Design of a Drip Irrigation System for Smallholder Vegetable Farming in Sokoto State

This study involves the design and evaluation of a low-cost drip irrigation system suitable for smallholder vegetable farmers in Sokoto State, North West Nigeria. Water scarcity in Sokoto State's semi-arid environment limits dry season vegetable production, which is a critical income source for farming households. Conventional surface irrigation methods waste large volumes of water through evaporation and deep percolation, reducing water availability for irrigation in water-scarce contexts. This study designs a gravity-fed drip irrigation system for a 0.25 hectare onion production plot using locally available materials including polyethylene pipes, drip emitters, a storage tank, and filter assembly. System hydraulic design is performed using Darcy-Weisbach flow equations, and emitter uniformity testing is conducted under field conditions. Water use efficiency and yield outcomes are compared between drip-irrigated and surface-irrigated onion plots over one production season at Sokoto State University of Science and Technology research farm. Findings reveal that drip irrigation reduces water application by 41 percent compared to surface irrigation while achieving onion bulb yields 28 percent higher than the surface-irrigated control, resulting in a 116 percent improvement in crop water productivity. System cost is estimated at 85,000 naira per 0.25 hectare, with a payback period of 1.8 growing seasons. The study concludes that gravity-fed drip irrigation is technically and economically viable for Sokoto smallholder vegetable producers. It recommends a scaled pilot demonstration programme.

Keywords: drip irrigation, smallholder vegetable, Sokoto State, water efficiency, system design.