Hello nairalanders, want to use this opportunity to thank all those on this forum who have shared information for free to inspire others for the benefit of the Nigerian youth.
. I am very passionate about energy solutions and agriculture as I these are the main drivers of the ever complicated, interconnected globalized economy of the 21st century.
Due to my very busy schedule I wanted to adopt irrigation methods that saved me time.
Without boring you all with too much “yarns”, I would like to share my experience growing ugu in the dry season using clay pot, deep pipe and wick irrigation.
Why I Choose Ugu.
One of the biggest challenges faced by commercial farmers is deciding which crop to grow, and why you should grow it. A host of factors should be considered in coming to a decision. A wrong decision at this point of deliberation can spell doom to a farmer even before any hoe or cutlass is raised.
After careful analysis and much deliberation I choose ugu because it not news that it is probably the most sought after vegetable in Nigeria, at least in the southern part and it has huge export potential if it can be produced in massive quantities. If I ever decide to go into commercial farming ugu would be my go to plant. So I set out to plant this wonder vegetable for the first time and it has totally won me over.
First thing I noticed with the plant is that no two seeds sprouts the same way, here’s what I mean if you have planted corn or tomatoes you will observe that all seeds will grow in a uniform manner with regards leave size and plant height. Ugu is different each plant is a unique individual; some will sprout with thick steam and broad leave other thin steam and also the general pattern of the leaf shape and sizes varies as well.. I found this very intriguing.
Secondly it’s a very easy plant to grow and very rugged plant that can withstand a host of pest and diseases if planted and managed properly.
Ok moving forward I didn’t just want to grow ugu for the sake of it, I wanted to grow it using the most water efficient irrigation technique possible , and the systems must easy to install and maintain, to the extent that the most illiterate farmer could use, so drip irrigation and rain guns did not fit the bill.
So I started my research on the internet and I was (still am) absolutely gobsmacked as to the techniques that are out there but people know little to nothing about.
My labourer in Chief and first officer a very intelligent guy from Nassarawa Ali Musa could not understand why I was going through all the hassle to irrigate a small parcel of land I was farming that had a borehole, water tank and hose, he said oga all this one na waste of money just give me key I go wet am for you morning and evening.
Why was I going through all these stress when I could just follow Musa’s advice? Globally, agriculture uses around 70% of freshwater supply. But water sources are increasingly under threat. Thanks to climate change, annual rainfall in some regions of Africa is expected decrease. Droughts will be more frequent, more intense and will last longer, so it is imperative that increasing water efficiency has to be a key strategy in the watershed management for future sustainability of agriculture.
Also Irrigation has played an important role in agricultural modernisation around the world and was vital to Asia’s Green Revolution. So why, in Africa, is irrigation coverage so low? FAO statistics show that African countries currently irrigate only 5.4% of their cultivated land, compared to a global average of 20 %, and 40 % in Asia. Clearly things need to change.
That is why I set to research irrigation techniques that’s will be adaptable to farmers cultivating small to medium parcels of land, as these farmers will continue to produce the bulk of the food we consume in Nigeria at least for the foreseeable future, and also for young educated Nigerian alike who are looking to venture in agriculture and have little or no knowledge how to efficiently manage one of the most, if not he most important agricultural input, WATER!!.

CLAY POT IRRIGATION
Clay pots may be the most efficient method of irrigation in dry lands and arid regions known to humanity due to the micro porous (unglazed) walls that do not allow water to flow freely from the pot, but guides water seepage from it in the direction where suction develops. The clay pots works with water pressure. It’s best to keep the pot full for two reasons. When the unglazed pot is full and the soil pulls, water seeps through the pot walls to hydrate roots.
Keeping the pot full of water also prevents salts from accumulating on the sides, which makes the pot less efficient by blocking the water flow.
Personally I found this technique to be the most efficient method, in terms of water and labour use, as the pots only need to be refilled every three days. The water uptake of a different plant can increase or reduce the frequency of refills.
One thing that can make this system even more amazing is if a sort of piping system can be developed so pots can be filled much quicker. The pots can be adapted to different plants, greenhouse and even aesthetic effect for landscapers.

