Water-smart sprinkler irrigation, prerequisite to climate change adaptation: a review

Abstract

The world is increasingly experiencing water scarcity due to the impact of climate change, a phenomenon that is affecting agricultural production, particularly in tropical regions. An effective response system is required in order to adapt and reduce the impact on agricultural production. There have been calls on the role agriculture can play to reduce the impact without compromising food security. Hence, the present article discusses some of the major difficulties in water-smart sprinkler irrigation to adapt to the impact of climate change on agricultural production. In order to meet investment cost with water-smart sprinkler irrigation, the fixed water dispersion device for an impact sprinkler needs to be optimised to improve its performance under low pressure conditions. This is necessary to produce the desirable droplets sizes for minimising evaporation losses and distortion by wind, whilst maintaining the large distance of throw. Further research should be backed by strong institutional support towards a wide-scale adoption of water-smart sprinkler irrigation technologies. This could be of significant benefit to better water management in the artificially drained catchments and lessen the impact of climate change on agricultural production.