IL105227A - Method and equipment for making improved irrigation furrows - Google Patents

Description

"METHOD AND EQUIPMENT FOR MAKING IMPROVED IRRIGATION FURROWS" MQ>¼3ion η»ρση n¾n n; ni> n»ii noo" 36000 iiyao-mip - METHOD AND EQUIPMENT FOR MAKIN6 IMPROVED IRRIGATION FURROWS.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.

The invention relates to irrigation of planted fields through parallel furrows, particularly to irrigation of these fields , ith a minimum of waste of water.

One of today's main problems in agriculture is waste of water, not only in semi-arid or .substropical countries, but almost all over the world. In . many countries over-consumption of water has led to the drying-out of rivers and lakes, and today more and more efforts are made by all concerned to stop wasteful use of water by improving the existing irrigation methods and equipment, or by introducing new ways of irrigation.

With the aim to conserving the water resources as far as possible, trickle irrigation has been introduced in many countries during the past fifty years, and a multitude of trickle irrigation lines and emitters have been developed over the years. Development has been - and still is -directed particularly to emitters of identical output at different line pressures, and to piping of a smooth exterior with internal emitters which can be manufactured and sold at low cost. This method of irrigation in fact serves to save irrigation water to a great extent. However, in spite of the fact that trickle irrigation equipment has been constantly improved over the years and its cost reduced owing to mass production, it is still the most expensive manner of irrigation. It is the most ■ ..· .' ' i ' : ■ - 3 - ' . ■ \ low at the end of the furrow which assures essentially equal infiltration time a iong the entire furrow. , »· it is another object to direct the water flow in substantia i ly horizontal direction to the roots of the plants growing on both sides of the furrow, instead of its going to waste along the central portion of the furrow.

Still another object of the invention is to provide equipment suitable for forming the furrows, while simultaneously providing the means for even distribution of the irrigation water. .

And it is a final object of the invention to provide the equipment and means for forming, the furrows and for even distribution of water along each furrow at low cost for the farmer . . . ..

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.

The method of conserving water, while irrigating a field with plants growing on beds in the form of ridges between furrows, comprises preparation of the soil by forming parallel furrows and by placing a flat layer of an impervious material in strip form to cover the bottom of each furrow and to enter the sides of the adjoining ridges to a predesignated width at the level of the furro bottom. This impervious layer, preferably in the form of a strip of plastic sheeting, causes the water pumped into the furrow to flow along the furrow without large infiltration into the soil through the furrow bottom, thereby maintaining a relatively even water level in the furro and mainly percolating into the ridges towards the plant roots.

Equipment for making the irrigation furrows in accordance with the present invention, comprises connecting several furrow-forming and strip-laying implements to a traction vehicle, such as an agricultural tractor, in perpendicular o angular alignment to the direction of travel. A first embodiment of an implement for improved irrigation comprises essentially a plow-shaped front portion of a shape suitable for forming the furrow and the ridges, and a rear portion including means for carrying a roll of wound-up, impervious strip material and guide means for guiding the strip released from the roll onto the bottom of the furrow and partly into the two adjoining ridges A preferred embodiment of the implement for attachment to a traction, vehicle comprises, a flat-bottomed box, having an open to and an open rear, a flat bottom portion of a width slightly wider than the width of the plastic sheet, with its front end pointed in triangular shape, a frontal sweep of a width equal to the width of the plastic sheet to be stretched out, mounted on the pointed front end of the bottom portion, a pair of moldboards on top of the sweep, connected at their front ends by a downwardly receding cutting edge and having rear edges formed In the shape of the furrow to be formed, side walls attached to the sides of the bottom portion with their front ends adjoining the rear edges of the moldboards and converging at their rear ends to the width , of the furrow bottom, .a horizontal drum rotatably mounted above the box adapted for holding a roll of plastic sheeting, . guide means attached to the side walls below the drum for guiding the plastic sheet from the roll onto the bottom to the rear end of the implement from where it escapes and is placed onto the bottom of said.furrow and into the sides of the adjoining ridges.

