MASTER THESIS ON IRRIGATION PROBLEMES IN

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
A.A 2010-2011

TOPIC: DESIGN PROPOSAL OF DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM

FOR AN EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT OF IRRIGATION WATER
FOR MAIZE IMPROVED SEEDS PRODUCTION IN A PART OF
SEEDS FARM OF LOUMBILA

By:

BAMOUNI Souleymane

Supervisor:

Dr. SOLINAS Ivan

Thesis Submitted to the Istitut Agronomico per l’Otremare, in

Fulfillment of Requirement for Degree of Master
June 2011

1
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted in the context of our master thesis. The study is carried
out to recover a part of the seed farm of Loumbila in the region of Central
Plateau/Burkina Faso.
Indeed the aim of the study is to recover 12 hectares of non-functional part of
existed surface irrigation scheme and contribute to improve irrigation water
management on the site in order to increase productivity, quality and profitability in
the context of the fight against food insecurity and poverty.
To achieve this goal, we proposed a drip irrigation system design. For the study of
the design, the total area is divided into 06 blocks of 2 hectares each and each block
has 8 plots of 0.25 ha for each famer. The design of the irrigation system has been
conducted only on a single plot (0.25 ha) and witch is downstream of the scheme. All
blocks and plots have the same characteristics (dimensions, surface, and demand of
water, 9 m3).
However in the implementation of the project on all 12 ha of the site, the technical
data of the studied plot will be reproduced on other forty seven (47) plots.
One could say that the study has a double objective because it will also allow us
to compare in many levels the two systems of irrigation practiced in the site, the
surface irrigation and the new drip irrigation scheme. It is an opportunity to
contribute to popularize the drip irrigation system to famers in Burkina Faso.
Results of the study showed that the system works very well on the whole
perimeter. We need 01 h 55 to irrigate the plot of 0.25 ha with a uniformity of 96%
of distribution. And also the flow rate of the pump used (Q=80m 3/ha) allows to
irrigate one block (02 ha) at the same time.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The success of this study was the work and sacrifice of several people to whom I
owe gratitude.
Among those involved from afar or close to that success, I would especially like to
thank my wife Ms. BAMOUNI/SAWADOGO Aminata and my son BAMOUNI
Cherif Ben Sidi
I would like to thank my parents, brothers and sisters and may God grant them good
health and long life.
I also want to thank sincerely the Director of Development of Irrigation Facilities and
the Irrigation of Agriculture Ministry of Burkina Faso and all his officers for their
support and multifaceted encouragements.

Special thanks are due to the General Director of the IAO and the entire staff.

My thanks also go to the place of all the lecturers, particularly Pr. Elena Bresci and
Pr. Falchai during various theoretical courses for making me a man seasoned in
irrigation.

I thank Dr SOLINAS Ivan for the supervision of my thesis work. I also thank Dr. Paolo
Enrico SERTOLI and Mr Andrea Merli for having assisted and accompanied us
throughout the training in many levels.

At last, my thanks go to my friends and colleagues who gave me mental and

scientific support to complete this study.

Thank you very much to every body!

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DEDICATION

Dedicated to:

From the depth of my hearth I dedicate this

thesis to my beloved

 father: BAMOUNI Idrissa,

 mother: KAMA Ebou Amy,
 wife: SAWADOGO Amy,
 son: BAMOUNI Cherif Ben Sidi,
 and siblings.

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Principle of surface irrigation ................................................................................................. 11

Figure 2: Overview of the study site and the dam ................................................................................ 23

Figure 3: View of New LocClim .............................................................................................................. 24

Figure 4: Presentation of characteristics of the soil.............................................................................. 26

Figure 5: Uniformity of irrigation determination .................................................................................. 28

Figure 6: Irrigation network for twelve ha ............................................................................................ 34

Figure 7: View of a plot with drip lines ................................................................................................. 35

Figure 8: View of drip lines and spacing ................................................................................................ 35

Figure 9: Characteristics of the pump ................................................................................................... 41

LISTE OF TABLES
Table 1: Data of precipitation of the study area ................................................................................... 18

Table 2: Climatic data of the study area ............................................................................................... 19

Table 3: Data of the study site .............................................................................................................. 22

Table 4: Precipitation and ETo data from New LocClima ...................................................................... 24

Table 5: Data for uniformity determination.......................................................................................... 27

Table 6: Data of the study soil............................................................................................................... 26

Table 7: Data of crop irrigation schedule .............................................................................................. 30

Table 8: Different volume of water ....................................................................................................... 33

Table 9: Net irrigation requirements ...............................................Errore. Il segnalibro non è definito.

