Design and Evaluation of an Affordable Drip Irrigation System for Backyard Garden in the Forest-Savannah Transition Zone of Ghana
Keywords:
Drip irrigation, uniformity coefficient, flow variation, Coefficient of variation.Abstract
The paper sought to design and evaluate a simple and affordable drip irrigation system for improving yield in backyard maize in Ghana. The design consisted of locally made system using easily available materials. The system was calibrated to obtain uniform flow. Hydraulic performance of the system was determined. A Randomize Complete Block Design with three depth treatments (T1=0cm, T2= 20cm and T3 = 40cm) and four replications was used. Plant parameters such as height, leaf length, leaf diameter and stem girth were measured weekly. The uniformity coefficient (UC) ranged from 98 to 99.8% signifying excellent water uniformity application. However, Flow and Coefficient of Variation (CV) values were below standard (ranged between 57.62 % to 60.60 % and 19.8 % to 23 % respectively) due to variation in pressure head. Maize growth under the developed drip lines gave good results in all the growth parameters and yield except the T3 but were statistically similar in all the treatments.
References
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[10] Vijayakumar G., Tamilmani, D. and Selvaraj, P.K. (2010). Irrigation and fertigation scheduling under drip irrigation in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) crop. Int. J. Bio-res Management, 1(2), 72-76
[11] El-Hendawy, S.E., E.M. Hokam, and Schmidhalter, U. (2008). Drip irrigation frequency: the effects and their interaction with nitrogen fertilization on sandy soil water distribution, maize yield and water use efficiency under Egyptian conditions. J. Agron. Crop Sci., 194, 180-192
[12] Asenso, E. , Ofori, E. and Agyei-Agyare, W. (2015). Design and evaluation of simple pvc drip irrigation system . LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing
[13] Meteorological Service Agency (2002). Annual Report.
[14] Crop Research Institute (CRI) (2011). Factsheet for Maize Production. CRI, Fomasua-Ashanti.
[15] ASAE. (1996). Field evaluation of microirrigation systems. EP405.1. ASAE Standards. Amer. Soc. Agric. Engr., St. Joseph, MI. Pp. 756-759
[16] Merriam, J., and Keller, J., (1978). Farm Irrigation System Evaluation. A Guide for Management, Agriculture and Irrigation Engineering Department, Utah State University. pp 120-230.
[17] Solomon, K.. (1979). Manufacturing variation of trickle emitter, Trans. ASAE 22(5): 1034-1038, 1043.
[18] Bralts, V.F., D.M. Edwards, and Wu, I.P. (1997). Drip irrigation design and evaluation based on statistical uniformity concepts. Advances in irrigation. 4:67-117
[19] Valiahary, S., Sadraddini, A..S., Nazemi, A..H. and Heris, A..M. (2014). Field Evaluation of Emission Uniformity for Trickle Irrigation Systems (Case Study: Sattarkhan Irrigation Network). Agriculture Science Developments Vol(3), No (6), June, 2014. pp. 205-208.
[20] Vanderhoef, L. N., and Briggs, W. R. (1978). Red Light-inhibited Mesocotyl Elongation in Maize Seedlings. I. The Auxin Hypothesis. Plant Physiology 61: 534-537.
[21] Lamm, F.R., and Camp, C.R. (2007). Subsurface drip irrigation. Microirrigation for crop production design, operation and management, Eds. Lamm, F.R., Ayars, J.E., and Nakayama, F.S. Elsevier, Pp: 473-551.
[2] Breisinger, C., Diao, X., Thurlow, J. and Al. Hassan R. (2008). Agriculture for Development in Ghana. International Food Policy Research Institute and University of Ghana, Paper to be presented at the PEGNet Conference. Assessing Development Impact – Learning from Experience. Accra (Ghana), 11 – 12 Sep. 2008 Page 2.
[3] FAO Statistical Databases (2008). FAOSTAT: Agriculture Data. Available online: http://faostat.fao.org
[4] PPMED. (1998). Annual sample survey of agriculture, Ghana (1997). Regional and District cropped area, yield and production estimates. Agricultural statistics and Census Division, Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Accra.
