I was looking for driptapes in market and came across three kinds: driptech, KB (IDE) and the other one that uses a chip kind of thing at the drip hole.
I am told that in case of driptech the drip holes are done with laser I so they are fine, consistent and do not easily clog, works on gravity.
In case of KB (IDE) though it also can work on gravity, it uses emitters attached at drip points and so less efficient.
THe one with a chip (the dealer did not have the name of the company, he called it chiptech! it is also called china tape) emits equal amount of water at all points as opposed to driptech/KB because of the chip but needs good pressure such as from a pump.
Has anyone experience with these and recommend one over another?
The crop under question is chrysanthemum if it matters.
I am using driptech in my farm for maize.
Advantages
Cheaper than most, 1.75/m, for 1 acre cost may come to Rs. 10000 as opposed to Rs. 50000 on standard jain or netafim.
Drips almost 8 lph if decent pressure. So you can run it for just 10 mins every 2 days and that would be enough. Even if the pressure is less, it still drips, for drips with inline emitters, a certain pressure is needed.
With usage of valve takeups, you can control the number of drip lines that work. If pressure is less, then you can turn off the drips till water starts flowing properly.
Disadvantages
Damages easily by rats, handling etc as material is very thin
Uniform coverage is doubtful, there is constraint to keep the lengths within 100 feet. More length will mean starting of the drip will get more water and less water towards the end.
Its so lightweight, if your crop is not very tall, it can be blown away by winds.
All said and done, for the price that it costs, you can use with smartly designing the drip network.
Dont know about this chiptech, can you post some pictures along with cost and other details like thickness and drip spacing?
Which dealer you are talking to in Bangalore? Is it Karthik Irrigation?
I am using driptech in my farm for maize.
Advantages
Cheaper than most, 1.75/m, for 1 acre cost may come to Rs. 10000 as opposed to Rs. 50000 on standard jain or netafim.
Drips almost 8 lph if decent pressure. So you can run it for just 10 mins every 2 days and that would be enough. Even if the pressure is less, it still drips, for drips with inline emitters, a certain pressure is needed.
With usage of valve takeups, you can control the number of drip lines that work. If pressure is less, then you can turn off the drips till water starts flowing properly.
Disadvantages
Damages easily by rats, handling etc as material is very thin
Uniform coverage is doubtful, there is constraint to keep the lengths within 100 feet. More length will mean starting of the drip will get more water and less water towards the end.
Its so lightweight, if your crop is not very tall, it can be blown away by winds.
All said and done, for the price that it costs, you can use with smartly designing the drip network.
Dont know about this chiptech, can you post some pictures along with cost and other details like thickness and drip spacing?
Which dealer you are talking to in Bangalore? Is it Karthik Irrigation?[/quote]
Thanks, I do not have pictures of chiptech. It is also inline dripping with wave like hard material attached at the drip points. I checked all three of them in Karthik Enterprises, SP Road, Bangalore. THe cost of chiptech also comes to Rs.3/- per meter same as the 200micron driptech tape.
Are you using gravity fed driptech or feeding from pump? Can you tell about the extent land that is covered by driptech and if you took the entire instakit from them that comes readymade for 1 acre along with tape like pipe for main line also…or are you using 1 1/4 inch pvc pipes for feeding laterals…?
Thank you very much for the information, I am in the processing of growing maize for my cows, can you advice driptape is suitable. Can i have some photos of your drip tape for maize crop.
you mentioned 10000 rs for 1 acre, is it correct ?
I use Driptech tape extensively as well and am surprised it is Rs. 1.75/m because I always ended up paying Rs. 3/m if I remember correctly.
Agree with Nikhil on the analysis. I believe the life however is only a couple of years. The water output is fairly uniform with little clogging, though a part of my drip now needs some clearing of the clogging.
I think IDE is slightly cheaper but I heard the same thing about manual hole drilling in their tape. There seems to be another company Godavari that supplies similar drip tape too.
I am guessing the ‘one with the chip’ is the drip tape that most companies like Jain and Netafim sell as drip tape?
The below is how driptech looks when placed with holes facing upwards.
Thanks for posting the tapes with ‘chip’. I understand this frequently clogs of water has lot of salts.