Table 10: Characteristics of the pipe..................................................................................................... 36

Table 11: Characteristics of materials and equipment used................................................................. 36

Table 12: Crop irrigation schedule ........................................................................................................ 39

Table 13: Scheme of supply .................................................................................................................. 40

LISTE OF MAPS
Map 1: Map of the Province of Oubritenga/Burkina Faso ……………………………………………………………..…16

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ABBREVIATIONS
ADB: African Development Bank

BOAD : Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement

DIPAC: Développement de l’Irrigation Privée et des Activités Connexes

ETo : Reference Crop Evapotranspiration

EU: European Union

FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations

GDP: Goss Domestic Product

IAO: Istituto Agronomico per l’Otremare

IDB: Islamic Development Bank

JNP: Journée Nationale du Paysan

MAHRH: Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Hydraulique et des Ressources Halieutiques

PAFR : Plan d’Action pour la Filière Riz

Peff: Effective Rainfall

PET : Potential Evapotranspiration

PSSA: Programme Spécial de Sécurité Alimentaire

PRP: Projet Riz Pluvial

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TABLE CONTENT
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................iii

DEDICATION ................................................................................................... iv

LIST OF FIGURES ..............................................................................................v

LISTE OF TABLES ..............................................................................................v

LISTE OF MAPS ................................................................................................v

ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. vi

I INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1
1.1 Justification of the study.................................................................................................................1

1.2 Aim and objective of the study ......................................................................................................3

1.3 Statement of research problem ....................................................................................................3

II- LITERATURE REVIEW AND DESCRPTION OF DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM ....... 5

2.1 Some concepts................................................................................................................................5

2.1.1 General definitions of Irrigation ................................................................................................. 5

2.1.2 Definition, principles and objectives of Drip irrigation system .............................................. 5

2.1.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Drip irrigation ................................................................. 6

III PRACTICE OF IRRIGATION IN BURKINA FASO .............................................. 9

3.1 Typology of irrigation systems ......................................................................................................9

3.1.1 Large irrigated schemes (large-scale public irrigation schemes) ........................................ 9

3.1.2 Medium irrigated perimeters ..................................................................................................... 9

3.1.3 Small irrigation schemes ........................................................................................................... 9

3.1.4 Lowlands schemes ................................................................................................................... 10

3.2 Systems of irrigation .................................................................................................................... 10

3.2.1 Surface irrigation and means of water pumping .................................................................. 10

3.2.2 Sprinkler irrigation system ........................................................................................................... 12

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3.2.3 Drip irrigation system ............................................................................................................... 13

3.3 Mobilization of water resources for irrigation ........................................................................... 13

3.3.1 Dams or water impoundment .................................................................................................. 13

3.3.2 Pool of water .............................................................................................................................. 13

3.3.3 Borrow areas ............................................................................................................................. 14

3.3.4 Mobilization of groundwater .................................................................................................... 14

IV METHODS AND MATERIALS ......................................................................15

4.1 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 15

4.1.1 Choice of the topic of the thesis and the site of study......................................................... 15

4.1.2 Subdivision of the study site in blocks and plots………………………………………………………………………15

4.1.3 Literature review ....................................................................................................................... 15

4.1.4 Choice of working tools and collection of data ..................................................................... 15

4.1.5 Writing the thesis ...................................................................................................................... 15

4.2 Overall description of the area ................................................................................................... 16

4.2.1 Location of the site ................................................................................................................... 16

4.2.2 Climatic conditions .................................................................................................................... 16

4.2.3 Soil description .......................................................................................................................... 17

4.2.4 Irrigation water resources ........................................................................................................ 17

4.2.5 Cropping pattern ....................................................................................................................... 17

4.3 Climatic data used ....................................................................................................................... 17

3.3.1 Precipitation ............................................................................................................................... 17

4.3.2 Temperature .............................................................................................................................. 18

4.3.3 Solar radiation ........................................................................................................................... 18

4.4 Land tenure and Famer’s organization ..................................................................................... 19

4.5 Physical infrastructure ................................................................................................................. 19

4.6 Constraints .................................................................................................................................... 20

4.7 Impacts of the study .................................................................................................................... 20

