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About Us
County Impact Statements - Prairie County
Water Conservation in Rice Production Multi-Inlet
Irrigation Saves
Prairie County Extension Staff Chair, Hank Chaney, and Agricultural agent,
Brent Griffin, established fifteen multi-inlet irrigation projects in Prairie
County rice fields to help conserve valuable and depleting water supplies.
Extension Engineer Specialist, Phil Tacker was called upon for expertise in
setting up the poly-pipe system for irrigating rice fields.
Poly-pipe is made from a flexible plastic polymer that allows for use in
piping water without laying aluminum or pvp pipe. The practice in using this
form of tubing caught on with furrow irrigation in the late 80's and has
continued gaining expectance in new applications. The tubing is laid within rice
fields running down the fields slope. The poly-tubing is laid squarely across
levee’s to prevent twisting. The tubing is then filled with water and outlets
are installed in the tubing allowing the water to flow to each individual paddy.
The system replaces the more traditional canal system of irrigating rice.
Levee gates are continue to be installed within the field to help stabilize
flooding. Growers generally set levee gates and regulate water flow into
individual levee’s with outlets installed within the tubing. Once the tubing
outlets are set, much of the work for equalizing water is done by turning on or
off the water source.
Growers using the system initially recognized drastic savings in time flood
up rice fields. Pumping times were cut by 25 to 35% on first flooding. Continued
use through the rest of the growing year continued to yield the same type of
energy and water pumping savings. Under conventional conditions, growers will
spend $50 to 65 per acre in irrigation costs. Rice farmers who adapted to this
technology saved $15 to 25 per acre in addition to the 25 to 35% in water. This
allowed producers to irrigate other crops that would have burnt up due to
continued drought conditions.
Prairie County rice producer Corey Patterson committed that every rice field
he has next year will have the system installed. "The key issue with my farm is
not only saving water and energy cost in producing rice, but the actual amount
of time tending to rice fields was cut by 40%. This is key to my operation when
labor is so hard to find."
Another rice producer, Jim Walls voiced much the same thoughts. "Until Brent
came out and suggested installing the poly-pipe system, I had pumped upon a 60
acre field for 20 days without covering half the field due to soil texture
changes. Once the multi-inlet system was installed, I was able to pump up the
patch within four days. With the amount of water I was pumping, 1800 gpm, I
should have had the patch pumped up within 8 days, but the water would just go
only so far. At least I will cut the whole field where before only half the
field would have been harvested."
Multi-inlet demonstration in action of reflooding rice field in
Prairie County.
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Impacts
- Prairie County rice farmers harvested 76,000 acres of rice in 2001 with
a county average of 143 bushels per acres.
- Prairie County Extension agents established two variety demonstrations,
two insecticide demonstrations, two seeding rate studies, disease monitoring
plot, herbicide demonstration, and fertility demonstration.
- Prairie County Extension agents established 24 county wide rice IPM
multiplier fields using Extension recommendations on 3000 acres.
- Prairie County Extension agents conducted intensive rice fertility
meeting, annual county production meeting, indepth rice consultant field
day, and county field day with 200 producers in attendance.
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