Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, March, 2018; Vol.

14(1):134-142
Copyright © Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Print ISSN: 1596-2490, Electronic ISSN: 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

IRRIGATION WATER REQUIREMENT FOR A MODEL DATE PALM (Phoenix dactylifera)

FARM UNDER DRIP IRRIGATION IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI
A.Y. Arku1* and S. S. Garba2
*1Department of Agricultural and Environmental Resources Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria
2
Department of Civil and Water Resources Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria
*
Corresponding Author: arku@unimaid.edu.ng Mobile Phone: +234(0)8020322898

Abstract
Irrigation Water Requirement (IWR) under drip system was computed for a model date palm farm in the
University of Maiduguri, 240 x 232 m in dimension, 10 m row to row and 8 m plant to plant totaling 750 trees in
all. The peak and minimum values of ETo were 7.01 mm/day in June and 3.2 mm/day in December. The
maximum crop evapotranspiration (ETc) of 217.31 mm/day computed was at developmental and mid growth
stages which occurred in May. The peak value of water requirement considered as gross irrigation water
requirement (Gir) was computed as 1,535,190 litres/year. The net irrigation water requirement (Nir) for the area
under consideration at at 90 % application efficiency (Ea) was 1,381,671 litres/year. It is therefore recommended
that the computed values be applied on experimental basis to validate the water requirements for field work.

Key words: drip irrigation, water requirement, date palm, peak, evapotranspiration, growth stages

1. Introduction
Water scarcity and desertification are serious challenges in arid and semi-arid regions. Agriculture
utilizes almost 70 % percent of available freshwater in the world (UNEP and UN-Habitat, 2010), and
judicious use of water resources must be emphasized for crop production. Population growth in the
country has led to increase in demand for potable water and water require for irrigation and other
domestic uses. Agriculture and industries are the major users of water and they generate wastewater and
effluent that pollute surface and groundwater.
Date palms do often tolerate intake of too much water especially in uncontrolled flow from artesian
wells (Dowson, 1982). In drip irrigation, crop roots will grow towards wetted area (hydrotropism) unlike
other methods such as sprinkler, furrow and border in which the area is completely wetted. Roots are
found as far as 25 m from the palm and deeper than 6 m, but 85 percent of the roots are distributed in the
zone of 2 m deep and 2 m on both lateral sides in a deep loamy soil (Munier, 1973) and a rooting depth
of 0.20 m is considered adequate (Liebenberg and Zaid, 2002.)

In Namibia, the trend is to have a 10 × 8 m spacing, 10 m between rows and 8 m in the rows. Some
private farmers also use an 8 × 8 m spacing but, it is not advisable to use a narrower spacing (Zaid,
2002). Zaid (2002) also reported that the usage of micro irrigation is recommended due to the sandy
soils where date palm is commonly grown, and this type of irrigation efficient. Care should however be
taken that no water is sprayed into the crown of the small palm.
Since the global population is rapidly increasing with corresponding increase in demand for water,
judicious utilization of available water resources is important.
The main objective of this study is to determine the appropriate quantity of water needed by date palm
using established standard methods.in drip irrigation.

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Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, March, 2018; Vol. 14(1):134-142. ISSN 1596-
2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng

2. Materials and Methods

2.1 The Study Area
The study was conducted in the University of Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria. This research was
conducted in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria and lies between latitude 11°
51´ N and longitude 13° 05´ E at an altitude of 354 m above sea level. It has light annual rainfall of about
300 mm. Its average daily temperature ranges from 22 – 35 °C, sometimes with mean of the daily
maximum temperature exceeding 40 °C between March and June before the onset of rains in July to
September(Arku, 2016). A model date palm farm (Figure 1) was earlier designed (5.568 ha) in
dimension for 750 trees spaced 10 m row to row and 8 m plant to plant.

