Irrigation is an age-old practice that is common in dry climates. Today’s irrigation techniques are much more sophisticated. New technologies, coupled with concerns on environmental impact, are bringing modern solutions to help grow crops economically. At Maillefer Extrusion’s Irrigation Days in Ecublens, Switzerland, in October, the company presented its new irrigation line as a fully integrated solution. The line is said to offer improvements in ease of operation and to guarantee a consistently high quality. Approximately 50 guests from 17 countries including visitors from the Middle East, India and China participated in the event.
At the Irrigation Days, Maillefer Extrusion presented the new irrigation line to its international guests. (photos: Maillefer Extrusion)
In his presentation of the micro-drip irrigation manufacturing solutions, Ernst Geider, Sales and Product Manager for irrigation pipe lines at Maillefer Extrusion, explained the general interest in micro-drip irrigation: “A regular supply of water distributed in small amounts to the plant is the most efficient way to irrigate crops,” he said. “The use of a dripper, where water is released drop by drop, allows humidity to propagate into the soil and downwards throughout the root area. Below each dripper, the irrigated soil forms a sphere in the ground. Its exact shape and depth is characterised by the local soil composition and the flow of water”.
Irrigation Days: welcoming the international guests in the vineyards
“A dripper must furnish a precise supply of moisture,” he said, “usually from 2 to 4l/h or even up to 8l/h. The flow must be constant and not be interrupted from the exterior nor, above all, from within the dripper. Various dripper designs that meet the specific requirements exist, such as round or flat, symmetric or asymmetric”.
Ernst Geider presents micro-drip irrigation manufacturing solutions.
Advantages of drip irrigation
Geider listed several key advantages of drip irrigation, such as the fact that water utilisation approaches 100% and little evaporation or seeping loss is experienced. When compared with sprinkler systems, water economy is said to lie between 30 to 50%. And little labour is required for laying drip irrigation pipe and maintaining the water supply system as most installations are automated. Drip irrigation also reduces the risk of infection by limiting humidity to the soil; weed germination, as well as the spread and use of fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides can be reduced as well. Savings in energy consumption for the supply of water and smart soil conservation in regards to salinity accumulated by excessive watering practices and reduced exposure to topsoil erosion can be achieved.
Common applications
Common applications include fruit cultivation throughout tropical, Mediterranean and temperate zones; large scale crop production such as cotton, sugar cane, sugar beet, tobacco, bananas, etc and vegetable or floral horticulture, open field or greenhouse cultivation. Shrub cultivation in container and soil-less cultivation are further applications.
Dripper tube manufacturing systems
For over thirty years, Maillefer has been supplying complete manufacturing lines for the fabrication of inline drip irrigation tubing. The company’s recent developments in extrusion lines include 60-, 80- or 100-30D extruders, calibration and cooling troughs, haul-off, cutting and coiling elements and in particular high-speed dripper feed, insertion and perforation devices.
Irrigation pipe extrusion line demonstration at the Irrigation Days
The PIL 032 extrusion lines are especially designed for the production of irrigation pipes with inserted drippers. Product changes can be made quickly assuring high equipment efficiency. Extruders of the MXC series are equipped with Maillefer barrier screws with mixing extensions and barrels with unique feeding sections. These features are said to ensure a stable and homogeneous output throughout the entire extruder speed range. According to the company, fully automatic dual coilers, type MWB, wind irrigation pipes into coils at speeds of up to 120m/min. Coreless coils are strapped automatically on the coiler. Winders, type KWI, spool irrigation laterals on cardboard are said to reel at speeds up to 180m/min.
Fully automatic dual coilers, type MWB, wind irrigation pipes into coils at speeds of up to 120m/min.
The Nomos control system, TCP15, features proven tools to monitor the process and to manage machine settings. Distances between drippers and groups of drippers can be programmed through the process control system. The extruder and extrusion head are regulated to produce tubing with uniform wall thickness. The line is synchronised automatically to accept a high dripper insertion rate.
The process control system manages the distances between drippers and group of drippers.
The extrusion lines are available for thin wall irrigation laterals with cylindrical drippers and heavy wall irrigation laterals with cylindrical drippers (option for three layers) as well as for thin wall irrigation laterals with flat drippers and heavy wall irrigation laterals with flat drippers (option for three layers). The lines for heavy wall pipe have a configuration option for processing a different material in the middle layer. In this case, the innermost and outermost layers are composed of virgin polymer.
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