ABSTRACT
Irrigated agriculture plays a major role in the livelihoods of nations all over the world and South Africa is no exception. With irrigated agriculture being the largest user of runoff water in South Africa, there have been increased expectations from government that the sector should increase efficiency and reduce consumption in order to increase the amount of water available for other uses, in particular for human domestic consumption. Irrigation in South Africa is currently practiced on 1.6 × 106ha. In 2000, it used 62% of the runoff water that was used by all sectors, or 39.5% of the exploitable runoff water [6]. Studies and research over 40 years, on flood-, mobileand micro irrigation techniques contributed to the knowledge base of applying irrigation methods correctly to improve the efficient application of water. The different irrigation systems vary in terms of individual components, cost and performance and generally they can be classified into three groups:
• Flood-irrigation systems by which water that flows under gravity over soil while infiltrating is applied to the farm lands. This includes basin, border, furrow and short furrow.
