitter component from drip system |
6 |
10.00 |
a. Clogging of emitters
b. Power fluctuations managed
c. Electricity saved |
6
2
2 |
100.00
33.33
33.33 |
|
3. |
Addition of oil to water tank during operation of drip irrigation system |
2 |
3.33 |
Salt encrustation prevented
|
2 |
100.00 |
|
4. |
Reduced number of emitters (three) |
8 |
13.33 |
a. Wetting pattern is optimum from three emitters per tree
b. Cost of drip irrigation system reduced |
8
4 |
100.00
50.00 |
|
5. |
Increased number of emitters |
2 |
3.33 |
Need lot of water per tree |
2 |
100.00 |
|
6. |
Removal of filters from drip system |
7 |
11.67 |
a. Well water is clean, needs no purification
b. Cost of drip irrigation system is reduced |
7
7 |
100.00
100.00 |
* – Multiple responses permitted
About 13.33 percent of the drip users used only three emitters per coconut tree instead of four. All the 100 percent re-inventors felt the wetting pattern from three emitters was sufficient for a tree and half of them expressed that the cost of drip irrigation was reduced when only three micro tubes and three drippers per tree were used instead of four.
About 3.33 percent of the drip users used six drippers for a tree because all of them felt that water from four drippers was not sufficient and coconut needs more water for growth. About 11.67 precent of the drip users did not filter and they had directly connected the main pipes to the tank or well. All of them said that their well water was clean without algae and fungi and hence water needs no filtration, by which they reduced the cost of drip irrigation system.
Re-inventions in the drip irrigation system in grapes
It is evident from the Table 2 that 100 percent of the drip users in grapes had tied the laterals over the pandal instead of placing them on the ground. The reason being the laterals were damaged by the labourers at the time of operations like earthing-up and, manure and fertilizer application. This reason was cited by all the re-inventors. Nearly three-fourth of the re-inventors (74.47 percent) felt that monitoring of discharge of water from drippers was very easy for the drip users. Very few of them (10.64 percent) felt that when water falls from a height it creates a microclimate favourable for producing quality berries. This finding was supported by Mansingh (1992).
Nearly 40 percent of the drip users in grapes had tied the laterals to the plant stem at three feet height above the ground. All of them were of the belief that this modification would reduce water loss by preventing drifting due to winds and also reduce the evaporation rate, whereby considerable amount of water would be saved. They felt soil erosion was also prevented by this method since water falls only from three feet above the ground.
Table 2 : Re-inventions in the drip system in grapes (n=47)
|
Sl. No. |
Re-inventions |
Re-inventors |
Reasons |
Re-inventors* |
||
|
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
|||
|
1. |
Placing the laterals over the pandal instead of placing them on the field level |
47 |
100 |
a. Laterals damaged by the labourers during intercultural operations
b. Monitoring of water flow is easy
c. Creation of microclimate produces quality berries |
47
35
5 |
100
74.47
10.64
|
|
2. |
Placing the laterals 3 feet above the field level |
2 |
4.26 |
a. Evaporation reduced and water loss due to wind minimised
b. Soil erosion prevented |
2
2 |
100.00
100.00 |
|
3. |
Use of tap instead of emitter in drip system |
2 |
4.26 |
a. More discharge of water per unit time |
2 |
100.00 |
|
4. |
Removal of filter from drip system |
5 |
10.64 |
a. Well water is clean, needs no purification
b. Cost of drip irrigation system reduced |
5
5 |
100.00
100.00
|
* Multiple responses permitted
About 4.26 percent of drip users in grapes used the tap system instead of the emitter component in the drip system. All of them felt that in the tap system more water was discharged per unit time than in the emitter system and all of the re-inventors felt that clogging constraint was less in the tap system and hence frequent cleaning of the emitter was prevented. About 10.64 percent of the drip users said they did not use filters in the drip irrigation system because they felt their well water was pure and hence needed no filtration. By this they also saved the cost of buying the filter.
References
Dipiero Davie, 1983. Good drip-good vire. Irrigation Journal, 33(3): 18.
Emrick John, A., 1977. Evaluation of the National Diffusion Network, vol. 1. Findings and Recommendations, Menlo Park, California, Standford Research Institute Report, E(f)
Mansingh, J. Paul. 1992. Re-invention and discontinuance of recommended practices in grapes and sugarcane, UnPub. Tropical Research, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.
Von Hippel, Eric. 1976. The dominant role of users in the scientific instrument innovation process. Research Policy. 5:212-239.
Kavitha, P and
Post Graduate Scholar in Agricultural Extension, III Cross, Sakthinagar, Erode – 638 009, Tamil Nadu
R. Vijayaraghavan
Professor and Head, Video Educational Technology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641003, India
