Performance Evaluation of Drip Irrigation Systems on Production of Okra (Hibiscus esculentus) in Southwestern, Nigeria

This study was carried out to evaluate the performance of drip irrigation systems on the production of okra (Hibiscus esculentus) in southwestern, Nigeria. Application of water to crops in an area of scarcity of water is very important to meet the food demand of the ever-increasing population and modified irrigation techniques that can assist the okra farmers to have affordable irrigation systems that will get them great yields at the end of the season was evaluated in this paper. A field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research farm of Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering Department, School of Engineering Technology, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado, Ekiti - State, Nigeria. The field area of 150 mby 400 m was properly cleared, stumped, ploughed and harrowed. The topography of the land was flat with its suitable soil structure, texture, retention capacity and loamy clay soil. The cultivated area of land was divided into three and on each experimental plot, high yield and disease resistant okra variety seeds obtained from a research institute (IITA) were carefully selected and planted at a regular interval of 0.6 m. Drip laterals were laid in between rows of okra plants with inline drippers at a spacing of 20 cm. The parameters measured include okra seed germination, plant height, stem girth, number of leaves and yield production. The study also includes soil properties, crop water requirement and crop water use efficiency. There were no significant difference in the okra agronomic parameters at each experimental plots under drip irrigation system. The water applied to crop was greater than the actual crop water requirement and the efficiency of the drip irrigation was 68.5%. There is high in seed germination percentage in with 3.5%, 3.6% and 3.8% at each experimental plot respectively. The selected okra agronomic parameters showed that okra performed very well under drip irrigation systems. Based on the results, water application through drip irrigation has a positive impact on growth and vegetative development of okra.