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4.7.1 Economic impacts..................................................................................................................... 20

4.7.2 Environmental impacts............................................................................................................. 20

4.7.3 Social impacts ........................................................................................................................... 21

V- COMPUTATIONS AND DISINGN .................................................................22

5.1 Google earth and the site dimensions determination ............................................................. 22

5.1.1 Description of Google earth .................................................................................................... 22

5.1.2 Dimension of the site determination ...................................................................................... 22

5.2 New-LocClim_1.10 and climatic data ....................................................................................... 23

5.2.1 Description of New-LocClim_1.10 .......................................................................................... 23

5.2.2 Climatic data determination..................................................................................................... 24

5.3 SPAW and soil data determination ........................................................................................... 25

5.3.1 Description of SPAW ................................................................................................................ 25

5.3.2 Soil data determination ............................................................................................................ 25

5.4 VeProLGs (1.6.0) and design parameter determination ........................................................ 26

5.4.1 Description of VeProLGs ......................................................................................................... 26

5.4.2 Data for Irrigation Uniformity distribution Determination ..................................................... 27

Using these data in the software, one obtains the figure below. ................................................. 27

5.5 CROPWAT 8.0 and Crop Water Requirements and irrigation scheduling.......................... 28

5.5.1 Description of CROPWAT 8.0 ................................................................................................ 28

5.5.2 Determination of crop irrigation schedule ............................................................................. 30

5.6 EPANET 2.0 and design of the irrigation scheme .................................................................. 31

5.6.1 Description of EPANET 2.0 ..................................................................................................... 31

5.6.2 The plan of irrigation scheme.................................................................................................. 32

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VI RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ......................................................................33
6.1 Irrigation requirements ................................................................................................................ 33

The volume of water for maize cultivation on 0.25 ha is 2 062.5 m3. ......................................... 33

6.2 Duration of irrigation .................................................................................................................... 33

6.3 The irrigation network .................................................................................................................. 34

6.4 Different pipe sizes ...................................................................................................................... 36

6.5 Characteristics of the irrigation network at a plot .................................................................... 36

CONCLUSION.................................................................................................37

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................38

ANNEXES .......................................................................................................38

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I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Justification of the study

The Istituto Agronomico per L'Oltremare (IAO) is a technical-scientific branch of the

Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working to fight world poverty and hunger. The
Institute is involved in Development Cooperation initiatives on integrated rural
development, environmental and natural resources management, fight against
desertification and food security.

The Institute's mission is: "To conceive and implement, on behalf of the Italian
Development Cooperation, in partnership with local people, research, studies,
technical assistance and training initiatives with the aim of reducing hunger and
poverty, developing and managing agricultural and environmental resources in a
sustainable way". Among the facilities offered by IAO, this Institute holds master's
Degree courses in Geomantic and Irrigation at the location of participants from
developing countries. It is within this context that the fourth edition of the Master in
Irrigation, with the participation of fifteen people from Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana,
Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, and Senegal was held.

Moreover, as in any academic diploma training, after the theoretical and lecture
phase, each student must conduct a study on a given thesis to enable him to
understand and experiment the field realities. Thus, for the conduction of our thesis,
we chose a scenario on irrigated agriculture in Burkina Faso.
Burkina Faso's economy is predominantly agricultural. Indeed, the agricultural sector
represents about 40% of GDP (25% agriculture, 12% livestock, forestry and fishing
3%) and provides employment and income for the vast majority of the population. It
provides over 80% of export earnings and its ripple effects support secondary and
tertiary sectors, thereby strengthening the overall dynamics of the national economy.
It is an extensive farming and low productivity.

Potential irrigable low exploited: The potential irrigable land resources of the country
are estimated at 233,500 ha. In 2004, the Ministry of Agriculture, Hydraulic and
Fishery Resources (MAHRH) estimated at 32 258 ha of irrigation schemes with 12
058 ha for large irrigated areas, 3 000 ha for medium schemes, 10,000 ha for small
irrigation schemes and 7200 ha for lowland. According to 2004 estimations of

1
MAHRH, the average used is around 20 000 ha with 42.5% operated in total control
of water, 30% and 22.5% respectively operated in lowland and small irrigation
schemes (Rapport de formulation du programme regional de développement durable
de l’agriculture irriguee dans le plateau central, Decembre 2010=Report of diagnostic
for the formulation of regional sustainable development program for irrigated
agriculture in the Region of Central plateau, December 2010).

