Performance Evaluation Of Bamboo-Pipe (Bambusa Vulgaris, Schrad) And Medi-Emitter In A Gravity-Flow Drip Irrigation System
Keywords:
Bamboo, medical infusion set, drip irrigation, variation, uniformity, growthAbstract
The use of bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris, Schrad) in gravity - flow drip irrigation was evaluated at the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Ado Ekiti, Nigeria with leaf amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) as test crop. The system involved the use of bamboo as the conveyance structure and medical infusion sets as dripper to deliver water to the field at 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 drops of water/minutes. The variation in discharge ranged from 6.35 to 10.21 percent as the flow rate decreases from 30 to 10 drops of water/minute. The study revealed that there was an increase in plant height on average of four weeks after sowing while an optimum yield of 4.13Kg/m2 was recorded from 15 drops of water/minute. This is a new dimension in affordable drip irrigation technology and an avenue to exploit local and cheap materials whose propagation should be emphasized.
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