It wiil be understood that several implements of the above kind are to be attached to a horizontal girder or traction bar mounted at the rear of the traction vehicle, which will plo several parallel furrows and lay plastic sheeting, into the bottom of each furrow.

Instead of plastic sheeting any other impervious material may be utilized, , such as specially prepared paper, biodegradable or 1 ight-degradable plastic material; it is also proposed to place a thin layer of tar into the soil and onto the furrow bottom by ejectng it through . special spray nozzles mounted at the rear end of each implement, BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

Figure 1 is a cross section of a field with furrows of conventional cross section, showing successive lines of depth of infiltration of water into the soil, Figure 2 is a cross section of a field with furrows having their bottom portions covered with an impervious material, showing successive lines of depth of infiltration of water into the soil , Figure 3 is a side view of an implement to be used in forming a furrow and in laying a strip of an impervious material along the furrow* a Figure 4 is a longitunial cross section of the implement illustrated in Figure 3, Figure 5 is a top view. of the implement of Figures 1 and 2 along line 5-5 of Figure 4, and Figure 6 is a rear view of the implement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE: DRAWINGS.

Infiltrator) of 'water into the soil with irrigation by means of conventional furrows is shown in Figure 1. Herein the water level is indicated by a triangle, but it is well known that the water level drops gradually from the water supply end to the far end as detailed in the introduction. However, at the state shown in the drawing, the main portion of infiltration will happen along the central axis of the furrow, while infiltration along the sides and into the ridges will be less, a cause of much waste, not to mention the waste caused by uneven water distribution along the furrow.

The improvement by the present method of irrigation is shown in Figure 2:- due to the impervious bottom of the furrow, water infiltrates into the ridges on both sides of the furrow towards the roots of the plants, while infiltration along the central axis of the furrow is even less than underneath the ridges. As illustrated. in Figure 2, the strip of impervious material covers the entire bottom o the furrow and enters into the ridges on both sides up to close to the roots of the plants grown. This evidently forces the water in horizontal direction of flow towards the :roots and slows down penetration to a larger depth, where it will have no practical effect. An additional , and very important , feature of the present method of covering the furrow bottom with plastic sheeting is reduction of flow resistance owing to the smooth bottom surface; this will result in a faster flow of water down to the end of the furrow and in a more uniform infiltration opportunity time.

The present drawings show flat-bottomed furrows, but it will be understood that the invention relates to furrows of concave cross section as well ; in this case the furrow-forming and strip-laying implement will evidently be shaped accordingly.

Evidently, the width and shape of the furrrow and, accordingly, the width of the strip is to be pre-selected depending on the nature and texture of the soil, as known to the art. * A preferrred embodiment of a furrow-forming and strip-laying implement suitable for the furrow, shown in Figures 1 and 2 is illustrated in Figures 3 through 6. It is in the form of a box open at the top and at the rear end and has a front end in the form of a furrow-opening plow. The box comprises a. flat bottom 1 in the form of a rectangle with a pointed front end and two side walls 2 extending from the sides bf the flat bottom and converging at the end of the box to. the final width of the furrow bottom. The front end is in the form of a sweep 3 and a double moldboard 4 positioned on top of the sweep with its front edge 5 receding from its top to the central edge of the sweep. The rear edges of the sweep extend beyond the side walls 2, to prepare the soil, for acceptance of the impervious strip into the sides of the ridges formed by the implement, while the rear edges of the moldboards correspond to the shape of the ridges to be formed. A mast 6 is attached to the bottom 1 by a plate 7 and serves for connection to a horizontal tow ba 8 of the traction vehicle by means of clamping means 9. In this connection it is reiterated that several identical implements are attached to the tow bar of the traction vehicle; spaced at the required distance from each other, while the tow bar can be raised or lowered to adjust for the depth of the furrow and the height of the ridges, depending on the crop to be planted.

A roll 10 of an impervious material, such as an endless plastic strip, is wound upon a drum 12 which is rotatably mounted on a horizontal axle 11, the latter being held by two arms 13 attached to the mast 6. The strip (20) to be laid in the furrow unwinds from the drum, is guided to the rear of the implement by a curved board' 14 which extends to the rear end of the implement within a. small distance above the flat bottom, thus forming a duct for the strip to pass out into the furrow.

