Evaluation of Drip Irrigation Systems in the Kiwifruit Gardens of East Guilan Province

Due to the scarcity of water resources, making use of new irrigation techniques in agriculture is crucial. Drip irrigation due to its capacity in uniform distribution of water, can be considered as a perfect solution for the optimal use of water resources. Using drip irrigation systems around the country including Guilan province in recent years has been on the rise. Maintenance and obtaining maximum irrigation efficiency, reducing the cost of irrigation system establishment, operation and maintenance, and enhancing the economic lifetime of drip irrigation systems lead us to evaluate irrigation systems performance in a real situation. Thus, among a large number of kiwifruit gardens in Chaboksar, Roudsar, Amlash, Kelachay areas located in the East Guilan province, 33 gardens were selected and then coefficient of uniformity, distribution uniformity of emitters, potential application efficiency in low quarter, and variation coefficient of fabrication parameters were calculated. The results show that Chaboksar region with 82.63 and Kelachay region with 72.12 percent had the highest and lowest values of distribution uniformity, respectively. Furthermore average uniformity coefficient ranged from 77.18 for Kelachay to 84.93 percent for Amlash. Variation coefficient of fabrication was more than 15 percent in the whole area being in unacceptable level. The performance of irrigation systems in Chaboksar, Roudsar and Amlash areas was in good level, whereas Kelachay area classified in acceptable level.