DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF MICRO-SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEM USING ONION FOR SUSTAINABLE DRYLAND AGRICULTURE
Most irrigated farming clusters in the dry land areas of Nigeria, design micro sprinklers for small scale irrigation farming are lacking. The design of a micro sprinkler irrigation using onion crop is needed for small-holder farmers that grows vegetables using a surface flooding system of irrigation. This practice is unsustainable in the dry lands where resources are scarce. The evaluation parameters used were the operating pressure, discharge efficiency and uniformity of distribution. The result of the average discharge at an operating pressure of 2 kg/cm2 had an average discharge of 9.32 l/min while at the maximum selected operating pressure of 4 kg/cm2 the average discharge was 10.38 l/min; hence, the discharge of the sprinkler increases with an increase in operating pressure. micro-sprinkler discharge efficiencies obtained at 2 kg/cm2, 3 kg/cm2 and 4 kg/cm2 were 61%, 54% and 60.7% respectively, with an average discharge efficiency of 58.6%. The highest distribution uniformity was 79% and was obtained at an operating pressure of 4 kg/cm2 with 0.95 m riser height while the lowest was 60% which was obtained at an operating pressure of 3 kg/cm2 with riser height of 1 m. The evaluation revealed that the design meets up the requirement for the standard design of sprinkler irrigation systems and recommends for smallholder farmers in the dry lands.
Authors : Maina, M.M. and Luqman, Z.A.
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 8(2) Date Uploaded : 28th January 2023