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the model date palm farm

2.2. Computation of Irrigation Water Requirement

Different methods were used to calculate the water requirements of different crops which depend largely
on the crop evapotranspiration. As a result, numerous methods have been developed and adopted for
date palms. Some of these methods are more accurate than others and some more convenient to use than
others, because of the availability of information for the site where the date trees will be planted. These
include Blaney-Criddle, Evaporation pan, Solomon and Kodama's Equation and Penman-Monteith
methods.

2.2.1 The Penman-Monteith Method

The FAO-56 Penman-Monteith method is widely accepted as the most accurate method of calculating
water requirements for crops and is also recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO). This method makes use of daily climatic information (e.g. maximum and minimum
temperatures, wind velocity, humidity and radiation per day) to calculate the reference evaporation ETo.

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Arku and Garba: Irrigation water requirement for a model date palm farm (Phoenix dactylifera) under drip
irrigation in the University of Maiduguri. AZOJETE, 14(1):134-142. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818,
www.azojete.com.ng

Due to the relative complexity of the formula, it is best used with the help of a computer program. The
CROPWAT software uses the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith method for calculating reference crop
evapotranspiration and assisting in crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling calculations
(Smith, 1992). It is most preferred to the older FAO 24 procedures which are no longer used due to
over-estimation of evapotranspiration. The Penman-Monteith equation (1) is:

900
0.408( Rn  G )   U 2(es  ea )
ETo  T  273 ...(1)
   (1  0.34U 2)
Where:
ETo is the reference evapotranspiration, mm/day
Rn is the net radiation at the crop surface MJ/m2 day
G is the soil heat flux density, MJ/m2 day
T is the mean daily air temperature at 2 m height, °C
u2 is the wind speed at 2 m height, m/s
es is the saturation vapour pressure, kPa
ea is the actual vapour pressure, kPa
es - ea is the saturation vapour pressure deficit, kPa
∆ is the slope vapour pressure curve, kPa/ °C
ᵞ is the psychrometric constant, kPa/ °C

The equation uses standard climatic records of solar radiation (sunshine), air temperature, humidity and
wind speed. To ensure the integrity of computations, the weather measurements were made at 2 m (or
converted to that height) above an extensive surface of green grass, shading the ground and not short of
water. Using the conversion factor in equation (2),

4.87
U 2  Uz … (2)
ln(67.8 z  5.42)
Where; z = 10 m for the study area U2 = 0.75, the wind velocities were converted to standard values at 2
m. Using CROPWAT 8.0, the ETo values were computed. Calculations of ETo of the study area was
done with the Cropwat 8.0 as shown by Arku (2016).

2.2.2 Computation of Crop Water Requirements

In Table 1 below, the various parameters are also used when computing the irrigation water
requirements for date palm at different growth stages. This is in addition to the climatic data(average
sunshine hours, temperatures, relative humidity and rainfall) of the study area. The COPWAT 8.0 was
then used to compute the monthly ETo of the study area which in turn used in computing the ETc
values.

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2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng

Table 1: Crop data for date palm

Crop name: Date Palm
Growth stage Init Dev. Mid Late Total
Length Days 150 35 150 30 365
Crop coefficient coeff. 0.80 0.80-1.00 1.00 0.80
Rooting depth meter 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00
Depletion level fraction 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50
Yield response factor coeff. 0.80 0.80 0.80 0.80 0.80
Init = initial stage growth , Dev. = Developmental growth stage
Source: Liebenberg and Zaid, 2002

The Kc values for date palm are 0.8, 1.0, 1.0 and 0.8 for initial, development, mid and late growth
stages, respectively. Using the formula in equation (3),

WR  EToXKcXCpX A (Bissrat et al., 2001) …(3)

Where:
ET is evapo-transpiration (mm per day)
Kc is crop factor,
Cp is canopy factor,
A is the Area in sq. meter
WR is Water Requirement, Litres/day
Canopy factor is the percentage area covered by plant canopy (foliage). It varies as per the growth stage
of the plant. In this study, canopy factors were considered as 0.20, 0.40, 0.60 and 0.80 for initial,
development, mid and late growth stages, respectively.
Area of orchard plant is the multiplication of the distance from plant to plant (m) and distance from row
to row (m) by the number of row and column.
Then the water requirement can be computed for each growth stage as shown in equations (4), (5), (6)
and (7)
WR  16ETC L/day for initial stage … (4)
WR  32ETC L/day for development stage … (5)
WR  48ETC L/day for mid stage … (6)
WR  64ETC L/day for late stage … (7)
It must be noted that Average Annual Rainfall considered for Maiduguri is 300 mm and fully establishes
by July and ends September. Rainfalls in other months were considered negligible. For Practical
purposes, water application would be assumed to be uniform for all the growth stages.