Strategies have been developed with the droughts of the 1970s involving the
control of irrigation water in order to improve agricultural productivity. Indeed
several types of irrigation schemes were then created, including the large schemes
and the construction of many small dams and associated perimeters, but the results
so far have been mixed with inadequate infrastructure valued and whose
management is largely in deficit. Learning from these shortcomings and limitations of
these different types of irrigation schemes in a context of poverty and about the
persistence of weather conditions and low productivity of rainfed agriculture, the
Government decided to review its options and guidelines and defined a national
strategy for sustainable irrigated agriculture, underpinned by three key ideas:

 The dynamism of individual initiatives to develop an informal irrigation sector

oriented towards the production of high value crop. It is in this context that the
Government has initiated with support from the World Bank, the Pilot Project
of Private Irrigation Development and Related Activities (DIPAC);
 Development of the Small Villagers Irrigation, idea from the Sixth National
Farmer's Day (JNP) held in Banfora in May 2001. The Program for the
Development of Small Irrigation (PPIV), supported by Highly Indebted Poor
Countries resources, the Special Program for Food Security (PSSA),
supported by FAO and actions developed by local NGOs, are the major
elements;
 The Government's willingness to undertake actions to promote medium and
large irrigation schemes with active promoters, private investors, local
communities and farmer organizations. Many technical and financial partners
(ADB, BOAD, IDB, Kuwait Fund and Saudis, Bilateral Cooperation, EU ...)
have contributed so these various types of development.
In view of these successful experiments, the existence of potential in ground, water
and irrigation schemes insufficiently valued, the Government has decided on a

2
rereading of these options and these guidelines, which led to the development with
support from Development Partners (World Bank, FAO, ADB ...), of the document
"National Policy for Development of Irrigated Agriculture. "

However, irrigated agriculture has many problems among which we have:

 Tenure persistent insecurity linked to difficulties in applying the legislation
governing the land until the last moments: the RAF (Agrarian Reform and
Land), the cooperative Act and specifications on the occupation and
exploitation of irrigation schemes were inapplicable;
 Weakness of famers organizations with the consequent of inability to solve the
problems upstream (acquisition of inputs ...), at level (management of
infrastructure facilities of irrigation ...) and downstream (marketing, access to
market, storage and processing ...) of production;
 The problem of shortage of irrigation water due to silting of dams and channels
of irrigation, mismanagement of water added to evaporation and infiltration
excess.
 Degradation of several hydro agricultural schemes due to their obsolescence,
poor execution, poor maintenance and piracy of some irrigation systems.

1.2 Aim and objective of the study

The aim of the study is to recover twelve (12) hectares non-functional and
contribute to improve irrigation water management on the site in order to increase
yield of seeds production in the context of the fight against food insecurity and
poverty. Local production and availability of improved seeds is necessary in the
context of increased climate change.

1.3 Statement of research problem

Given the problems facing irrigated agriculture in Burkina Faso in general, and
particularly those of the site subject to our study, we proposed this study to recover
12 hectares, totally not in use. To conduct the study, we have chosen the following
topic: “Design proposal of Drip Irrigation system for an efficient management of
irrigation water for maize improved seeds production in a part of seeds farm of
Loumbila”. For the study of the design, the total area is divided into 06 blocks of 02

3
hectares each and each hectare has four (4) plots of 0.25 ha. The design of the drip
irrigation system has been conducted only on a single plot of 0.25 ha. However in
the implementation of the project on all 12 ha of site, the technical data of the studied
plot will be reproduced on 47 other plots and height (8) plots (02 ha) will be irrigated
per in the same time.

This study will also allow us to compare in many levels the two systems of
irrigation practiced in the site, the surface irrigation and the new drip irrigation
scheme. It is an opportunity to contribute to popularize the drip irrigation system in to
famers in Burkina Faso.
Our study is divided into five main parts that are: literature review, irrigation
practice in Burkina Faso, method and materials, design and computations, results
and discussions.

