Kerian Irrigation Scheme, Malaysia
The Kerian Irrigation Scheme, which covers about 23,400 hectares of land on the coastal alluvial plain in northern peninsular Malaysia, provides water for paddy rice. It is the oldest and third largest granary area in the country. The primary source of irrigation supply for the Kerian Irrigation Scheme is from the Bukit Merah Reservoir having a total storage area of approximately 75 million cubic meters of water. The Bogak Pumping Plant supplements the irrigation supply.
The agricultural policy of Malaysia, as described in the National Agricultural Policy (NAP3), is to attain 5.5 tons/hectare and 65 percent self-sufficiency in rice production by 2010. The basic strategic plan for achieving the goals of NAP3 are recommended in the "The Study on Modernization of Irrigation Water Management System in the Granary Areas of the Peninsular Malaysia, 1998"[4]. One recommendation was the introduction of telemetry/telecontrol and computerized systems to modernize the water management systems.
Because of a need for better water management and higher crop production, and concerns about possible future labor shortages, the Malaysian Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS) is automating the principal water control structures on the Kerian Irrigation Scheme. The consulting firm of Ranhill Bersekutu is currently in the design stage, but by September 2001 will be well into the project.
In advance of the bigger project, an automation demonstration system was installed on the existing slide gates at the head of Selinsing Canal (see Fig. 6) at Bukit Merah Dam. The first step in this process was to install and test commercial actuators on the two control gates.
Figure 6. The slide gate in the foreground was automated as part of Kerian Irrigation Scheme (Malaysia) automation demonstration project.
Once the gate actuators were fully tested, the remainder of the automation equipment was installed including: datalogger/controller, communication system, water-level sensors, and digital camera and server. The general configuration of the demonstration project is shown in Table 2. The costs for the equipment is $22,200 (see Table 4).
Communication is by cellular telephone (GSM). A low-cost remote terminal unit (an MC-1000 datalogger) is used to monitor the state of the facility and control the gates. The base station uses the software provided by the manufacturer.
Table 1. Equipment Costs: Kerian Irrigation Scheme Automation Demonstration Project
| Equipment | Costs ($US) |
|---|---|
| Datalogger/Controller | $2,300 |
| Celluar telephone module w/antenna | 600 |
| Water-level sensors (2 @ $550 ea.) | 1,100 |
| UPS | 600 |
| Gate actuators (2 @ $6,000 ea.) | 12,000 |
| Digital camera and server | 1,600 |
| Miscellaneous (enclosures, control panel, conduits, etc.) | 4,000 |
| Total | $22,000 |
The complete Kerian automation system will have several important differences from the system installed at the demonstration site. The overall communication system will be a combination of UHF, SHF high-speed wireless, and INMARSAT satellite links. Additionally, the base station software will be an off-the-shelf SCADA package. The general configuration of the complete system is shown in Table 2.