Question

Increasing order of Water Use Efficiency.
(A). Drip Irrigation
(B). Pitcher pot Irrigation
(C). Surface Irrigation
(D). Sprinkler Irrigation
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

• A. (A), (B), (C), (D)
• B. (D), (C), (B), (A)
• C. (B), (A), (D), (C)
• D. (C), (D), (A), (B)

Hint:

To remember irrigation efficiencies for exams: Surface ($<$50%) $<$ Sprinkler (60-80%) $<$ Drip (~90%) $<$ Pitcher (near 100% local root efficiency).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Water Use Efficiency (WUE) is defined as the yield of marketable crop produced per unit of water consumed by the crop.
Different irrigation systems have different application losses, which directly influence their overall efficiency.

Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
- Surface Irrigation (C): Exhibits the lowest WUE (typically 30-50%) due to heavy deep percolation, runoff, and evaporation losses.
- Sprinkler Irrigation (D): Displays moderate-to-high efficiency (60-80%) as water is applied uniformly as spray, though it suffers from drift and evaporation.
- Drip Irrigation (A): Features very high efficiency (around 90%) by delivering water directly to the plant root zone via emitters.
- Pitcher pot Irrigation (B): This ancient micro-irrigation method involves buried unglazed clay pots filled with water.
Water oozes out extremely slowly through the clay walls directly into the surrounding rhizosphere based on soil moisture tension.
Because water release matches plant transpirational demand, there is almost zero deep percolation or evaporation loss, giving it the highest localized WUE.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The correct increasing order of Water Use Efficiency is Surface (C) $<$ Sprinkler (D) $<$ Drip (A) $<$ Pitcher pot (B).