Cost Of Drip Irrigation Per Acre
The cost of drip irrigation per acre in Kenya varies from crop to crop. Grekkon Limited is the top most of all drip irrigation kits suppliers in Kenya. Our drip irrigation system price in Kenya depends on the crop type. For tree crops and hedges, button drippers are installed. In vegetable crops, pre-perforated drip pipes are laid. The emitter spacing on the pre-perforated drip lines is either; 15cm, 20cm, or 30cm. A grower selects according to the vegetable crop type spacing.
We provide our growers a choice of single or double emitter drip irrigation tapes. Double emitter drip lines are helpful in high saline irrigation water locations where salt precipitates form and clog drip emitters. When one emitter is clogged, then the other one continues to irrigate at the same rate. Drip irrigation pipes for sale in Kenya by Grekkon Limited are PVC, and HDPE types
A 3-row drip per bed installation for a vegetable by Grekkon Limited in Ol-Donyo Sabuk area, Machakos county
A button dripper irrigation system on macadamia in Item area, Elgeyo Marakwet county by Grekkon Limited
Cost of Drip Irrigation Per Acre
Determining Factors
- Crop type.It determines the crop spacing. Is it a fruit or vegetable garden? Fruit trees and fruit vines or runners such as melons 🍉 take less drip tape per acre. So they have the least cost. Vegetable crops take more drip lines, and are thus more expensive
- Pipe type. It is a PVC or HDPE mainline, and sub-mainline? The former is more expensive to work with
- Water pressure available. The higher the pressure, the less the number of irrigation blocks. Less irrigation blocks per acre means less fittings and accessories, so it’s less expensive. With low pressure, more irrigation blocks are created, at a higher unit cost
I. An Eighth To One Acre Drip Irrigation Kit Prices
| Crop Type | Drip Lines Per Bed | Acreage | Cost in Kes |
| Watermelon | 1 | 1/8 | 15,000 |
| 1/4 | 25,000 | ||
| 1/2 | 45,000 | ||
| 1 | 85,000 | ||
| Tomato, cabbage, chilies, capsicum, green beans, peas | 2 | 1/8 | 25,000 |
| 1/4 | 40,000 | ||
| 1/2 | 75,000 | ||
| 1 | 140,000 | ||
| Onion, garlic, herbs, spices, strawberry | 1/8 | 27,500 | |
| 3 | 1/4 | 45,000 | |
| 1/2 | 85,000 | ||
| 1 | 160,000 |
II. Fruit Tree Button Drip Kit Irrigation Prices
| Crop Type | Acreage | Cost in Kes |
| Tree Tomato/ Pawpaw/ Passion/ Coffee | 1/8 | 15,000 |
| 1/4 | 25,000 | |
| 1/2 | 45,000 | |
| 1 | 85,000 | |
| Avocado | 1/8 | 15,000 |
| 1/4 | 25,000 | |
| 1/2 | 40,000 | |
| 1 | 70,000 |
FAQS
a. How much does it cost to install a drip irrigation system in Kenya?
The tabulated cost of drip irrigation per acre in Kenya includes the cost of installation by our technicians. We conduct our installations in all of east Africa, for every grower. After installation, our agronomy team provides 4 months of free agronomy training for new farmers.
b. How much does drip irrigation cost per hectare?
The cost of drip irrigation per hectare is 2.5 times the cost provided per acre
c. How many drip lines per acre?
This is determined by the crop type. 3,000M for 1 drip row per bed, 6,000M for 2 drip rows per bed, and 8,000M for 3 drip rows per bed
4. What is the maximum length of a drip irrigation line?
Your 16mm drip irrigation line will run for 25 to 27M under gravity flow, where the head is below 10M. From 10M head, this will go up to 50M
5. How far apart are drip irrigation holes?
Our emitter spacing is; 15cm, 20cm, and 30cm
15cm drip emitter spacing on a 1,00M single emitter drip roll
6. How do I calculate drip irrigation?
- Determine the emitter spacing, for example 15cm
- Divide the drip length by this spacing to determine the number of emitters per roll. In our case, 1,000M divided by 0.15M= 6,667 emitters
- Multiply the emitters by the number of rolls per acre, for example 6 rolls, so 40,000 emitters per acre
- Multiply the emitter flow rate by the total number of emitters to get the amount of water discharged per hour. For example 1.5 litres per hour x 40,000= 60,000 litres per hour
7. Which pipe is best for drip irrigation?
HDPE pipes are the best as main and sub main lines because they have UV treatment. This means that they will be used either as surface or sub-surface pipes
8. Can you run a drip line uphill?
Yes. But the head of the flow must be higher than the vertical height of the slope
9. What pipe size should I use for drip irrigation?
The size of the main or sub main pipe installed is determined by the area under irrigation. The larger it is, the larger the pipes used
10. How do I know how long to run drip irrigation?
This is determined by the existing level of soil moisture. Run it for 20 minutes to 1 hour according to the amount of water needed
11. How do I increase the pressure in my drip irrigation system?
They are several ways to raise the irrigation water pressure in your drip irrigation system
i. Divide the farm into blocks, each of which is irrigated separately. This way, irrigation water is channeled to particular block under high pressure
ii. If it is by gravity flow, then by raising the storage elevation. This will work where raised water tanks are the source of irrigation water
iii. By introducing an external source of pressure, such a s water pump to boost the flow of irrigation water in the system
Drip Irrigation Lines and Pipes
In this drip irrigation lines and pipes piece, we will answer commonly asked questions in relation to drip irrigation
1.What is drip irrigation tape?
This is a flat thin walled LLDPE material tube with sequential emitters for irrigation
2. How long do you water with drip tape?
This depends on the crop water need at the time of irrigation. It ranges from 25 minutes to 1.5 hours. It is recommended to irrigate daily over a short duration with the same amount of water to keep the crop happy
3. Can you re-use drip tape?
Yeas you will over several growing seasons. The thicker the wall size, the longer the re-use period
4. What is the maximum length of a drip irrigation line?
1,000M
5. How much water does drip tape put out?
This depends on the emitter specifications. We supply 1.5L/ hour, 2L/hour, and 3L/hour emitters in our drip tapes
6. How much do drip lines cost?
Grekkon Limited’s double emitter drip irrigation lines and pipes for sale in Kenya tapes are categorised by thickness; 0.3mm, and 0.4mm. Both are 16mm in diameter, 1,000M long and with a choice of emitter spacing as 15cm, 20cm, and 30cm
Cost of drip irrigation tapes
| Thickness | 0.3mm | 0.4mm |
| Price | KES 7,500 | KES 8,500 |
The choice of drip line thickness depends on
- is it for out door or greenhouse installation? 0.3mm is fine in the greenhouse because it is no directly exposed to sunlight
- radiation level. where the sun’s radiation is high, 0.4mm is better
7. How much does it cost drip irrigation for 1 acre?
This depends on the crop type. Different crops have different drip irrigation piping requirements
Drip irrigation lines and pipes
By acreage pricing
| Crop Type | Lines Per Bed | Acreage | Cost in Kes |
| Watermelon, cucumber, butter nut | 1 | 0.125 | 15,000 |
| 0.25 | 25,000 | ||
| 0.50 | 45,000 | ||
| 1 | 85,000 | ||
| Tomato, cabbage, chilies, capsicum | 2 | 0.125 | 25,000 |
| 0.25 | 40,000 | ||
| 0.50 | 75,000 | ||
| 1 | 140,000 | ||
| Onion, garlic, herbs, spices, strawberry | 0.125 | 27,500 | |
| 3 | 0.25 | 45,000 | |
| 0.50 | 85,000 | ||
| 1 | 160,000 |
Drip irrigation on green beans by Grekkon Limited
Drip irrigation pipes for onion installed by Grekkon Limited
8. What time of day is best for drip irrigation?
Early morning is highly recommended. If not, then in the evening
9.How much pressure does a drip irrigation system need?
The minimum operating pressure is 3M or 0.3 bar
10. What pipes size should I use for drip irrigation?
There are 3 lines in an irrigation set-up
- main line. This one delivers water to the farm from the source; tank, water pan, lake or river. It is the largest
- sub-main line. It is connected to the main line to supply water to the drip irrigation tubes. It is lesser in diameter than the main line
- drip irrigation tape. it supplies water directly to the crop
The pipe size is a factor of acreage. The main line diameter size on 10 acres is larger than the main line diameter size on half an acre of drip irrigation. These pipes are either HDPE or PVC types
11. How do I start my own drip?
Our technical team guides new drip irrigation farmers on starting out. These are the steps to follow
- identify the area to undertake drip irrigation. It will have a close water source
- what crop is to be grown? this will guide on the number of drip rows per bed
- what is your budget? it determines the acreage to set up the system