4
II- LITERATURE REVIEW AND DESCRPTION OF DRIP
IRRIGATION SYSTEM
2.1 Some concepts

2.1.1 General definitions of Irrigation

A technique that involves artificially providing crops with water to enable them to
grow. This technique is used in farming to enable plants to grow when there is not
enough rain, particularly in arid areas. It is also used in less arid regions to provide
plants with the water they need when seed setting.
When using irrigation due to insufficiency of rainfall to allow crop growing, irrigation is
said to be supplementary; witch is the process of distribution additional water to the
crop with the objective of stabilizing and increasing yield, in environments where the
given crop is usually grown under rainfed agriculture.
In arid and semi arid areas, irrigation is used for production during the dry season in
the absence of rain, irrigation is said full. Related to full irrigation, one can use
sometime deficit irrigation to save water. Indeed deficit irrigation is an optimization
strategy in witch irrigation is applied during drought-sensitive growth stages of a crop
(Water report 22: Deficit Irrigation Practices, FAO).

2.1.2 Definition, principles and objectives of Drip irrigation system

Localized or drip irrigation is the slow application of water to the soil through
mechanical devices called emitters, located at selected points along the water
delivery line.
The different types of localized irrigation comprise: drip, micro-jet, also known
as jet spray, and micro-sprinkler irrigation. All localized irrigation systems
consist of a pumping unit, a control head, main and sub-main pipes, lateral
and emitters(Irrigation Manual: Planning, Development, Monitoring and Evaluation
of Irrigated Agriculture with famer Participation, Developed by Andres P. SAWA,
Karen FREKEN, Volume IV) .
The filtrated water, at times mixed with nutrients move through the system
losing its pressure in the emitters from where it’s discharged in small volumes.
The movement of the water through the soil is mostly by unsaturated flow.

5
In drip irrigation, also called trickle irrigation or localized irrigation, the water is
led to the field through a pipe system. On the field, next to the row of plants or
trees, a tube is installed. At regular intervals, near the plants or trees, a hole is
made in the tube and equipped with an emitter. The water is supplied slowly,
drop by drop, to the plants through these emitters.
According to FAO (1984), drip irrigation was first used in glass houses in
England in the late 1940s, the importance of drip irrigation grew with the
development of cheap plastic pipes and fittings. It be mentioned that buried
clay pots, which can be considered as a form of localized irrigation, were used
in Iran for the irrigation of trees long before the development of modern
localized irrigation systems (Irrigation Manual: Planning, Development, Monitoring
and Evaluation of Irrigated Agriculture with famer Participation, Developed by Andres
P. SAWA, Karen FREKEN, Volume IV) .
The early field work on modern drip irrigation system was carried out under
desert conditions and sandy soil, where superior performance was
demonstrated in relation to surface and sprinkler irrigation under these
extreme conditions. After more than 20 years of research, trials and field used
world wide, localized irrigation systems have proven to be the most efficient
means of water distribution and application and an ideal way of supplying the
plants with nutrients.
The objectives of drip irrigation are:
 Bring water and locally in the root zone;
 Ensure the supply in a high frequency;
 Low-flow supplying to permit a low variation of moisture.

2.1.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Drip irrigation

2.1.3.1 Advantages of localized irrigation

Many claims as to the advantages of localized irrigation have been and are still being

made. Currently the following advantages are recognized (Irrigation Manual:

6
Planning, Development, Monitoring and Evaluation of Irrigated Agriculture with famer

Participation, Developed by Andres P. SAWA, Karen FREKEN, Volume IV):

 The evaporative component of evapotranspiration is reduced, as only a

limited area of the soil wetted. This is more prevalent for young trees;

 The limited wetted area in reduced weed growth ;

 The slow rate of water application improves the penetration of into

problematic soil;

 The higher degree of inbuilt management that localized irrigation offers

reduces substantially deep percolation and runoff losses, thus attaining higher

irrigation efficiencies. Consequently localized irrigations is considered as

water-saving technology;

 The very frequent irrigation attainable through localized irrigation system

results in more diluted salts in the soil moisture solution and pushes (leaches)

these salts to the sides of wetted volume of the soil. Hence, water of higher

salt can be used with this system;

 The moisture availability to the plant at low tension results in faster growth,

higher yield and better quality;

 Since fertilizers can be injected into the system in a controlled manner,

fertilizer losses substantially reduced under localized irrigation;

 The controlled water and fertilizer application, attainable with localized

irrigation, makes this system more environmentally and health friendly

2.1.3.2 Disadvantages of localized irrigation

The major disadvantages of drip irrigation are:

 Localized systems are prone clogging because of the very small aperture of
the water emitting devices. Hence the need for proper filtration and, at time,
chemigation;

7
 The movement of the salts to the fringes of wetted area of the soil may cause
salinity problems through the leaching of the salts by the rain to main root
volume. This can be avoid if the system is turned on when it rains, especially
when the amount of rain is not enough to leach the salt beyond the root zone
depth;
 Rodents, dogs and other in search of water can damage the lateral lines;
 For crop of very high population density, the system may be uneconomic
because of the large number of lateral and emitters required.

