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M. N. Yahya et al.
method in terms of cost, energy usage, maintenance and may more. To overcome the
difficulty faced in the selection process by the decision makers, TOPSIS is proposed
to deal with the vagueness in the decision makers’ judgement. This study will use the
TOPSIS to analyze the irrigation water application methods based on many criteria,
and the outcome of the study will be used by the concerned parties in the field of
irrigation in choosing the best among all the methods and will give an insight for the
relevant stakeholders in the field of engineering, government and non-governmental
organisations in decision making. From the result obtained in this study, basin method
has been the most preferred method followed by border method for all the irrigation
water application methods.
Keywords Irrigation systems · Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) · TOPSIS
16.1 Introduction
The goal of irrigation practice is to supply water uniformly to crops in a way that each
crop receives the amount of water it needs to enable optimum crop yield. Several
techniques are used depending on the water availability, crop type and farmers’
financial status (Bjorneberg 2013). Even so, the success of irrigation practice depends
on the selection of the most appropriate method with respect to the environmental
conditions, planning, design and installation, and operation of the system for the
selected method (Arora 2014).
The properties of the root zone below the land surface which is mostly from 1 to
2 m of most plants, is the main interest of irrigation engineers and agriculturists (Arora
2014). However, to determine the infiltration characteristics of a soil, investigating
layers of soil below the root zone is equally important because it indirectly affects
the plants. Timing of water application and the quality and quantity of water to be
applied are the main concerns in irrigation practice. The problem of timing of water
application involves the computation of available moisture in the soil and the rate
at which it is depleted. This is because the soil is only capable of storing a certain
amount of water. However, water must be applied before the moisture in the soil is
depleted to the level that plants are not able to tap water from the soil. The problem
of the amount of water and its quality involves the computation of the quantity of
water which will restore the soil’s moisture to the required level, and analysis of
the quality of water to prevent contamination of the soil and the plants (Kumar and
Vishal Kumar 2012).
This chapter focuses on the comparative analysis of Irrigation water application
methods using a decision-making tool, TOPSIS.
There are many criteria for the selections of various methods of irrigation water
application, among these criteria are,
• Costs of the system and its appurtenances,
• Field sizes and shapes,
• Soil intake and water holding characteristics,
M. N. Yahya et al.
method in terms of cost, energy usage, maintenance and may more. To overcome the
difficulty faced in the selection process by the decision makers, TOPSIS is proposed
to deal with the vagueness in the decision makers’ judgement. This study will use the
TOPSIS to analyze the irrigation water application methods based on many criteria,
and the outcome of the study will be used by the concerned parties in the field of
irrigation in choosing the best among all the methods and will give an insight for the
relevant stakeholders in the field of engineering, government and non-governmental
organisations in decision making. From the result obtained in this study, basin method
has been the most preferred method followed by border method for all the irrigation
water application methods.
Keywords Irrigation systems · Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) · TOPSIS
16.1 Introduction
The goal of irrigation practice is to supply water uniformly to crops in a way that each
crop receives the amount of water it needs to enable optimum crop yield. Several
techniques are used depending on the water availability, crop type and farmers’
financial status (Bjorneberg 2013). Even so, the success of irrigation practice depends
on the selection of the most appropriate method with respect to the environmental
conditions, planning, design and installation, and operation of the system for the
selected method (Arora 2014).
The properties of the root zone below the land surface which is mostly from 1 to
2 m of most plants, is the main interest of irrigation engineers and agriculturists (Arora
2014). However, to determine the infiltration characteristics of a soil, investigating
layers of soil below the root zone is equally important because it indirectly affects
the plants. Timing of water application and the quality and quantity of water to be
applied are the main concerns in irrigation practice. The problem of timing of water
application involves the computation of available moisture in the soil and the rate
at which it is depleted. This is because the soil is only capable of storing a certain
amount of water. However, water must be applied before the moisture in the soil is
depleted to the level that plants are not able to tap water from the soil. The problem
of the amount of water and its quality involves the computation of the quantity of
water which will restore the soil’s moisture to the required level, and analysis of
the quality of water to prevent contamination of the soil and the plants (Kumar and
Vishal Kumar 2012).
This chapter focuses on the comparative analysis of Irrigation water application
methods using a decision-making tool, TOPSIS.
There are many criteria for the selections of various methods of irrigation water
application, among these criteria are,
• Costs of the system and its appurtenances,
• Field sizes and shapes,
• Soil intake and water holding characteristics,