Field Evaluation of Tomato Yield Affected by Uniformity of Sprinkler-Applied Water

Ransford Opoku Darko^1,2*, Shouqi Yuan¹, Livingstone Sam-Amoah², Junping Liu¹ and Zakaria Issaka³

¹Research Centre of Fluid Machinery Engineering and Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China
²Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Cape Coast, Central Region, Cape Coast, Ghana
³Department of Agricultural Engineering, Tamale Technical University, Northern Region, Tamale, Ghana

*Corresponding Author: Ransford Opoku Darko, Research Centre of Fluid Machinery Engineering and Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China.

Received: May 21, 2018; Published: July 11, 2018

Citation: Ransford Opoku Darko., et al. “Field Evaluation of Tomato Yield Affected by Uniformity of Sprinkler-Applied Water". Acta Scientific Agriculture 2.8 (2018).

Abstract

  All irrigation systems apply water nonuniformly to a varying degree; yet the nonuniformity of the applied water can significantly affect the final yield of the crop. In our study, growth parameters, crop water productivity and yield of tomato were observed to be largely affected by irrigation uniformity. A newly designed and built linearly moved irrigation system with operating pressures (P) of P₁-10psi, P₂-15psi, and P₃-20psi with sprinkler heights varying at h₁-100 cm and h₂ -150 cm from the ground were utilised in the experimental set up. Our findings indicated that minimum values of distribution uniformity (70.39%) and coefficient of uniformity (82.30%) were observed at P₁h₁, whereas the maximum values (88.44% and 91.17% respectively) were obtained at P₃ h₂. Under P₃h₂ treatment, the highest values of plant height (60.7 cm), stem girth (0.96 cm), number of leaves per plant (26.4), number of fruits per plant (10) and fruit yield (15.10t ha-1) were recorded. Also, the lowest yield (0.86 kg m-3) was recorded under P₁ h₁ treatment. However,under treatment P₃h₂ , CWP value of 2.00 kg m^-3 was highest. The results under this experimental, environmental and similar geo-hydrological condition are recommended to operate the sprinkler irrigation system for maximum crop productivity.

Keywords: Crop Water Productivity; Growth; Sprinkler Irrigation Uniformity; Tomato; Yield

Copyright: © 2018 Ransford Opoku Darko., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.