WICK IRRIGATION
A wick watering system for potted plants employs a soft fabric string or ribbon, known as the wick. You'll find one end of the wick buried in the potted plant's soil, with the other hanging in a bucket or bottle of water. Water flows up the wick through a scientific principle known as capillary action and waters the plant with just the right amount of moisture. The beauty of wick irrigation is when you understand the principle you can adjust the design to suit your specific needs. Although I did not use sacks as a growing medium this method would be ideally suit suited to sack farming.
To fully enjoy the labour saving potential of the wick irrigation a big reservoir should be used, in my case I used 75 cl plastic bottle and this was used up in a day. I used mop cotton as my wicking material. Lastly when the water level in your reserve drops to about a quarter of the total capacity wick rate slows down tremendously so it is advised that the reserve is topped up before getting to that level.
I found this method to be my second favourite as it is very cheap, offers great water use efficiency; however a labour saving wick irrigation would depend on the quality of the design adopted by the farmer. The bigger the reserve the less you have to top up.
DEEP PIPE IRRIGATION
Deep pipe irrigation uses an open vertical or near vertical pipe to concentrate irrigation water in the deep root zone. This was my least favourite personally due to not saving much on labour.
Having said that it is super-efficient in getting water to the root level of the plant very quickly, without run off and evaporation problem and it’s also very cheap and easy to install. So for my farm I used a 2 inch pipe, drilled 4 holes on the side 1 ½ inch apart and the length of the pipe was 1 ½ ft. This method is best suited for trees and orchards. If I was to ever grow bitter leaf commercially this is the irrigation method I will use with a slightly modified design to improve labour savings.
The aim of this small scale study was not ascertain the effect of the irrigation on the yield; however from general observation plants irrigated using clay pots did seem to do better than other techniques.
Thank you very much for taking your time out to read I will be looking forward to answering whatever questions you might have.
Enjoy the pictures
For enquires related to my gas business you can contact me on tobi.osibanjo@el-gas.com for other inquiries you can reach me on tobi.osibanjo@gmail.com . Thank you

pictures

buried clay pot seeping water slowly at root level for the plants

deep pipe, for quick and efficient watering directly to the roots of the plant

pouring water into the pipe

wicking material

my little wick irrigation contraption that actually works

Waowwwwwwww

Agricultural innovations


Keep it up bro

the lickle farm

Good innovation where can i get those wicks to buy or can i use stove wicks

There is so much the mind can achieve.

Yes the wick in your stove will work, however it is possible it will deteriorate over time, but it will work

i really enjoin ur post, its good education for wud b farmers especially in arid regions where getting water is difficult. having said this, i will proceed to note an error i notice in your farm if u may permit me.
i noticed u used raised beds to grow ur vegetables instead of flat beds, u may think this doesnt matter but it does from a stand point of research i hav been conducting also. u see we use raised bed especially to drain excess water away from the crop in cases of too much rain, and here ure talking about conservation of water using raised bed! actually, u could try flat beds and give a moderate amount of water then try and note if they can witstand or do better vegetatively, the solution might hav been as simple as changing tillage type in the region where u are... also, not all crops enjoy deep watering system... i know tomatoes does but i dont know abt ugu... and in a case of growing hectares of land this might be laborious and expensive. therefore i might suggest reorientation of tillage choice like the use of flat beds drip irrigation dat can conserve water enormously while suppressing weed growth and others.. thank u.

Very impressive work. Very innovative ideas brought to the fore, and tested to observe results. Kudos.

majorgr:
i really enjoin ur post, its good education for wud b farmers especially in arid regions where getting water is difficult. having said this, i will proceed to note an error i notice in your farm if u may permit me.
i noticed u used raised beds to grow ur vegetables instead of flat beds, u may think this doesnt matter but it does from a stand point of research i hav been conducting also. u see we use raised bed especially to drain excess water away from the crop in cases of too much rain, and here ure talking about conservation of water using raised bed! actually, u could try flat beds and give a moderate amount of water then try and note if they can witstand or do better vegetatively, the solution might hav been as simple as changing tillage type in the region where u are... also, not all crops enjoy deep watering system... i know tomatoes does but i dont know abt ugu... and in a case of growing hectares of land this might be laborious and expensive. therefore i might suggest reorientation of tillage choice like the use of flat beds drip irrigation dat can conserve water enormously while suppressing weed growth and others.. thank u.

.
Hello good day, thanks for taking time out to read the post. With regards to the tillage ,I must admit you do have a point but the beauty of agriculture is we all have to be holistic with our approach as one size cannot fit all. My instinct tells me high bed are to prevent your field from being water logged which will be disastrous to any farm in a similar way your gutter prevents flooding on your street. And from your write up you said "drain excess water" but the water used via the clay pot is not excess but just the right amount. The biggest threat to water loss is evaporation which I noticed early on , I mulched one bed to see if they would be any savings on water and the clay pots in the mulched bed went a day or two more than the unmulched bed.
Also I agree that not all crops like a deep watering system but so far with my little research I think ugu does just fine with as it also has a very aggressive root system. I would imagine some plants won't like it but I do not know of any.
Thirdly I also agree that I might be impractical to have a raised bed one say a hectare of land, for such an operation I think ploughing to loosen the soil might suffice , just as I might not be practical to make trellis like I did in my garden.
Lastly with regards drip irrigation, whilst it's a very noble system that changed the landscape of agriculture in Israel, the problem I have with it is not with the technology per say but amount of technical know how that the farmer has to posses to maximize efficiency. Often times when a problem arises the installer has to be called to rectify which in the end can be a burden.
Clay pot irrigation isn't perfect aswell but what I like about it is the simplicity of the system which even the most illiterate farmer can quickly grasp. We are currently doing research and development on a system that links the clay pots to a piping system which will make refilling less labour intensive.
Thank you

can I work with you to provide a solution..

Nice 1

Hello Sir, pls can you share us update about your research?. Tx Sir