Evaluation of pre-packaged agricultural drip irrigation kits

The purpose of this thesis is to conduct user testing and performance evaluation of two different agricultural pre-packaged drip irrigation kit (PDIK) systems: Chapin Bucket Kit and International Design Enterprises (IDE) drip kit. PDIK systems are a cost-effective type of appropriate technology for the developing world because they reduce agricultural water consumption and can increase crop yield over other methods of irrigation. Overall user testing indicates preference for the IDE drip kit because of ease of installation, low cost, and suitable size for the average household plot. On the other hand, the Chapin Bucket Kit performs better in laboratory evaluation in terms of emitter performance, materials strength, and filter clogging . Ultimately, it is up to users to decide what are the trade-offs that can be made when choosing a PDIK system. This study is conducted under the MIT Development Lab Technology Evaluation and Verification Program (D-lab TEV) and has been financially supported by the MIT Public Service Center and the MIT Department of Foreign Languages and Literature.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Huang, Shen, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• James H. Williams, Jr.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74494

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/74494