Pilancón, fotografía tomada en el Cantón de Paltas, Provincia de Loja, Ecuador (FAO ECUADOR y Ministerio del Ambiente ECUADOR) (Luis Diaz, consultor DS-SLM ECUADOR)

Pilancón (Ecuador)

Pilancón

Description

El Pilancón es un micro-reservorio para almacenar agua ya sea de lluvia y quebradas, y es utilizado para el riego de los cultivos de áreas pequeñas.

Es una estructura formada con hierro, cemento, piedra y ladrillo. Es semejante a un reservorio con la particularidad de estar sobre el nivel del suelo. El volumen de almacenamiento es de 12 m3 en promedio. El agua almacenada es utilizada para los abrevaderos del ganado y para el riego por aspersión o gravedad de los cultivos agrícolas y pastos. El diseño y construcción adecuados de los pilancones son indispensables para asegurar el éxito de estas obras, además de hacerlos más fáciles de cuidar, más seguros y económicos. Es ideal considerar en los aspectos constructivos del reservorio el punto más alto de la finca, de modo que el agua pueda llegar desde este punto hasta cualquier lugar de la propiedad. Sin embargo, no siempre es posible tener las condiciones adecuadas para lograr lo anterior. Si la estructura solo puede ubicarse en un punto muy bajo, será necesario considerar la implementación de bombeo. La selección del sitio adecuado es clave para el éxito del reservorio. Debe tomarse en cuenta la topografía del terreno, la textura del suelo, el destino donde se usará el agua y la disponibilidad de la fuente de agua. Este tipo de reservorio es muy similar al excavado, con la diferencia que el nivel del agua se puede llevar por encima del suelo, mediante la construcción de paredes, principalmente de concreto. Se recomienda para zonas donde otros materiales de construcción no se encuentren disponibles.

Location

Location: Cantón Paltas, Provincia de Loja, Ecuador

No. of Technology sites analysed: 10-100 sites

Geo-reference of selected sites
  • -79.63953, -4.02426

Spread of the Technology: applied at specific points/ concentrated on a small area

Date of implementation: more than 50 years ago (traditional)

Type of introduction
Pilancón, Cantón de Paltas, Provincia de Loja, Ecuador (Luis Diaz, consultor DS-SLM ECUADOR)
Pilancón, Cantón de Paltas, Provincia de Loja, Ecuador (Luis Diaz, consultor DS-SLM ECUADOR)

Classification of the Technology

Main purpose
  • improve production
  • reduce, prevent, restore land degradation
  • conserve ecosystem
  • protect a watershed/ downstream areas – in combination with other Technologies
  • preserve/ improve biodiversity
  • reduce risk of disasters
  • adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts
  • mitigate climate change and its impacts
  • create beneficial economic impact
  • create beneficial social impact
Land use

  • Cropland - Annual cropping, Perennial (non-woody) cropping, Tree and shrub cropping
  • Waterways, waterbodies, wetlands - Main products/ services:
Water supply
  • rainfed
  • mixed rainfed-irrigated
  • full irrigation

Number of growing seasons per year: 2
Land use before implementation of the Technology: n.a.
Livestock density: n.a.
Purpose related to land degradation
  • prevent land degradation
  • reduce land degradation
  • restore/ rehabilitate severely degraded land
  • adapt to land degradation
  • not applicable
Degradation addressed
  • water degradation - Hp: decline of surface water quality
SLM group
  • water harvesting
  • irrigation management (incl. water supply, drainage)
  • home gardens
SLM measures
  • structural measures - S7: Water harvesting/ supply/ irrigation equipment

Technical drawing

Technical specifications
Los pilancones generalmente se construyen de 3 m de ancho por 4 m de largo y 1,5 m de alto lo que da una capacidad de 18 m3 de almacenamiento de agua con una tubería de salida en el extremo bajo de 2" para su distribución.
Es necesario elaborar una base y pilares de hormigón y luego pegar los ladrillos para evitar resquebrajamiento debido a que los suelos donde existen arcillas expansivas someten a la estructura a constantes presiones que sumados al peso del agua almacenada rompen las paredes en corto tiempo.