8
III PRACTICE OF IRRIGATION IN BURKINA FASO
This part of our thesis report is about the practice of irrigation in Burkina Faso. It
focuses indeed on different existing schemes, irrigation systems and irrigation
facilities. It is also the place to discuss of different kinds of the mobilization of water
resources for irrigation.

3.1 Typology of irrigation systems

The definition of types of facilities is based on the most important criteria are: size,
management style, crops and the status of ownership. In Burkina Faso there are
essentially four (4) types of irrigation schemes that are: large schemes (major
perimeters), medium schemes, small irrigation facilities and lowland.

3.1.1 Large irrigated schemes (large-scale public irrigation schemes)

Great irrigated perimeters (or great irrigation schemes) cover several hundred of ha
or a few thousand of ha in one piece. These schemes are mostly run by public
management agencies and are the perimeters as the Kou valley, Karfiguela, sugar
perimeter of Banfora and perimeters of Sourou and Bagre. The water supply is from
rivers or streams, and great dams.
These irrigated perimeters are fully realized by the government of Burkina Faso with
support of its development partners. One finds among these types of schemes large-
scale public paddy irrigation systems.

3.1.2 Medium irrigated perimeters

The medium irrigation schemes have an area between twenty and one hundred
hectares. They are mostly perimeters in downstream of dams or around natural
lakes. These schemes are also mostly run by public management agencies. The
main schemes of this type are for example Mogtedo (142 ha), Zoungou (150 ha) and
Sandogo (250 ha). The average unit area per farmer is not more than 0.25 ha. As
great perimeters they are also fully realized by the government of Burkina Faso with
support of its development partners.

3.1.3 Small irrigation schemes

These irrigated areas correspond to small irrigation schemes of a few acres to twenty
acres. The State has construct many but some of these perimeters are private and

9
are developed following the perimeters of state in response to domestic and external
increased demand for agricultural products including fruits and vegetables. One finds
among these types of schemes commercial privately managed systems, producing
for local and export markets and farm-scale individually managed systems, producing
for local often around cities.

3.1.4 Lowlands schemes

The technologies of approach is based on two main options: lowlands with simple
dikes and earthen bunds overhanging protected by riprap or concrete thresholds
according to the contours (PSSA type, PAFR, PRP), lowland improved by the
introduction of a small reservoir combined with overhanging ridges with or without
central manifold. Some lowlands are equipped with small irrigation systems.
Techniques models of irrigation schemes adopted are essentially the schemes of
type PSSA, PAFR and those of type PRP (Rapport de formulation du programme
régional de développement durable de l’agriculture irriguée dans le plateau central,
Décembre 2010).

3.2 Systems of irrigation

One meets all irrigation systems in Burkina Faso. It is surface irrigation that comes
first, followed by sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation. The system the most practiced
in terms of area irrigated and people involved, is surface irrigation.

3.2.1 Surface irrigation and means of water pumping

Surface irrigation is the oldest and most common method of applying water to crops.
It involves moving water over the soil in order to wet it completely or partially. The
water flows over or ponds on the soil surface and gradually infiltrates to the desired
depth. Surface irrigation methods are best suited to soils with low to moderate
infiltration capacities and to lands with relatively uniform terrain with slopes less than
2-3% (FAO, 1974).
Surface irrigation is the most common method of irrigation and can be the most
inefficient. This is not because it is poor technology, it is because it is difficult to
manage properly (Irrigation Water Management: Training Manual No. 8, Structures
for water control and distribution).

10
Like in Burkina Faso, this method is the most common in the practice of irrigated
agriculture worldwide. It is often chosen for its simplicity but it success relies entirely
on the skill of the famer irrigating. It occurs in all regions of the country and individual
famers or grouped may themselves without necessarily technical assistance design
their furrows, basins and boards.
It is generally practiced by famers organized on irrigation schemes built by the State
in downstream of the dams or by individual famers installed around dams or other
water sources. More and more farmers organized into groups or associations, have
the support of projects, NGOs or other partners for constructing of private irrigation
schemes.
The means of water supply are scooping manual (sump, watering can), motor
pumps, Intake of downstream of dams and pedal pumps.

a) Principle of Surface irrigation

Figure 1: Principle of surface irrigation

b) Furrow irrigation
Furrows are narrow ditches dug on the field between the rows of crops. The water
runs along them as it moves down the slope of the field.
The water flows from the field ditch into the furrows by opening up the bank or dyke
of the ditch or by means of syphons or spiles. Siphons are small curved pipes that
deliver water over the ditch bank. Spiles are small pipes buried in the ditch bank.

