Runoff farming / Water harvesting
Definition / description
‘Water harvesting’ is a broad term generally used to describe the collection of runoff from various sources, such as roofs and ground surfaces, as well as from intermittently flowing watercourses.
The term ‘rainwater harvesting’ is used for water harvesting systems that do not include runoff from watercourses. These are normally classified separately from ‘floodwater harvesting’ systems.
The term ‘runoff farming’ is widely used to describe the practice of harvesting water from an uncropped catchment area and diverting it to a cropped area, mainly for irrigation purposes. In this way, runoff from a larger area is concentrated onto a smaller area, making agricultural production feasible even under low-rainfall conditions.
‘Runoff farming systems’ may be further classified according to their water-harvesting category as ‘on-farm micro-catchment water harvesting systems’, ‘off-farm macro-catchment water harvesting systems’, and ‘floodwater harvesting systems’.
Reference: [References]
Publications / information
- Senkondo, E.M.M. , Msangi, A.S.K., Xavery, P., Lazaro, E. A. and N. Hatibu, 2004:
Profitability of Rainwater Harvesting for Agricultural Production in Selected Semi-Arid Areas of Tanzania. -
Journal of Applied Irrigation Science, Vol. 39. No 1/2004, pp. 65 - 81.
VL reprint under:
VL Irrigation & Hydrology - vl_ref_id_x_0029
Reference
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Critchley, W. and K. Siegert, 1991:
Water harvesting - A Manual for the Design and Construction of Water Harvesting Schemes for Plant Production. -
AGL/MISC/17/91, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 1991. - Pacey, A. and A. Cullin, 1986:
Rainwater harvesting. -
Intermediate Technology Publications, London, ISBN 0 946688 22 2. - Tauer, W. and G. Humborg, 1992:
Runoff irrigation in the Sahel Zone - Remote sensing and geographical information systems for determining potential sites. -
Verlag Josef Margraf, ISBN 3-8236-1212-3.