Types of Irrigation

There are mainly 5 kinds of irrigation facility

1 Surface irrigation
2 Localized irrigation
2.1 Drip, or trickle irrigation
3 Sprinkler irrigation
3.1 Center pivot irrigation
3.2 Lateral move (Side roll, Wheel line) irrigation
4 Sub-irrigation
5 Manual irrigation using buckets or watering cans

Surface irrigation

In surface irrigation systems water is moving over the land by simple gravity flow in order to wet it and to infiltrate into the soil. They can be subdivided into furrow, borderstrip or basin irrigation.

Localized irrigation

Localized irrigation is a system where water is distributed under low pressure through a piped network, in a pre-determined pattern, and applied as a small discharge to each plant or adjacent to it. Drip irrigation, spray or micro-sprinkler irrigation and bubbler irrigation belong to this category of irrigation methods.

Sprinkler irrigation

In sprinkler or overhead irrigation, water is piped to one or more central locations within the field and distributed by overhead high-pressure sprinklers or guns. A system utilizing sprinklers, sprays, or guns mounted overhead on permanently installed risers is often referred to as a solid-set irrigation system. Higher pressure sprinklers that rotate are called rotors and are driven by a ball drive, gear drive, or impact mechanism. Rotors can be designed to rotate in a full or partial circle. Guns are similar to rotors, except that they generally operate at very high pressures of 40 to 130 lbf/in² (275 to 900 kPa) and flows of 50 to 1200 US gal/min (3 to 76 L/s), usually with nozzle diameters in the range of 0.5 to 1.9 inches (10 to 50 mm). Guns are used not only for irrigation, but also for industrial applications such as dust suppression and logging.

Source - http://vasatwiki.icrisat.org/index.php/Types_of_irrigation