Drip irrigation is sometimes called trickle irrigation and involves dripping water onto the soil at very low rates (2-20 liters/hour) from a system of small diameter plastic pipes fitted with outlets called emitters or drippers.
Water is applied close to plants so that only part of the soil in which the roots grow is wetted, unlike surface and sprinkler irrigation, which involves wetting the whole soil profile. With drip irrigation water, applications are more frequent (usually every 1-3 days) than with other methods and thus provides a very favorable high moisture level in the soil in which plants can flourish.
A typical drip irrigation system consists of the following components: