PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF HYDRAULIC PARAMETERS OF A DEVELOPED DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM

Abstract

Experiment was carried out in the department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, during the period of August to October, 2017. The hydraulic performance of a developed drip irrigation system was assessed. The experimental work was conducted on field with irrigated field area of 7 m x 3 m and lateral spacing was 0.35 m. Sixty (60) hospital drip sets (given sets) were used for the experiment as improved emitters. Volumetric method was used to determine application rate (PR) and emitters discharge. The emission uniformity, emitter flow variation, co-efficient of uniformity and co-efficient of variation were determined accordance with the equations described by the American Society of Agricultural Engineering (ASAE). Soil chemical properties were determined accordance with the American Public Health Association (APHA). The findings revealed that the soil in the area is classified as sand clay loam and normal soil. Results indicated that the mean and standard deviation of the emitters were 9.639 L/hr and 0.07 L/hr respectively. There were no emitters clogging. The emitter flow variation was 2.5 % and less than 10 % which was desirable range, while coefficient of variation was 0.07 and less than 0.11 which was marginal. The application rate was 17 mm hr-1 which was within the recommended range of 15 – 25 mm hr-1. The emission uniformity and coefficient of uniformity were 99.4% and 99.2% respectively, which shows that the system was well-designed. This finding indicated that hospital drip sets proved to the high quality. Therefore, it can be used as standard emitter.