Preparing for Polypipe (Part 1)
Field days teach installation to Mexican farmers
By Danielle Supercinski, June 2005
Two Mexican farmers work to connect the two polypipe strands together.
Polypipe is a new irrigation technology being tested in Tamaulipas, Mexico, by Texas Water Resources Institute through the Rio Grande Basin Initiative, to conserve water in the Rio Grande and provide a more reliable water source so Mexico can meet their current and future water demands.
However, before polypipe irrigation can be fully implemented, Mexican farmers must first learn how to properly install and use it.
“We organized a workshop where my students and I taught (the Mexican farmers) how to use polypipe,” said Dr. Juan Enciso, Extension Agricultural Engineer in Weslaco. “Later we organized a field day for the Mexican farmers at Charles Loop Farm – a Texas Cooperative Extension demonstration cooperator. American farmers helped and explained to Mexican farmers how to use this technology.”
Students from Monterrey Tech have assisted with the polypipe demonstrations. They are standing behind their newly installed polypipe.
Bayview Irrigation District Managers, Gordon Hill and Joe Barrera, talked to the Mexican farmers about the problems American farmers were having with polypipe and how they are facing them. A lot of ideas were exchanged between the two groups.
“Mexican farmers were very impressed by the openness of the American farmers and their hospitality,” Enciso said. “For a while they were calling me every day, asking questions about what kind of hole puncher and plastic plugs they needed, and other questions related to installation – common questions when you do this for the first time.”
Juan Enciso (far right) with visitors from the Mexican National Water Commission and Border Irrigation Districts
Project personnel include Gordon Hill, Winzen Film & Fiber Inc., and Mexican farmers. Research personnel Drs. Juan Enciso and Guy Fipps collect and certify the data to determine effectiveness and water savings. Tony Hinojosa from Texas A&M in Kingsville and four student interns from Monterey Tech are also involved with this project. Enciso and the polypipe crew prepared fact sheets to give to the Mexican farmers, and they set up another polypipe demonstration to further show Mexican farmers how to install and maintain polypipe.
“We were able to collect good quality data from one demonstration. We conserved about 28 percent during the first irrigation,” Enciso said. “The biggest gain was demonstrating the technology and demonstrating that water can be conserved.”
Polypipe being used to irrigate sugarcane
The Mexican farmers later invited Enciso to another event to speak to 270 other farmers about the results of the demonstration and to give them ideas about how they could improve their irrigation efficiency. During this visit he also spoke with two Texas state Representatives who want to create incentive programs to help improve things on the Mexican side of the border and to expand cooperation.
“I think this project is a good example of team work between the irrigation industries on both sides of the border – irrigation districts, manufacturers, farmers and Texas Cooperative Extension,” Enciso said. “I think this is a good success story.”
Three test blocks were recently installed in Tamaulipas, and the test blocks are being metered to measure open ditch irrigation, volume, crop yields and other data.
