PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF AKPOSOE MAIZE VARIETY UNDER DIFFERENT WATER PLACEMENT DEPTHS

Mensah , Seth Junior Supervisor: Dr E. Ofori

INTRODUCTION
Water deficit is the most important environmental factor limiting yields in agriculture( Hanson, E.G (1974) Agriculture gives accounts of about 70 80% use of available water in the world. However, dwindling water availability has made it necessary to improve on the way water is used in Agriculture (Duhrkoop et al., 2009)

Efficient water use is becoming very important and alternative water application methods such as drip and sprinkler irrigation can be contributed substantially in making the best use of the scarce available water for crop production.

INTRODUCTION CONTD
Irrigation
Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil or plant, in the required quantity and at the time needed Irrigation supplements inadequate or irregular rainfall caused by climate change to increase yield (Bierman, P. (2010)
Surface Sub-surface Sprinkler Drip

INTRODUCTION CONTD

Maize( Zea mays L.)

Maize is much greater in number grown by small scale farmers with small farm sizes (FAO, 1998) who cannot afford the cost of initial establishment and maintenance of irrigating equipment. Not ignoring this importance, productivity of maize in farmers fields throughout the country under rain-fed is generally low due to poor rainfall pattern.

INTRODUCTION CONTD
Variety; Akposoe Uses; economic plant

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

A significant amount of water is lost through evaporation when water is applied on the surface Excessive application of water generally entails losses because of surface run-off from the field and deep percolation below the root zone within the field Run-off and deep percolation losses are difficult to control under surface irrigation system, where a large volume of water is applied on the field

JUSTIFICATION
Drip irrigation being an alternative water application method allow for better uniform distribution and also more precise control of the amount of water applied and decreases nutrient leaching (Phene et al. 1994) Drip irrigation makes it possible to place water precisely where and when needed with a high degree of uniformity and efficiency (90% or more)

OBJECTIVES
To assess maize growth parameters under; Irrigation On the soil surface (0cm) Sub-surface (20cm) depth Sub-surface (40cm) depth No irrigation

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Site: Department of Agriculture Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

The soil of the study area is sandy-loam

MATERIALS AND METHODS CONTD

Materials: PVC pipes, length 6m and 22.5mm 16 drip holes of diameter 2mm Drip holes with intervals of 0.35m Rain gauge Tape measure Spirit level 25L plastic container

PVC Pipes being laid

Pipes under sub-surface depth

Drip irrigation now set

Experiment design: Randomized Complete Block Design ( RCBD) a) 4 treatments b) 2 replications

Treatments:
Treatment1(T1): 0cm Treatment2(T2): 20cm depth Treatment3(T3): 40cm depth Treatment4(T4): No irrigation

5 plants in each treatment are selected for the following readings

o Plant height (PH) o Leaf Length (LL) o Number of leaves (NL) o Stem girth (SG) o Leaf diameter (LD)

DATA ANALYSIS

Data will be analyzed by means of ANOVA using Randomized complete block design (RBCD)

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