Feasibility of integrating solar desalination

Abstract

In this paper, we examine via simulation, feasibility of using solar stills as partial source of water to irrigate crops inside polyhouses. Need to consider such a possibility arose in the course of our work in Kutch, a region lacking severely in agriculture quality water, besides being hot and extremely arid. Stills can not, of course, cope with demand from crops in open field. But, analysis suggests, if water requirement is reduced by putting the crop inside polyhouse, distillate blended with local groundwater to increase volume, and blend applied through low-loss microwatering systems, required size of stills reduces sufficiently to warrant trial. Simulations were carried out for tomato and beet under climatic conditions of Bhuj (Kutch).