Development and Performance Evaluation of Rainwater Harvester for Drip Irrigation of Juvenile Citrus Orchard

Abstract

Water crisis is assuming a more explosive and dangerous phenomenon due to stiff competition and demand between domestic use and agricultural activities. Farmer friendly and affordable indigenous water harvesting structure was developed and evaluated for the Farming systems research citrus expansion orchard at the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan. The structure, made of bamboo materials and polyethylene sheets was constructed to harvest rainstorm and stored in plastic reservoirs between September and October 2007. The aim was to apply the water for drip irrigation of young citrus seedlings during the dry months of November until the on-set of rainfall. Six thousand litres of water were harvested. Drip irrigation system was connected to the rainstorm harvester to facilitate application of water to the young citrus seedlings planted at 7m by 5m spacing. Water application at the drip rate of 2.4 l/hr was done in split-plot fitted into randomized complete block design at one, twice and thrice per week with three replications under four fertilizer sources (poultry, horse, cow manures and urea fertilizer). Base line growth data for citrus at the initial watering stage stands at 139 for number of leaves, 83.5 cm for plant height, and 12.3 mm for stem diameter. Watering thrice per week under poultry manure was found to produce the best growth parameters. Generally, the structure was discovered to be cost effective, water saving, adoptable and affordable by farmers with little or no maintenance or educational background.