LAUSR

The commercial use of microirrigation in China was first introduced in the 1970s, and it has been more than 40 years since microirrigation was initially implemented. Through continuous demonstration, extension and technical innovations, almost all the production of the facilities and equipment for microirrigation installations, including emitters, filtrators, injectors, regulators, pipelines and other ancillary devices, has been industrialized domestically. Extensive technical issues regarding the design, operation and maintenance of microirrigation systems have been studied. Many application modes for typical crops have been established in different regions through demonstrations and extensions. Microirrigation has become one of the water‐saving irrigation technologies used in China that is able to increase crop production. Chemigation, which is beneficial to crop production and environmental conservation, is currently being successfully and popularly used in microirrigation systems. These achievements have made microirrigation an important landmark of agricultural modernization in China. After reviewing the introduction, demonstration, extension and related research works on microirrigation, possible further research topics are presented in this paper. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.