###### Abstract  
Sprinkler irrigation systems are widely used in medium and large scale farms in different forms. However less types are available to apply in small farms due to their high costs. The current study was done according to a novel cost effective design for a semi-permanent sprinkler irrigation system for small farm owners. The new layout known as Corner Pivot Lateral (CPL) was examined in irrigation test center at Lijian Scientific and Technological Demonstration Park, at Nanning city, China. CPL was implemented without a main/sub mainline pipe, by applying a single pivoting lateral at the corner of the plot that directly connected to the resource to convey water from the pump. The lateral moves around the corner using a rotating elbow in a quadrant pattern manually to cover the entire farm. A conventional semi-permanent system was applied for the same farm as reference. A cost analysis on the required components as well as annual operational costs was carried out for comparison and control. Results showed that a lower system component would be needed for the CPL method. Overall, more than a 15% capital cost reduction with 7% annual cost decrement was achieved for CPL in this experiment comparatively. The Catch can technique was applied to examine the CPL system's efficiency and 79% water distribution uniformity around the sprinkler was obtained. This new method can encourage small estate holders to switch from traditional to pressurized systems which optimizes water application costs. sprinkler irrigation; corner pivot; semi-permanent; cost-effectiveness; sustainability +
Footnote †: journal: Applied Soft  
farms are providing 40% of overall required food [5]. Therefore, research on this area must be done to promote and intensify new irrigation methods implementation, taking into account water application optimization as a global imperative, costs, as well as economic benefits from a farmer's point of view. In general, due to relatively high capital expenses, sprinkler irrigation systems are not so justifiable for smaller farms. On the other hand, in some parts of the world including regions in China, India, Africa and South American countries, whether for traditional or political reasons, the private land ownership system is more highly oriented towards smallholding. Therefore, a cheaper system can address this problem. In this work, by probing the current methods, a new layout has been introduced to more cost-effectively and innovatively enhance the mechanism, which suits small scale plots [6; 7]. Sprinkler systems are more flexible and applicable in different conditions to some extent rather than traditional flood irrigation strategies [8; 9], or trickle [10; 11]. They work with medium (i.e., solid set) to high (i.e., gun) pressure and up to 85% efficiency [12; 13; 14]. Nevertheless, due to high cost requirements, wherever enough supply water is available, they are not the first choice and farmers are not willing to switch from traditional systems to new systems. Indeed, without government funds, in most regions small plot owners would not be able to afford pressurized irrigation. According to different economic studies on sprinkler irrigation systems [15; 16; 17], main/sub mainline length and dimension have a great influence on the system capital and annual costs requirements. Therefore, semi-permanent or portable systems have reduced the pipes and other components to offer a cost-effective option [18; 19]. Mobility of laterals with buried main/sub mainline in a semi-permanent system makes it a desirable alternative with lower capital cost requirement compared to a solid set layout, while portable system offers a totally mobile component (including the mainline) layout to reduce the expenses further [20]. However, this mobility will impose a higher labor requirement as well. As per a recent work [21] a clock hand layout (CHL) technique was applied to reduce the pipe length, diameter and other required components of an ordinary semi-permanent system.