1.0 INTRODUCTION
Irrigation is the controlled application of water for agricultural purposes through manmade systems to supply water requirements not satisfied by rainfall. Crop irrigation is vital throughout the whole world in other to provide the world’s ever growing populations with enough food. The role of irrigation is to supply each plant with just the right amount of water it needs. Many different irrigation methods are used worldwide, including; centre pivot, drip, flood, furrow, gravity, rotation, sprinkler, sub irrigation, travelling gun etc.
The improved multipurpose drip irrigator is designed to improve fluid discharge efficiency and contribute substantially to improve crop productivity. The drip irrigation is a type of pressurized irrigation that involves applying liquid directly to the plant’s root using mechanical and hydraulic devices, thereby reducing the amount of water loss due to evaporation effect. This device is highly used in irrigation which replenishes the nutrients consumed by the crops or provides water required for softening the soil to make it workable for agricultural activities. The goal of irrigation is to supply each plant with just the right amount of water and nutrients needed.
Various designs of irrigation devices for micro irrigation scheme have inadequate design consideration with designers not really taking into account the kind of materials used in fabrication, as well as the headaches faced by the operators of this piece of equipment in moving the rocker bar up and down continuously to create a pressure difference throughout the period of irrigation. Designers also more often don’t adapt the equipment for other purposes like weed control pest control etc. Finally one major problem associated with most of the irrigation devices is the inefficiency of water getting to the plant root due to evaporation on the soil surface, thus the need for a modification in this project.
The ultra aim is to increase crop yield as a contribution to agricultural development. Also specific objectives are outlined below
The study involves an x-ray of various devices used for micro irrigation. It also covers conceptual and detailed design of the question. It covers the detailed drawing, construction, costing and testing of the device.
The significance of this project work includes: