Reviewed and updated:
South African irrigation design and user manuals
[{“type”:”text”,”content”:”The report concluded that technology transfer should take place to communicate information on improved water use efficiency to all stakeholders in the irrigation sector. This includes the suppliers of irrigation equipment and management services, as they play an important role in water management both at farm and field level.nnCurrently, the main sources of locally relevant information for the design and management of irrigation systems are the u201cIrrigation design manualu201d (IDM) and the u201cIrrigation usersu2019 manualu201d (IUM), both published by the agricultural research council (ARC). The design manual was first published in 1996 and updated in 2003, while the usersu2019 manual was first published in 2002.nnBoth these manuals are used extensively in the training of irrigation designers and managers in South Africa. An urgent need for the revision and updating of these documents was identified alongside an opportunity to influence the efficiency of irrigation water use among a wide spectrum of stakeholders. The two manuals are well-known and widely used in the South African irrigation sector. The design manual especially is considered an industry standard and most tertiary education institutions use it as textbook for irrigation courses. nnThe irrigation industry comprises manufacturers or suppliers of equipment, retail outlets, irrigation design professionals, and irrigation installation and/or maintenance contractors. This industry serves the agricultural sector, which consists of more than 30 000 farmers irrigating around 1.2 million ha of land in South Africa.nnIt is of utmost importance that the manuals are kept up to date with the latest information and developments in the irrigation industry as effective knowledge sharing is necessary for the effective use of water by everybody involved in irrigation. According to the ARC, approximately 400 manuals are sold annually. The new edition will also lead to existing users replacing their outdated copies (an estimated 5 000 copies of the design manual and 2 000 of the user’s manual are in circulation). The reviewed and updated manuals will have a positive long-term effect especially since they aim at meeting some of the objectives of the national water resource strategy.nnThe new irrigation design manual consists of 20 chapters of highly technical material while the irrigation user’s manual consists of 16 chapters of information pertinent to users in the irrigation sector. Users include commercial and subsistence farmers as well as irrigation schemes. To comprehensively update the manuals, the following steps were taken:nn1)tReview
n2)tUpdate
n3)tRewrite
nnThe results of each step, followed sequentially, led to and formed the basis for the next process.nnWriters and editors renamed and restructured both manuals, and even added some new chapters. New chapters added to the IDM include: Documentation and drawings (chapter 18), Feasibility studies (chapter 19), Greenhouse irrigation systems (chapter 14) and Terminology, conversion tables, design norms and overview of design software (chapter 20).nnChapters renamed in the IDM include: Soil science to soils, Crop water requirements and climate to crop water requirements, Irrigation systems and design norms to overview of irrigation systems. nnThe review and update of the IUM also resulted in additional chapters being added to the manual: Greenhouse irrigation systems (chapter 13) and Terminology, conversion tables, design norms and overview of scheduling software (chapter 16).”,”position”:0,”id”:”mlvAVjTPjvAocYVg”}]