DESIGN OF A SOLAR-POWERED INTELLIGENT DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM FOR GARDEN EGG (solanum melongena) and TOMATO (Solanum esculentum) IN MINNA, NIGER STATE – PART I

Abstract

The trend in the advancement of irrigation system in developed nations is rapidly progressing, but reverse is the case in some developing countries with Nigeria inclusive. Irrigation has gone beyond only applying water to plants, but applying good quality water, of the right quantity and at the right time. This can only be achieved when proper design is prioritized. This research paper focuses on the design of a solar-powered intelligent drip irrigation system, which was designed to supply exact water for a small garden egg research plot. Study showed that soil in the study area have higher composition of clay particles, and are therefore classified as clay soil. This was also confirmed by its slow intake rate. The plant water requirements were approximately 4 mmday-1, time of irrigation is around 40 minutes with an average irrigation interval of 5days. The drip laterals, submain and mainline were designed as 0.40cm, 1.50cm and 1.7cm respectively. The pump capacity in kilowatt was computed as 0.046kW, which is approximately 0.1kW. The system is designed to be powered by 4 deep cycle batteries of 808Ah rating that will be charged by 8 mono-crystalline solar panel of 250W rating and a charge controller of 83.33A. It is recommended that selection of items for installation/construction should not be less in capacity compared with the designed ones.