Establishment and maintenance: activities, inputs and costs

Calculation of inputs and costs
  • Costs are calculated: per Technology unit
  • Currency used for cost calculation: US Dollars
  • Exchange rate (to USD): 1 USD = n.a
  • Average wage cost of hired labour per day: n.a
Most important factors affecting the costs
El costo del material de construcción es el que más contribuye al costo total de la tecnología.
Establishment activities
  1. Limpieza de terreno (Timing/ frequency: None)
  2. Transporte de materiales (Timing/ frequency: None)
  3. Preparación de materiales (Timing/ frequency: None)
  4. Construcción del pilancón (Timing/ frequency: None)
Establishment inputs and costs
Specify input Unit Quantity Costs per Unit (US Dollars) Total costs per input (US Dollars) % of costs borne by land users
Labour
Limpieza de terreno jornal 1.0 15.0 15.0 100.0
Transporte de materiales jornal 2.0 15.0 30.0 100.0
Preparación de materiales jornal 2.0 15.0 30.0 100.0
Construcción del pilancón jornal 4.0 15.0 60.0 100.0
Construction material
Cemento quintal 20.0 8.0 160.0 20.0
Arena m3 2.0 13.0 26.0 20.0
Piedras m3 0.5 24.0 12.0 20.0
Hierro varilla 1.0 16.0 16.0 20.0
400.0 0.25 100.0
1.5 15.0 22.5
Total costs for establishment of the Technology 471.5
Maintenance activities
  1. (Timing/ frequency: None)
Maintenance inputs and costs
Specify input Unit Quantity Costs per Unit (US Dollars) Total costs per input (US Dollars) % of costs borne by land users
Labour
0.3 15.0 4.5 100.0
Total costs for maintenance of the Technology 4.5

Natural environment

Average annual rainfall
  • < 250 mm
  • 251-500 mm
  • 501-750 mm
  • 751-1,000 mm
  • 1,001-1,500 mm
  • 1,501-2,000 mm
  • 2,001-3,000 mm
  • 3,001-4,000 mm
  • > 4,000 mm
Agro-climatic zone
  • humid
  • sub-humid
  • semi-arid
  • arid
Specifications on climate
n.a.
Slope
  • flat (0-2%)
  • gentle (3-5%)
  • moderate (6-10%)
  • rolling (11-15%)
  • hilly (16-30%)
  • steep (31-60%)
  • very steep (>60%)
Landforms
  • plateau/plains
  • ridges
  • mountain slopes
  • hill slopes
  • footslopes
  • valley floors
Altitude
  • 0-100 m a.s.l.
  • 101-500 m a.s.l.
  • 501-1,000 m a.s.l.
  • 1,001-1,500 m a.s.l.
  • 1,501-2,000 m a.s.l.
  • 2,001-2,500 m a.s.l.
  • 2,501-3,000 m a.s.l.
  • 3,001-4,000 m a.s.l.
  • > 4,000 m a.s.l.
Technology is applied in
  • convex situations
  • concave situations
  • not relevant
Soil depth
  • very shallow (0-20 cm)
  • shallow (21-50 cm)
  • moderately deep (51-80 cm)
  • deep (81-120 cm)
  • very deep (> 120 cm)
Soil texture (topsoil)
  • coarse/ light (sandy)
  • medium (loamy, silty)
  • fine/ heavy (clay)
Soil texture (> 20 cm below surface)
  • coarse/ light (sandy)
  • medium (loamy, silty)
  • fine/ heavy (clay)
Topsoil organic matter content
  • high (>3%)
  • medium (1-3%)
  • low (<1%)
Groundwater table
  • on surface
  • < 5 m
  • 5-50 m
  • > 50 m
Availability of surface water
  • excess
  • good
  • medium
  • poor/ none
Water quality (untreated)
  • good drinking water
  • poor drinking water (treatment required)
  • for agricultural use only (irrigation)
  • unusable
Is salinity a problem?
  • Ja
  • Nee

Occurrence of flooding
  • Ja
  • Nee
Species diversity
  • high
  • medium
  • low
Habitat diversity
  • high
  • medium
  • low

