Drip Irrigation for High-Value Horticulture

Drip irrigation is the application of water, drop by drop, through a network of pipes that run throughout a farmer’s field. In addition to being the most water-efficient method of irrigation, drip irrigation also increases yields significantly.

Drip irrigation has been around for some time, but the conventional technologies are far too expensive and not suited to the small farm plots of the world’s poorest farmers. In 1998, IDE began working with farmers to adapt drip irrigation technology into a low-cost, scalable system appropriate for dry season vegetable cultivation on small farms. With the support of Oxfam Hong Kong and East Meets West Foundation, IDE has simplified the technology to reduce its cost and to make it scaleable from plots as small as five square meters.

Based on successful trials with farmers, IDE is marketing the technology to create demand and building the input supply chain by setting up and supporting local enterprises to produce, distribute, install, and service the systems. IDE is promoting the use of drip irrigation through rural mass marketing conducted with local private sector service providers in central Vietnam. IDE is also working with some of Vietnam’s poorest rural families, ethnic minority people in upland areas of central Vietnam, to test the use of drip irrigation for high-value cash crop production.

In all cases, the experiences are the same: Small-scale drip irrigation systems are viable, affordable farm inputs that either increase yields or enable cultivation during the dry season.