It Will be understood that the afore described implement represents only one of the many to be designed for forming a flurro nd laying a strip of an impervious material onto the bottom of the furrow and part into the ridges oh both sides. It is, however, an implement which has been tried in the field and was found to work to full satisfatioh. As mentioned before, the tractor or other traction vehicle would draw a number of such implements in a row, either perpendicular or angularl disposed to the direction of travel, as is the rule with multi-plowshare mechanized plows .

On ,the. other hand, the above embodiment may undergo various modifications and changes, within the principle of simultaneously forming the furrow and laying the plastic strip:- it is, for example, suggested to close the top and rear by solid, covering, so as to prevent soil from entering. Instead of a sweep and the superposed mold-boards, another kind of plowshares may be used to form the furrow; the furrow does not necessarily be formed with a flat bottom, but may be concave in the conventional manner; in this case the implement wil be provided with a convex bottom and a curved strip outlet to ensure smooth covering of the furrow bottom. It is, therefore, anticipated that many modifications and amendments will be carried out to the implement, after the present method has been well received in agricultural circles and its use has been propagated all over the world.

Claims (10)

C L A I M S : -

1. A method of conserving water while irrigating a field with plants growing on ridges between furrows by causing water conveyed into each separate, furrow to flow along said furrow at a fast rate of progress without undue infiltration through the furrow bottom into the soil and by causing the water to infiltrate in substantial ly horizontal direction to the roots of the plants growing on said ridges, comprises: preparation of th soil by forming parallel furrows and by simultaneously placing a layer of an impervious material in, a way covering the bottom of each furrow and entering the sides of the adjoining ridges to a predetermined width at the level of the furrow bottom.

2. The method of conserving water as defined in Claim 1, wherein said impervious layer is a strip of an impervious material . ■

3. The method of conserving water as defined in Claim 1. wherein said impervious layer is a strip of a plastic material of a width sufficient for covering the bottom of each furrow and for entering the sides of said ridges.

4. The method of cohserrving water as defined in Claim 3, wherein said plastic material is bio-degradable or light-degradable

5. The method of conserving water as defined in Claim 3, wherein said strip of plastic material is supplied in roll form.

6. The method of consering water as defined in any of the preceding claims, comprising connecting several furrow-forming and strip-laying implements to a traction vehicle in perpendicular or angular alignment to the direction of travel and driving said traction vehicle across a field in one pass.

7. The plowing and strip-laying implement of Claim.6, comprising a plow-shaped front portion, a horizontal axle mounted in perpendicular alignment to the direction of travel for carrying a roll of a plastic material in strip form, guide means for guiding said strip to the bottom of said ridge, and means for attaching said implement to a traction vehicle.

8. The plowing and strip-laying implement of Claim 7, in the shape of a flat-bottomed box, having an; open top and an open rear, comprisIngramflat rectangular bottom portion of a width slightl larger than the width of said plastic strip and with a triangularly shaped front, end, a frontal sweep of a width at' least equal to the . width of the plastic strip to be laid, mounted on the front end of said bottom portion, a pair of moldboards positioned on, top of said sweep forming a frontal, downwardly receding cutting edge and having rear edges in the shape of the sides of said ridges to be formed, side walls of said box having their front ends adjoining said rear edges of said moldboards and converging at their rear ends to the width of said furrow to be plowed, a horizontal axle drum mounted above said side in perpendicular alignment to the direction of travel and holding a rotatable drum adapted for receiving a roll of a plastic strip material, guide means attached to said side walls underneath said drum adapted to guide said strip of material from said, roll onto said bottom and out of said box onto the bottom of said furrow, means for attaching said implement to a horizontal tow bar of said traction vehicle.

9. The method of conserving water as defined in Claims 1 through 6 and as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

10. The equipment for conserving water, by forming a furrow and laying an impervious strip of material onto its bottom and into the sides Of the adjoining ridges, as defined in Claims 7 and 8 and as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. FOR THE APPLICANTS,