About DOMIS - Design of micro irrigation systems
Micro-irrigation methods (drip, sprinkler and micro sprinklers) apply water slowly, by depositing water either on the soil surface or directly to the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing and emitters. Microirrigation methods are most efficient water application methods and need to be increasingly adopted in view of the increasing water demands from non agriculture sectors. There are a large number of considerations, which must be taken into account in the selection of an appropriate micro irrigation system including crop to be grown, water availability and its quality, topography, soil type, weather conditions, availability of labor, energy, technology and financial resources. Design of micro irrigation system specific to the local climate and crops grown in the area need to be developed for efficient inputs uses. A Decision Support System namely "Design of Micro Irrigation Systems (DOMIS)" is presented to help the user to design appropriate micro irrigation systems for efficient water utilization under different agro-climatic conditions for any crop under different sources of water availability. DOMIS includes the design of Drip Irrigation, Sprinkler Irrigation System and Micro-Sprinkler Irrigation Systems. It will evaluate the economic feasibility with detailed cost calculation of the suggested/ designed system. DOMIS provides default data as well as guidance for selection of suitable microirrigation components taking the user through different design steps interactively as follows:
- Partitioning the whole field into blocks of desired dimensions
- Determination of most appropriate layout plan for main, sub main and lateral pipes in the field
- Estimation of water requirements at plant, lateral, sub main and main pipe level based on agro-climatic data
- Determination of suitable water application rate as per the soil properties
- Determination of sizes of laterals, sub main and main pipes based on their frictional loss analysis
- Estimation of size & type of accessories such as filters & fertigation equipment based on water quality and crop demand
- Determination of largest fraction of area that can be irrigated in one go based on the well source
- Determination of possible shifts and total time of irrigation for each irrigation
- Determination of total head requirement including the lift involved from ground water data
- Determination of size of motor pumping unit and the power requirement
- Estimation of the cost of the system based on costs of individual components
Besides providing the support in designing the appropriate micro irrigation systems DOMIS also provides general information about Government schemes, agencies promoting micro irrigation, implementing agencies in different States of India, approved system suppliers in different States and general information about different districts in the country. It contains detailed district wise climate, information on major crops, crop characteristics, soil type and their properties and ground water data. It also contains information on different types of components and their suitability under different field situations.
