Waterboys
Waterboys (U) Ltd. have adapted drip irrigation technology and developed a bucket kit for smallholder farmers in Uganda. The kit comprises of one 30-litre bucket (the bucket is part of the kit), and 2 x 10 m of drip tubes connected to a water distribution manifold. The drip outlets in the standard kit are spaced at 30 cm. No filter is included in the Waterboys kit.
What is a bucket kit?
A bucket kit system comprising two 15-m long drip lines can be used to grow 50 plants such as tomato, egg plant and similar crops requiring a spacing of 60 cm along the plant rows; 100 plants of spinach, cabbage, kale, pepper and similar plants requiring a spacing of 30 cm along the plant rows; or 300 plants of onion, carrot and similar plants requiring a spacing of 10 cm. The standard bucket kit system consists of two drip lines placed 0.5 m apart on a bed with a width of 1 m. A bucket is placed on a stand at one end of the bed and connected to the drip lines. These bucket kit systems can irrigate 10–20 m2, depending on the length of the drip tube and plant spacing.
The bucket should be filled once in the morning and once in the afternoon to supply 30–60 litres of water to the crop per day. The actual amount of water depends on crop water requirements and rainfall. In very dry areas and during the dry season 60 litres of water will be required per day. There is a growing demand for bucket kits. For example, Chapin bucket kits are reported to be in use in over 80 countries world wide and the demand is growing fast. By 2001, more than 5,000 kits had been sold by KARI to Kenyan farmers who have adopted the bucket drip irrigation system. It has been shown that plants that are watered using the bucket system have higher yields.
Construction, operations and maintenance
System components
- 30-litre bucket
- 2 x 10 m complete drip line
- Manifold to connect
- 2 drip lines.
Assembly instructions
- Prepare the planting bed 1-m wide x 10-m long.
- Construct a bucket stand.
- Lay the pipes. Since all the pipes are already connected, you only need to lay them out on the bed.
- Mount the bucket on its stand.
- Connect the manifold to the bucket with a snap-in collar.
- Connect the two drip lines to the tee.
Dealing with filtration
Since a filter is not included in the kit, the Waterboys bucket kit system requires water that has already been filtered for irrigation. This may not be the case in many rural areas and even in some urban centres. Thus, if the water requires filtration, tie a clean cloth on the mouth of the bucket and always pour the water required for irrigation through it.
Field experiences
The Waterboys bucket has mainly been used in Uganda, although a number of kits are in use in Kenya and Tanzania. Elsewhere in the world, for example in India, resource-poor farmers have used drip irrigation systems with reported success.
Manuals, videos and links
- Water for wealth and food security: Supporting farmer-driven investments in agricultural water management. 2012 study by AgWater Solutions.
Acknowledgements
- Sijali, Isaya V. DRIP IRRIGATION: Options for smallholder farmers in eastern and southern Africa. RELMA, 2001.
