A Low Energy Water Application (LEWA) device operating at 0.4 kg/cm 2 pressure and fittable on existing sprinklers has been developed for irrigating rice, wheat and other close growing crops. The system has resulted in reducing overall energy requirements and high water and nutrient-use efficiency as compared to other pressurized irrigation systems.

In order to cut down on cost and energy requirement by using low pressure rating pipes and other system sub components, a low cost LEWA (Low Energy Water Application) irrigation system has been developed and compared with the sprinkler. The system is estimated to cost 2.5 times less than the cost of sprinklers (impact) system for the small area.

Application of micro irrigation to vegetables revealed that drip irrigation scheduled at 80% ET once in three days gave maximum marketable yield (85.7 t/ha) of tomato. For cabbage, drip irrigation scheduling at 60% ET once in two days gave maximum yield of 61.7 t/ha.