The Field Evaluation of Center Pivot Irrigation System’s Performance under River Nile State Conditions, Sudan

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of center pivot irrigation system in River Nile state, Sudan. Four locations were selected randomly to represent the using of center pivot irrigation technology in the state. Then after, the experiment was conducted to evaluate the hydraulic performance of center pivot irrigation system using the measures of uniformity viz: coefficient of uniformity (CU%), distribution uniformity (DU%),  application efficiency (AE%)  and Low quarter potential water application efficiency (PELQ). Moreover, the rate of spreading of the new technology was evaluated over the traditional method of irrigation (surface irrigation). As well as the obtained results were compared with that of Northern and Khartoum states under different span traveling speeds (30, 70 and 100). The SPSS package under window was used to achieve the statistical analysis. The results showed that the obtained values of CU%, DU%, AE% and PELQ were in the range of (80-87%), (68-78%), (62-71.3%) and (64-72%), respectively. Moreover, the spreading percentage of center pivot system reached 36%, while surface irrigation covered 64% from cultivated area. On the other hand the River Nile state showed the lowest performance of center pivot irrigation system compared to Northern and Khartoum states. Furthermore, the span traveling speeds 70% and 30% showed higher performance than 100% span traveling speed across the three states. It is concluded that, center pivot irrigation system in River Nile state was fell under the lower performance. Moreover, the problems of design, operation and poor management are the main causes of the low performance of center pivot irrigation system under the River Nile Conditions.