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Arku and Garba: Irrigation water requirement for a model date palm farm (Phoenix dactylifera) under drip
irrigation in the University of Maiduguri. AZOJETE, 14(1):134-142. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818,
www.azojete.com.ng

2.2.3 Computation of the net irrigation water requirement (Nir) and gross irrigation requirement
(Gir)
The net irrigation requirement is expressed in equation (8)
Nir  CWR  LR  Ws  Pe … (8)
Therefore, this can be used to determine the Irrigation water requirement during rainy season.
Where:
Nir is the net irrigation, mm
ETc is the crop evapotranspiration, mm
LR is leaching requirement, mm
Ws is off-season soil moisture carry-over, mm
Pe is the effective rainfall, mm
Soil moisture studies as reported by Dastane (1978) were used in obtaining the effective rainfall. Where
the soil electrical conductivity is less than 4.0 dS/m, there is no need for computing the leaching
requirement (Ayers and Westcot, 1985). Based on the findings of Arku and Musa (2014), there is no
need for leaching the soil in the study area. Hence, the Leaching Requirement is zero (LR= 0) and Ws =
0.
Therefore, the net irrigation requirement reduces to equation (9) and gross irrigation requirement is
expressed in equation (10)
Nir  WR  Pe … (9)
Gir  Nir / Ea … (10)
An application efficiency (Ea) of 90% as considered as the common practice.
Assuming an irrigation interval in equation (11) as
dn
Iv  (Schwab et al., 1993) ….(11)
ETm
Where;
Iv = irrigation interval (day), dn = net depth of irrigation (mm) and ETm = max. Etc (mm/day)
Assuming a maximum wetted area of about 1 m2 (1 m by 1 m) for a drip irrigation for tree crop with L =
10 m and S = 8 m.
ETo and when kc = 1.0 for peak use rate, then ETm or ETc maximum = 7.01 mm/day from Results and
equation (12), volume of water requirement on the farm is

WR  EToXKcXCpX A (Bissrat et al., 2001) …(12)

3. Results and Discussion

Soil particle size analysis at the study area was found to have the percentage contents of sand, silt and
clay were 62.30 %, 20.10 % and 17.60 %, respectively. This means the soil type was sandy loam which
was in agreement with the classification of Arku and Musa (2014.
Table 2 represents the computed mean monthly evapotranspiration using the CROPWAT 8.0 software
based on the climatic data obtained. From the Table, the peak ETo value of 7.01 mm/day was in May

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Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, March, 2018; Vol. 14(1):134-142. ISSN 1596-
2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng

which is similar to that of Chineke et al (2011). This is as a result of the high temperature observed in
the month. Table 3 shows the computed monthly cop evapotranspiration (ETc) in the study area at
different growth stages. The ETc values were the same at both initial and late growth stages because
same Kc value of 0.8 was used while the ETc values are also the same at both development and mid
growth stages because the same Kc value of 1.0 was used in the computation. Therefore, the highest
values of ETc obtained in May are 173.91, 217.31, 217.31 and 173.91 mm/month for initial,
development, mid and late growth stages respectively.
WR is 5.608 litres/day per plant of the date palm tree based on maximum ETc. For 30 days (a month),
WR is 168.24 litres/month for May of every year.
Again, for 750 date palm trees, WR is 4206 litres/day for maximum water requirement.
Annual water requirement for 365 days for the total 750 date palm trees based on the wetted area of 1 m
by 1 m.
WR for the whole in 365 day with peak water use rate is 1,535,190 litres with 5.608 litres per day per
date palm tree.