In driptech, there are two qualities. one with 200micron and another with 120micron (if I remember right). A bundle of 200micron tapes weighs 2kgs and comes upto 200 meters as compared to a bundle of 120micron tape which weighs 2kgs and comes upto 320 meters. So, the better quality works out to Rs.3/m and the other one costs ~Rs.1.8/m
This chiptech also I have used and it also has same issues like damage and life span. In addition, the emitters will also block after 3 short term crops if you use fertigation. Since all the 3 are more or less same in terms of life, I feel its better to go for the cheapest one and discard when it becomes bad.
Bhanu,
I am using for maize as we grow for our dairy farm. We use it at 2 feet spacing with valve based takeups. We have overhead tank which generates 2 kg pressure. The maximum length for the drip is 150 feet. At this length, and at 2 kg pressure, I am able to run 13 lines without any significant drop in performance. If I increase the number of lines, then there will not be uniform coverage.
For calculation purpose, assume the following plot which is approx 1 acre (40000 ft2)
Dimensions are 400x100 where the width is 400 feet and length is 100 feet.
So for 2 feet spacing you will have 200 lines of 100 feet each. Which means total length of drip required is 20000 feet which is 6250 meters.
Assuming per meter cost is Rs. 1.8, total drip costs 6250x1.8 = Rs. 11250 /acre.
This is for maize at 2 feet spacing. Other crops will have more spacing and can reduce the length required. Example tomato at 3 feet spacing will have only 133 lines which will cost much lesser.
I hope I got calculation right, let me know if any mistakes.
I am not advertising any drip here, just sharing my experiences, use at your own risk.
Chandra,
Any tips on how to wrap them up after the crop is over? We developed small coils but if you have any better idea, let me know.
What is the height of the overhead tank and capacity, I would like to grow maize fodder for 1 acre, please provide necessary details.
One more question as you have dairy farm, my dairy cows are HF but not getting enough milk, trying different fodder and methods, Please share you experience and provide the fodder schedule.
Bhanu,
In addition to the cost savings (compare it with Rs6/- to Rs8/- per meter for other convential drip systems), there is also savings in terms fo labour needed to setup. Nowadays, drip experts are taking Rs.2500/- per acre to just install drip whereas in case of drip tape farmer can do it themselves. (There are ofcourse other risks as nikhil noted earlier and longevity factor)
Our tank is 30 feet height and capacity is 30000 lts.
Feeding a cow is really scientific process. Broadly, I can tell you that for 20 lts per day cow, I am using the following
30 kg silage
3 kg Urea Treated Maize stover
5 kg Concentrate Mix which has dried distillers grains, maize powder and powdered dried legume grasses
100 gms Mineral Mix.
Water is always available as we have open housing system.
The ration for a cow has to be calculated and given based on stage, age, milk yield; so that you ensure cow gets enough and also save money by not feeding excess.
My other posts mention concepts like Dry Matter(DM) you should check and see if your cow is getting enough to fill its stomach.
Thank you Sir,
Driptech is the Best among all. It will give uniform flow to all the DripsNo CloggingSimple Technology*Easy to Install *Easy to move * Most Economical comparing all I you want Drip Teh we will provide all the details.
Thank you Very Much Nikhil Sab in Drip Tech the Max Length can be used up to 30 Mts. Up to 30 Meters it will give uniform flow in all the drips. Comparing the Price and easy installation this is Most recommended Product. It may not be easily accessible to Rats. If so it can easily be Jointed with the Jointers. We will forward you FEED Back to our Company.Any way you also send the FEED Back sir.
Hi Varahaan,
Havn’t used yet, but planning to make use of drip tape with 1x1 spacing in SRI method in about 1/10 of an acre. Larger areas may post stiff challenges with such small spacing in terms of maintanance. Facing stiff resistance from my caretaker who believes water to continuously stand for paddy.
I contacted the driptech guy who felt that the land will be full of tapes if I went in for 1’ X 1’ spacing. Instead he suggested to go in for 3’ spacing between lines but go in for 1’ X 1’ seeding as the water spread around each pore would be about one and a half feet.
One by name Annamalai had used drip irrigation for paddy in Madurai but unfortunately I lost hin contact number . The news item was published in Dinamalar ( Tamil daily ) a couple of months ago.
Even using SRI method for paddy, you need to maintain 1 inch water during certain times of the crop. So I dont know how drip is going to help. Anyhow, paddy growing areas get sufficient supply of water from canals, so why would you want to use drip? I believe drip should be used where there is water scarcity and definetely by people irrigating using borewells.
