Research
Development of Gravity Drip Irrigation System in Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering Demonstration Farm, Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi
Agriculture is known to accounts for about 70 – 80% use of available water in the world. However, dwindling water availability has made it necessary to improve on the way water is used in Agriculture. Rainfall is the single most important factor affecting crop production. The objective of this study is to develop a gravity drip irrigation system for selected vegetable crops. This study was carried out in Auchi Polytechnic, which is located between latitude 70 10’ and 70 20’ north of the equator and longitude 60 16’ and 60 36’ east of the Greenwich Meridian with an altitude of 207m. Field preparation was done by clearing, ploughing and harrowing. PVC pipes were laid, 2 mm holes was made at distance of 30 cm on the 6 m PVC pipes. Components of drip irrigation system consist essentially of main line, sub mains, laterals and emitters. The main line delivers water to the submains and the submains to the laterals. The set up was tested to determine the uniformity of water emission from the drip emitters into the field, maize, pepper, tomatos was used as the test crops and there was uniform growth observed across the entire field. The low cost drip system developed in this study showed a high level of efficiency and uniformity of water emission across the entire study area.
Estimation of Rainfall Erosivity Index for Auchi, Edo State, using Lombardi’s Method
The erosivity factor in the universal soil loss equation (USLE) provides an effective means of evaluating the erosivity power of rainfall. This study evaluated the erosivity factor based on monthly and annual precipitation rainfall data of Auchi, Edo State covering a period of 2005 – 2014 using Lombardi method (EI =1.03Vd1.51). It was discovered that higher rainfall values resulted in high erosivity index values which was in line with other tropical climates. The average annual erosivity index for the city during the period of study was 587.32 MJ mm/hr. The R2 of 0.651 shows that precipitation alone contributed 65.1% of the erosion risk within the study period. The knowledge of impact of rainfall on erosivity is essential in soil erosion risk assessment and for soil and water conservation planning.
Determination of the Impact of Raindrops on Soils in Auchi Polytechnic using Morganas Splash Cup
Erosion by water, at a global scale, is the main soil degradation process in agricultural areas. Raindrops are among the major soil-detaching agents, and the kinetic energy of falling rain has an important influence on erosion intensity. The aim of this study was to fabricate a Morgan Splash cup and to determine the kinetic energy and amount of soil splashed by raindrops using the splash cup. Three locations were chosen for this study (Agricultural Engineering Demonstration farm (A), e – learning centre (B) and campus two(C)). The result of this study showed that soil splashed was higher in campus 2 with a value of 7 g/m2. The mean soil splashed for the three locations are 1.78, 0.53 and 2.20 g/m2 for field A, B and C respectively. The soil splashed is observed to increase with increased Kinetic Energy of rainfall. Thus, the greater the rainfall and Kinetic Energy, the greater the soil splashed. It is therefore recommended that studies of splash erosion on cultivated land should be carried out to determine the effect of cultivation on the soil in the area.
