Performance Evaluation of a Drip Irrigation System inside the Automated Greenhouse in Huye Ecological Condition

Abstract

This research, titled Performance Evaluation of a Drip Irrigation System inside the Automated Greenhouse in Huye ecological Condition, was carried out in the Research Center of Integrated Polytechnic Regional College (IPRC)-Huye Campus, which is located in the Ngoma Sector of Huye District of Rwanda, in 2023. The study has mentioned the specific objectives of determining the average emitter discharge of the irrigation system, evaluating Christiansen Coefficient Uniformity (CU), and evaluating the distribution uniformity (DU) of the system. The research design was a randomized complete block design with four replications. The experiment was conducted on 24 laterals and 288 drippers installed in the greenhouse. Each lateral had an equal distance of 36.5m and carried 94 total drippers. Data analysis of variance (ANOVA) and LSD for means were used as statistical tools in MINITAB software version 17. The confidence interval was 95%. The obtained results indicated an average discharge (q) of 3.98 L/h in the drip irrigation system, coefficient uniformity (CU) of 99.96%, and distribution uniformity (DU) of 57.72%. The research concludes that the performance of irrigation systems is excellent for water application. However, the way water is distributed in all systems is poor. In addition, the drip irrigation system may reach an adequate level of performance when it works in a shifty manner.