11
In Burkina Faso this method is used for row crops such as cereals (maize), and
vegetables (onions, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, etc).

c) Border irrigation

The borderstrip width depends on the topography of the field, which determines the
possible width that can be obtained while keeping a horizontal cross-section without
requiring too much soil movement, and on the stream size. The stream size also
restricts strip width, as it should be sufficient to allow complete lateral spreading
throughout the borderstrip width and length. The strip width also depends on the
cultivation practices, mechanized or non mechanized for example. Borderstrips
should not be wider than 9 m on 1% cross-slopes (James, 1988).
In border irrigation, the field to be irrigated is divided into strips (also called borders or
borderstrips) by parallel dykes or border ridges. The water is released from the field
ditch into the border through gate structures called outlets. The water can also be
released by means of siphons or spiles. The sheet of flowing water moves down the
slope of the border, guided by the border ridges.
In Burkina Faso this method is generally used for onion and carrots.

d) Basin irrigation
Basins are horizontal, flat plots of land, surrounded by small dykes or bunds. The
banks prevent the water from flowing to the surrounding fields. Basin irrigation is
commonly used for rice grown in Burkina Faso. Trees are also grown in basins,
where one tree usually is located in the centre of a small basin.

3.2.2 Sprinkler irrigation system

This is the second irrigation system practiced in Burkina Faso in terms of technique
and irrigated areas. It is used for irrigating gardens concessions. But it is especially
used in large areas for crop production. Originally for agriculture, the State had
installed this system to absorb a little bit the problem of unemployment by
encouraging the return to land of students. Unfortunately, this project has not been
conclusive and the plots are redistributed to farmers for the production of maize, rice
and wheat.

12
The National Society of sugar production also uses this technique for the production
of sugarcane.
A sprinkler irrigation system generally includes sprinklers, laterals, submains, main
pipelines, pumping plants and boosters, operational control equipment and other
accessories required for efficient water application.

3.2.3 Drip irrigation system

The drip irrigation is very weakly practiced in Burkina Faso because of its technical
progress and the unavailability of equipment on site. Its introduction is being phased
by Individuals (agro-businessmen) and NGOs. The latter offer some kits to women in
certain regions (Est of Burkina Faso) in the context of fighting against food insecurity.
Moreover one of the objectives of this study is to contribute to popularize this
technique for good management of water and increasing of yield in an arid country
like ours.

3.3 Mobilization of water resources for irrigation

The mobilization of water resources in Burkina Faso is made through rivers or
streams, dams, water impoundments, pool of water, borrow areas and groundwater
(wells).

3.3.1 Dams or water impoundment

The country abounds of many reservoirs to mobilize the potential of surface water.
Indeed, several dams of various sizes have been constructed throughout the country
for irrigation development.

However, many of these dams are damaged (cracks in the dikes or embankment
washed away by floods, silting) and require rehabilitation.

3.3.2 Pool of water

The need of water for irrigation is also expressed by famers mainly through the
exploitation of ponds. They are generally natural water reservoirs but more and more
constructed with local materials in favor of the topography of the ground.

13
3.3.3 Borrow areas
Borrow pits are very numerous and the filling is ensured by the drainage of roads.
They are created thanks to the many careers in the construction of roads, and
mark out the main national roads. They can be valued by increasing their capacity
and through the maintenance of their banks.
Vegetable crops are grown up from the late rains. Borrow pits dry out very early
(three months or less).

3.3.4 Mobilization of groundwater

In Burkina Faso, the mobilization of groundwater remains low despite the existence
of many garden wells. Wells made for the mobilization of groundwater are often deep
and the flow is generally very low. It is difficult to develop performed irrigated
agriculture from this groundwater. Groundwater in the country can be mobilized only
for gardening, supplementary irrigation and especially for livestock.

14
IV METHODS AND MATERIALS
The methods and materials chapter illustrates which methodology is used, the overall
description of the area of study, the climatic data used and other important
parameters of the study site.

