What type of irrigation is furrow flooding?

Furrow flooding is classified as surface irrigation because it involves applying water directly onto the soil surface, allowing it to flow through furrows or channels that are created between crop rows. This method takes advantage of gravity to move water along these furrows, irrigating the plants effectively.

Surface irrigation is characterized by water moving across the surface of the field, which includes various practices such as basin, border, and furrow irrigation. In the case of furrow flooding, the water inundates the furrows, providing moisture directly to the root zones of the plants growing in the rows. It is particularly beneficial for row crops where controlled water application is crucial for optimizing water usage and plant growth.

Other irrigation types, like drip and subsurface irrigation, involve different mechanisms for delivering water directly to the plant roots—either through tubing or buried lines—while sprinkler irrigation simulates rainfall by distributing water through a system of pipes and nozzles above the crop. These methods do not involve the direct flooding of furrows and are designed to achieve efficiency in water application through different techniques.