Irrigation Supply: Ensure You Are Stocked Up

Irrigation is one of the most important aspects of farming and successful crop growth. Without a sufficient amount of water you can have nutrient-rich soil, sun, and prevent pests from infesting your crop, but the crop will not grow. You could try and depend on the natural rain cycles in your region, but we all know that the weather is becoming more and more unpredictable as global warming increases and drought becomes more of a worry.

In this article, we will discuss the importance of irrigation, irrigation system maintenance, and why one should have parts and an irrigation supply at all times.

Maintaining Your Irrigation System

Maintaining an agricultural irrigation system is of utmost importance to ensure one's crops receive water when they require it. In the off-season (typically winter), there is low to no water demand for one’s crop which makes it the perfect time to do some maintenance on an irrigation system and give it a good service to prepare it for the next season.

In the growing season, most of the maintenance done on irrigation systems is done via observation, ensuring everything is running as it should. There are four main effects to check for on a regular basis. These four effects consist of:

• Leaks: It is quite easy to spot a leak as the water will typically pool in that area.
• Overspray: This refers to when the water falls beyond the crop or intended area; thus, missing the crop and not providing enough water.
• Misting: Excess misting is often caused by excess water pressure. Mist isn’t an effective irrigation method as it is blown away by the wind before reaching the crop and does not penetrate the soil far enough.
• The Absence of Water: if you notice an area not getting any water, it could be that a blockage has occurred or that a part needs to be replaced.

If any of these problems arise during the growing season, it is important to have the supplies and parts on hand to be able to fix the issue.

The Benefits of Irrigation System Maintenance

There are multiple benefits to ensuring that an irrigation system is maintained at all times. Some of the benefits include:

• Water Wise: An irrigation system that is properly maintained will not have leaks, misting, or overspray; thus, it will not waste water.
• Energy Efficient: If an irrigation system is wasting water, it will have to be on for a longer period of time to provide enough water to the crop. Other than using more water, it takes more electricity to run an irrigation system for longer periods of time.
• Financially Effective: If one is making use of excess water and electricity, one’s monthly repayments to the water department and Eskom will increase, having a negative financial impact on one’s farming operation.
• Prevent Disaster: If maintenance is not regularly performed on an irrigation system, the system will start to fail, with essential parts of the irrigation system breaking. This might have the effect of the entire irrigation system coming to a halt until the problem is fixed. If this occurs at a crucial time (say for instance it has been a hot and dry growing season) the crop might fail.  

The Importance of Having Irrigation Supplies on Hand

If one's irrigation system does fail at a crucial time, it is extremely important to have spare parts and irrigation supplies on hand in order to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. The last thing that you want to happen is to drive out to an irrigation supplier and find out they don't have the part that you desperately need in stock. Therefore, it is advisable to keep at least one spare part of every component within an irrigation system on hand.

Irrigation Supply: Find Online Providers

When looking for an irrigation supplier it is important to try and find those with a wide variety of products, brands, and parts. Irrigation Unlimited is an irrigation wholesaler that is service-oriented. They distribute their irrigation products through agents. The brands that they sell consist of:

• Wahl
• Sime
• Vyrsa
• Ocmis

To find out more about the products provided by Irrigation Unlimited, you can visit the AgrifoodSA directory and make contact with one of their branches or agents.