Irrigation principles and practices

Irrigation systems are primarily used to supplement the water requirements of growing plants, which sounds like a simple enough task on first consideration. Accomplishing this task in a manner that is socially and environmentally sound, however, requires skills that bring together information and experience from a wide variety of technical fields, including hydrology, soil science, hydraulics, agronomy, plant science, watershed management, engineering, and economics.

Peace Corps Volunteers working with irrigation practices as part of their service may encounter many diverse problems and situations that will require them to apply techniques or concepts that cut across these various technical disciplines. This training manual is designed to provide these Volunteers with enough interdisciplinary skills to address diverse problems and situations. Volunteers who complete the training may not know precise answers to all the irrigation problems they will encounter. They should know enough, however, to identify the information they need to solve a problem and where or how to find it.