Impact of Climate Variability on Irrigation Water Needs and Irrigation Schedules of Maize and Cucumber in Aba, Abia State
2022
Ofordu, C. S. | Okoro, E. O. | Aigbokhan, O. J. | Mba, N. C.
In an attempt to address the discrepancies in the food production and population growth rates in Nigeria, this study estimated the irrigation water requirements of maize and cucumber in Aba, Abia State. Meteorological parameters (rainfall, minimum and maximum temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, sunshine hours) were collected from NiMet Abuja for 20 years (2000 to 2020). CROPWAT version 8.0 was applied to determine the Crop ETo and irrigation schedule of maize and cucumber. The hypothesis: Impact of climate variability does not influence irrigation of maize and cucumber was tested using Pearson correlation coefficient. The result shows that during the early and late planting season of maize, the crop water used are 338.6mm and 276.6mm, effective rainfall 478.8mm and 782.8mm and the total rainfall 740.0mm and 1028.6mm. For cucumber, the water used by the crop is 334.9mm and 285.8mm, and effective rainfall 332.6mm and 663.9mm. There was no irrigation schedule for maize and cucumber during the early and late plating seasons. It shows that water requirement for maize and cucumber was enough during the seasons. The highest crop ETo and temperature was in the month of March (4.57mm/day) and January (33.7°C). The study also reveals that the impact of climate change on irrigation water need at 0.05 significant level is IR=192.811-0.089(TR). The result shows a negative slope (-0.089), which means a negative relationship between Irrigation required and total rainfall over the 20 years period. This indicates that as rainfall increases, irrigation required decreases. The study therefore, suggests that maize and cucumber should be planted in Aba all year round; since there is enough rainfall for the crop.
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