Characteristics of land users applying the Technology

Market orientation
  • subsistence (self-supply)
  • mixed (subsistence/ commercial
  • commercial/ market
Off-farm income
  • less than 10% of all income
  • 10-50% of all income
  • > 50% of all income
Relative level of wealth
  • very poor
  • poor
  • average
  • rich
  • very rich
Level of mechanization
  • manual work
  • animal traction
  • mechanized/ motorized
Sedentary or nomadic
  • Sedentary
  • Semi-nomadic
  • Nomadic
Individuals or groups
  • individual/ household
  • groups/ community
  • cooperative
  • employee (company, government)
Gender
  • women
  • men
Age
  • children
  • youth
  • middle-aged
  • elderly
Area used per household
  • < 0.5 ha
  • 0.5-1 ha
  • 1-2 ha
  • 2-5 ha
  • 5-15 ha
  • 15-50 ha
  • 50-100 ha
  • 100-500 ha
  • 500-1,000 ha
  • 1,000-10,000 ha
  • > 10,000 ha
Scale
  • small-scale
  • medium-scale
  • large-scale
Land ownership
  • state
  • company
  • communal/ village
  • group
  • individual, not titled
  • individual, titled
Land use rights
  • open access (unorganized)
  • communal (organized)
  • leased
  • individual
Water use rights
  • open access (unorganized)
  • communal (organized)
  • leased
  • individual
Access to services and infrastructure
health

poor
x
good
education

poor
x
good
technical assistance

poor
x
good
employment (e.g. off-farm)

poor
x
good
markets

poor
x
good
energy

poor
x
good
roads and transport

poor
x
good
drinking water and sanitation

poor
x
good
financial services

poor
x
good

Impacts

Socio-economic impacts
Crop production
decreased
x
increased

crop quality
decreased
x
increased

fodder production
decreased
x
increased

production area (new land under cultivation/ use)
decreased
x
increased

water availability for livestock
decreased
x
increased

irrigation water availability
decreased
x
increased

farm income
decreased
x
increased

Socio-cultural impacts
food security/ self-sufficiency
reduced
x
improved

health situation
worsened
x
improved

Ecological impacts
harvesting/ collection of water (runoff, dew, snow, etc)
reduced
x
improved

soil moisture
decreased
x
increased

soil cover
reduced
x
improved

Off-site impacts

Cost-benefit analysis

Benefits compared with establishment costs
Short-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Long-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Benefits compared with maintenance costs
Short-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Long-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Climate change

Climate-related extremes (disasters)
cold wave

not well at all
x
very well
drought

not well at all
x
very well
landslide

not well at all
x
very well

Adoption and adaptation

Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology
  • single cases/ experimental
  • 1-10%
  • 10-50%
  • more than 50%
Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have done so without receiving material incentives?
  • 0-10%
  • 10-50%
  • 50-90%
  • 90-100%
Has the Technology been modified recently to adapt to changing conditions?
  • Ja
  • Nee
To which changing conditions?
  • climatic change/ extremes
  • changing markets
  • labour availability (e.g. due to migration)

Conclusions and lessons learnt

Strengths: land user's view
  • None
  • None
  • None
  • None
Strengths: compiler’s or other key resource person’s view
  • Mejora la disponibilidad de agua para los abrevaderos del ganado y
    para el riego por aspersión o gravedad de los cultivos agrícolas y pastos
  • Fácil de cuidar, segura y económica
Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: land user's viewhow to overcome
  • None
  • None
Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: compiler’s or other key resource person’s viewhow to overcome
  • Es necesario la disponibilidad de material para su construcción.
  • No es recomendable en parcelas con superficie plana
  • None

References

Compiler
  • Pablo Caza
Editors
  • Carlos Samaniego
Reviewer
  • Giacomo Morelli
  • Nicole Harari
  • Johanna Jacobi
Date of documentation: Nov. 20, 2017
Last update: Jan. 22, 2021
Resource persons
Full description in the WOCAT database
Linked SLM data
Documentation was faciliated by
Institution Project
Links to relevant information which is available online
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareaAlike 4.0 International