However, it must be noted that for the months of July, August and September, the Water Requirement
could be less since the rains fully get established within this period. Hence, a 50 % daily application of
this amount will be adequate. If 1,535,190 litres/year is considered as gross water requirement (Gir),
then the net irrigation water requirement (Nir) is 1,381,671 litres/year at an application efficiency (Ea)
of 90 %.

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Arku and Garba: Irrigation water requirement for a model date palm farm (Phoenix dactylifera) under drip irrigation in the University of Maiduguri.
AZOJETE, 14(1):134-142. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

Table 2: Computed Mean Monthly ETo values using CROPWAT 8.0

Country: Nigeria Station: Maiduguri NI65082 Elevation: 354 m
Location: Latitude 11o51' N Longitude: 13o 05' E
o
Month *T C *RH, % *Uz, U2, *S, h Rad, ETo
Min. Max km/day km/day MJ/day.m2 mm/day
JAN 12.60 31.90 18.67 87.43 65.57 8.2 18.8 3.63
FEB 15.30 34.60 14.25 110.09 82.57 8.4 19.9 4.37
MAR 19.70 37.80 11.50 116.60 87.45 8.2 21.1 5.06
APR 23.90 40.10 21.38 126.80 95.10 8.0 21.8 5.75
MAY 26.00 44.10 35.00 170.67 128.00 9.3 23.8 7.01
JUN 24.50 36.40 49.50 139.83 104.87 8.6 22.2 5.57
JUL 22.90 33.20 63.52 101.81 76.36 7.1 19.8 4.50
AUG 22.30 32.00 72.17 106.17 79.63 6.8 19.7 4.33
SEP 22.40 33.70 64.30 80.45 60.34 7.8 21.3 4.64
OCT 20.70 36.40 45.67 79.17 59.38 9.2 22.8 4.90
NOV 16.00 34.20 22.08 73.07 54.80 9.6 21.8 4.08
DEC 13.10 32.30 19.58 56.34 42.26 9.4 20.20 3.32
*Source: NIMET Centre, Maiduguri, 2010
Note: T: Temeperature RH: Relative Humidity Uz: wind velocity at a given height Uz: Wind velocity at 2 m Rad.: Radiation S: Sunshine hours
ETo: Reference Evapotranspiration

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Table 3: Monthly ETc values for date palm at different growth stages
No. of ETc ETc Development ETc Mid ETc Late mm/day
days Initial mm/day Kc=1.0 mm/day Kc=0.8
mm/day Kc=1.0
Kc = 0.8
JAN 31 2.90 3.63 3.63 2.90
FEB 29 3.50 4.37 4.37 3.50
MAR 31 4.05 5.06 5.06 4.05
APR 30 4.60 5.75 5.75 4.60
MAY 31 5.61 7.01 7.01 5.61
JUN 30 4.46 5.57 5.57 4.46
JUL 31 3.60 4.50 4.50 3.60
AUG 31 3.46 4.33 4.33 3.46
SEP 30 3.71 4.64 4.64 3.71
OCT 31 3.92 4.90 4.90 3.92
NOV 30 3.26 4.08 4.08 3.26
DEC 31 2.66 3.32 3.32 2.66

4. Conclusion and Recommendations

4.1 Conclusion
Drip Irrigation water requirement for date palm model farm 240 x 232 m (5.568 ha) in the University of
Maiduguri was computed using the appropriate FAO approved methods. The net irrigation water
requirement (Nir) and gross irrigation water requirement (Gir) were 1,535,190 litres/year is considered
as gross water requirement (Gir) and the net irrigation water requirement (Nir) is 1,381,671 litres/year.

4.2 Recommendations
This study will therefore help in minimizing wastages of available scarce water resources in the study
area. It is therefore recommended that the irrigation water requirements be applied on research basis to
check lapses in the computed values for subsequent improvements in field applications.

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