4 Acres · Permanent RainGun · 10HP · 13ft Pillar Height · Jolarpettai, Thirupathur, Tamil Nadu
Mr. Narayanan from Jolarpettai, Thirupathur district, came to our office to install a Permanent RainGun System for his 4-acre Karpuravalli banana plantation. This project presented a challenge we had not faced in this form before: the crop height exceeds 20 feet at maturity. A standard raingun pillar set at ground level would be blocked by the banana canopy — unable to distribute water uniformly across the farm.
Based on our field study, we designed a 2-step pillar system — our own concept for tall-canopy crops. The pillars were first installed at 7.5 feet height when the banana saplings were young and the canopy was low. After 6 months — as the plants grew — the pillars were extended up to 13 feet height, allowing the RainGun head to always clear the canopy and deliver water uniformly across the full plantation. With this system, only 4 hours is enough for one complete irrigation cycle across all 4 acres.
We adopted our own concept in this banana plantation — a planting method designed specifically for RainGun irrigation. First, a pit of 1.5 feet × 1.5 feet × 1.5 feet (L×B×H) was made. The pit was filled with agri waste and dung up to 6 inches depth. Then the banana sapling was planted. The RainGun irrigated the plantation uniformly, delivering water like natural rainfall — and excellent growth resulted.
As the plant grew, the pit was progressively filled with soil to strengthen the stem. The result: banana stems with deep, well-established root systems that are naturally strong. No support bamboo or rope was needed — even when fruit bunches reached 60 kgs and above. The maximum fruit weight recorded was 64 kgs per bunch.
This is a great saving of ₹2 lakhs per 4 acres in support material cost — bamboo stakes, ropes, and the labour to install them. This is not achievable with flood or drip irrigation, because neither method offers control over the depth of soil wetting. RainGun's rainfall-like pattern allows the organic material in the pit to decompose and bind the root zone uniformly, creating the strong stem base that eliminates staking entirely.
Excellent disease control was also achieved in this plantation — a direct result of RainGun's sequential irrigation pattern. Unlike drip or flood methods that keep the soil continuously wet, RainGun delivers water in cycles that mimic natural rainfall, then allow the soil and foliage to dry — discouraging the fungal conditions that cause most banana crop diseases.
Project at a Glance
| System Type | Permanent RainGun — 2-Step Pillar Design |
| Motor | 10 HP |
| Water Source | Open Well — 60 feet depth |
| Total Area | 4 Acres |
| Crop | Banana — Karpuravalli variety |
| Location | Jolarpettai, Thirupathur, Tamil Nadu |
| Pillar Height (Phase 1) | 7.5 feet — installed when saplings are young |
| Pillar Height (Phase 2) | 13 feet — extended after 6 months as crop grows |
| Crop Height at Maturity | More than 20 feet |
| Irrigation Duration | 4 hours per cycle — complete 4-acre coverage |
| Max Fruit Bunch Weight | 64 kgs — no support stakes required |
| Support Material Cost Saved | ₹2 lakhs per 4 acres |
"This is not possible in Flood or Drip irrigation methods due to no control in depth of wetting. RainGun gives excellent disease control due to sequential rainfall — and the banana stems become so strong that no support material is needed even after 60 kgs fruit weight. Great savings of 2 lakhs rupees per 4 acres."
— Nallamuthu, CEO, Thumba Agro Technologies — from customer project records
Yes — with the right pillar height design. Thumba's 2-step pillar system solves this: first installed at 7.5 feet when saplings are young, then extended to 13 feet after 6 months as the plants grow. This keeps the RainGun head above the canopy at every stage, ensuring uniform irrigation across the full plantation even as the crop exceeds 20 feet in height.
Thumba's banana planting method — a 1.5×1.5×1.5 ft pit filled with agri waste and dung, then progressively backfilled with soil as the plant grows — combined with RainGun's uniform rainfall-like irrigation, produces banana stems with deep, strong root systems. These stems support fruit bunches of 60 kgs and above without any bamboo or rope staking. Flood and drip irrigation cannot achieve this because they have no control over the depth of soil wetting, preventing the uniform root development that provides natural stem strength.
At the Jolarpettai farm, the saving was approximately ₹2 lakhs per 4 acres — the complete cost of bamboo stakes, ropes, and their installation labour. Because the Thumba planting method and RainGun irrigation produce naturally strong stems, zero support materials were required, even with Karpuravalli bunches reaching 64 kgs each.
RainGun delivers water in a sequential, rainfall-like pattern — wetting the soil and foliage, then allowing everything to dry naturally between cycles. This wet-dry cycle discourages the fungal and bacterial conditions that thrive under the continuously wet environment created by drip or flood irrigation. Excellent disease control was recorded at the Jolarpettai farm, reducing chemical treatment needs significantly.
For the Jolarpettai farm — 4 acres, open well at 60 feet depth, 13-foot pillar height — a 10HP motor was specified. The 10HP motor generates sufficient pressure to push water through the 13ft stand height and distribute it across the banana canopy. Only 4 hours of irrigation time completes a full cycle across the entire 4-acre farm.
Tall crop, open well, high yield targets — we design custom pillar heights and planting methods for your specific conditions. Free field study, no obligation.
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