IRRIGATION WATER SCHEDULING OF THE DRIP SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATION AND CONSERVATION IN AGRICULTURAL CULTIVATIONAL FARMS

Abstract

This work, conducted in Ozoro, Nigeria, encompassed the water schedule of the drip irrigation system for automation and conservation in agricultural cultivation farms. Corn was used in four growth stage categorization. The root zone features like the rooting depth and the soil type were used in determining the net irrigation, while other parameters like the irrigation efficiency, gross irrigation depth, evaporation, water schedule, number of irrigations, and irrigation interval were also obtained. It was found that the root zone had a shallow rooting depth of 30 cm to 60 cm, with soil types of sandy and loamy. The corn number of cultivation in days was 143 days. Net irrigation was 15 mm and 20 mm for sandy and loamy respectively. Irrigation efficiency was 90 %. Gross irrigation depth was 17 mm and 22 mm, respectively. Evaporation was 8 mm. Water scheduling was 2 and 3 days, respectively. The number of irrigation schedules was 4 and 4.4 irrigations. And, schedule irrigation interval was 20 and 18 days, respectively. Observationally, the combination of scheduling and the drip techniques in the irrigation system established a higher level of automation goals attainable in the farm land, and inturn provided more conservation than could have been achieved individually. These data are vital for decision making in agricultural farms, especially in the deployment of irrigation automation prior to automatic water timers, maintaining notable efficient irrigation, and conservation of natural resources like soil and water, and artificial resources like human labour and machines in cultivational farms.