NOVA MYREL F.

RECIMO
BTVTED CSS 3
EGE 311 PEOPLE AND EARTH’S ECOSYSTEM

Module 2
Human Impacts in the Environment

Lesson 2
Application

 What is happening in these pictures?

This aerial view of a crop circle shows a

center-pivot irrigation system that supplies water to a 99-acre corn field. You
can see the arc that was most recently watered at the 10 o’clock position on
the field. The spots are nonfertile areas where crops do not thrive. Center-
pivot irrigation saves water compared to the traditional gravity-flow method of
irrigation, in which water is directed to flow in ditches between crop rows;
perhaps only 40 percent of the water reaches the crops using traditional
irrigation methods.

Use the Internet to investigate the low energy, precision application

(LEPA) sprinklers that allow 90 to 95 percent of the water in center-pivot
irrigation to reach crops.
NOVA MYREL F. RECIMO
BTVTED CSS 3
EGE 311 PEOPLE AND EARTH’S ECOSYSTEM

1. Highly developed countries have most of the world’s center-pivot irrigation

systems. Why do you think this is the case?

Highly developed countries have most of the world’s centre-pivot irrigation

systems because those countries have the capacity to fund and operate this
kind of irrigation. It requires high initial cost and high maintenance. Also, it is
not suitable for irrigation of fields of rectangular or square shape because field
surface should be flat. It is not suitable for irrigation in windy conditions;
uneven water application may occur and applied fertilizers may be carried
away. As the name tells, a center-pivot irrigates in a circular pattern around a
central pivot point. Pivots are capable of applying water, fertilizer, chemicals,
and herbicides. This versatility can improve the efficiency of irrigation
practices by using a single piece of machinery to perform several functions. It
is a modern type of irrigation system for better water resources that is very
useful to some arid regions with high culture such as Africa particularly Libya,
United States and Europe. With the existence of centre-pivot irrigation
systems, it can provide high degree of automation, which can save a lot of
labor and the service life is usually more than 20 years, and the investment
per unit area is moderate. Center-pivot irrigation can reduce the amount of
soil tillage. Also, it can help deliver precise fertilizer application to produce
greater yield and prevent the build-up of nitrates which is a big help for crop
growers.

2. The wavy lines are small dikes constructed to control runoff because the
field is not flat. Why do you think these dikes are constructed the way they
are? How is using these dikes similar to contour plowing?

Dikes force the river to flow more quickly and with greater force. Dikes only
have water on one side of the barrier and the dikes run parallel to the water.
Contour plowing is a sustainable way of farming where farmers plant crops
across or perpendicular to slopes to follow the contours of a slope of a field.
Even though there is a difference is shaping or constructing the surface, both
NOVA MYREL F. RECIMO
BTVTED CSS 3
EGE 311 PEOPLE AND EARTH’S ECOSYSTEM

have the same purposes. They are both suitable for cultivating lands on
sloping hills and both are used to reduce soil erosion from tilled fields on
slopes. These two are useful for prevention on effect of strong rain drops that
can probably bring damage to the crop—it is a flood protection. In a banana
plantation, there are small dikes called as the secondary canal which is the
biggest among the three canals. The primary is the average size canal and
the tertiary is the small-sized canal installed in the middle space of the banana
trees. The major benefits of these methods are to enable the preservation of
the nutrients in the field, resulting in less fertilizer and less need for artificial
irrigation.