[5] SARI. (1996). Savanna Agricultural Research Institute. Annual Report.
[6] Ohemeng-Dapaah, S. (1994). Analysis of daily rainfall data and its application to maize production in the transitional zone of Ghana. pp 173-179. In Progress in food grain research and production in semi-arid Africa (Eds Menyonger et al.,) Proceedings, SAFGRAD Inter-works Conference, Niamey, Niger, 7-14 March, 1991.
[7] Kasei, C.N., Mercer-Quashie, H. and Sallah, P. Y. K.. (1995). Identifying probable dry periods in maize production under a monomodal rainfall regime in Northern Ghana. pp 255-263. In Contributing to food self-sufficiency: maize research and development in West and Central Africa (ed. Badu-Apraku et al.). Proceedings of a regional maize workshop, May 29-Jun. 2, 1995, IITA. Cotonou, Benin
[8] Abd El-Wahed, M.H., and Ali, E.A. (2013). Effects of irrigation system, amounts of irrigation water and mulching on corn yield, water use efficiency and net profit. Agric. Water Manag., 120 (31), 64-71
[9] Feleafel, M.N. and Mirdad, Z.M. (2013). Optimizing the nitrogen, phosphorus and potash fertigation rates and frequency for eggplant in arid regions. Int. J. Agric. Biol., 15(4), 737-742.
[10] Vijayakumar G., Tamilmani, D. and Selvaraj, P.K. (2010). Irrigation and fertigation scheduling under drip irrigation in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) crop. Int. J. Bio-res Management, 1(2), 72-76
[11] El-Hendawy, S.E., E.M. Hokam, and Schmidhalter, U. (2008). Drip irrigation frequency: the effects and their interaction with nitrogen fertilization on sandy soil water distribution, maize yield and water use efficiency under Egyptian conditions. J. Agron. Crop Sci., 194, 180-192
[12] Asenso, E. , Ofori, E. and Agyei-Agyare, W. (2015). Design and evaluation of simple pvc drip irrigation system . LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing
[13] Meteorological Service Agency (2002). Annual Report.
[14] Crop Research Institute (CRI) (2011). Factsheet for Maize Production. CRI, Fomasua-Ashanti.
[15] ASAE. (1996). Field evaluation of microirrigation systems. EP405.1. ASAE Standards. Amer. Soc. Agric. Engr., St. Joseph, MI. Pp. 756-759
[16] Merriam, J., and Keller, J., (1978). Farm Irrigation System Evaluation. A Guide for Management, Agriculture and Irrigation Engineering Department, Utah State University. pp 120-230.
[17] Solomon, K.. (1979). Manufacturing variation of trickle emitter, Trans. ASAE 22(5): 1034-1038, 1043.
[18] Bralts, V.F., D.M. Edwards, and Wu, I.P. (1997). Drip irrigation design and evaluation based on statistical uniformity concepts. Advances in irrigation. 4:67-117
[19] Valiahary, S., Sadraddini, A..S., Nazemi, A..H. and Heris, A..M. (2014). Field Evaluation of Emission Uniformity for Trickle Irrigation Systems (Case Study: Sattarkhan Irrigation Network). Agriculture Science Developments Vol(3), No (6), June, 2014. pp. 205-208.
[20] Vanderhoef, L. N., and Briggs, W. R. (1978). Red Light-inhibited Mesocotyl Elongation in Maize Seedlings. I. The Auxin Hypothesis. Plant Physiology 61: 534-537.
[21] Lamm, F.R., and Camp, C.R. (2007). Subsurface drip irrigation. Microirrigation for crop production design, operation and management, Eds. Lamm, F.R., Ayars, J.E., and Nakayama, F.S. Elsevier, Pp: 473-551.
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Published
2016-11-11
How to Cite
Kotei, R., Atakora, E. T., Asiedu, E. K., & Hope, K. N. (2016). Design and Evaluation of an Affordable Drip Irrigation System for Backyard Garden in the Forest-Savannah Transition Zone of Ghana. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences, 26(2), 190–199. Retrieved from https://asrjetsjournal.org/index.php/American_Scientific_Journal/article/view/2149
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