4.1 Methodology
The methodology used for the study comprises four (4) phases.

4.1.1 Choice of the topic of the thesis and the site of study
The topic of the thesis is “Design proposal of Drip Irrigation system for an efficient
management of irrigation water for maize improved seeds production in a part of
seeds farm of Loumbila”. The site is a part of the seed farm of Loumbila which is no
more functional. This portion of the irrigation system of 12 ha which is completely
degraded was chosen as the study site.

4.1.2 Subdivision of the study site in blocks and plot

Which helped to design the system to a plot and then verify its functionality on a ha
on each block.

4.1.3 Literature review

Literature review was to search and read a number of papers and books dealing with
irrigation issues in general, but also drip irrigation purposes particularly. This
literature including internet research allowed us to have information and understand
the topic, subject of our study in all edges.

4.1.4 Choice of working tools and collection of data

The literature review and software really helped us to collect data and general
information about irrigation. It has also helped to give an overview of irrigation in
Burkina Faso. As for the technical data, they were supplied by different software used
in the study.

4.1.5 Writing the thesis

This point has involved the putting together of information, data and writing the thesis
report.

15
This part focused also on results and discussions of the study. This is the place
where all the technical data necessary for the irrigation scheme designing have been
summarized.

4.2 Overall description of the area

4.2.1 Location of the site

The site is located in the rural commune of Loumbila. The rural commune of
Loumbila is in the province of Oubritenga and in the region of Central Plateau in
Burkina Faso. This part of the site of twelve (12) ha of which the irrigation scheme is
completely degraded, had been constructed since the 1970s. It was a surface
irrigation system. The site is located at 16 km from Ouagadougou, the capital of
Burkina Faso and 17 km from Ziniaré, the Center of the Region of Central Plateau.

Map 1: Location of Loumbila /Oubritenga

4.2.2 Climatic conditions

The rural commune of Loumbila has a type of Sudano Sahelian climate as well as the
climate of the province of Oubritenga where Loumbila is located. This climate is
marked by a long dry season (October to May) and rainy season (June-September).
Rainfall is irregular and insufficient. The annual average is between 600 and 800 mm.

16
4.2.3 Soil description
Generally, soils in the rural commune of Loumbila are shallow and infertile. They are
characterized by a phosphorus deficiency. Their organic matter content and nitrogen
are low. Their structure is weakly developed, making them susceptible to water
erosion.
One could estimate the percentage of sand and clay of the site, respectively 60%
and 15%.The area of the study is characterized by sandy loam soil texture.

4.2.4 Irrigation water resources

The water which will be used for irrigation in the new scheme of Loumbila is coming
from a dam. The capacity of this dam is 42 000 000 m3. Availability of water should
not be a problem for the project.

4.2.5 Cropping pattern

There are two types of agriculture in the site: rainfed agriculture and irrigated
agriculture. During all the year there is a production of improved seeds on the site to
satisfy the growing need of farmers. Crops generally grown are maize, sorghum,
groundnuts and been seeds.
Five years ago the production of improved seeds has been done at the request of
FAO, which provided basic seeds to famers of the site. At harvest, FAO bought these
seeds to redistribute to the poorest farmers of the country.
But for purposes of the study, improved seeds of maize will be produced on the new
scheme.

4.3 Climatic data used

3.3.1 Precipitation
The annual average of rainfall received in the commune is between 600 and 800
mm. According to the estimation of local climatic data by the software New LocClim,
precipitations are as follows:

17
Table 1: Data of precipitation of the study area
Month Rain [mm] Effective rain [mm]

January 0.0 0.0

February 1.0 1.0
March 3.0 3.0
April 25.0 24.0
May 55.0 50.2
June 100.0 84.0
July 167.0 122.4
August 212.0 140.1
September 123.0 98.8
October 28.0 26.7
November 2.0 2.0
December 1.0 1.0
Total 717.0 553.1

4.3.2 Temperature
The solar radiation absorbed by the atmosphere and the heat emitted by the earth
increase the air temperature. The sensible heat of the surrounding air transfers
energy to the crop and exerts as such a controlling influence on the rate of
evapotranspiration. In sunny, warm weather the loss of water by evapotranspiration is
greater than in cloudy and cool weather.

4.3.3 Solar radiation

The evapotranspiration process is determined by the amount of energy available to
vaporize water. Solar radiation is the largest energy source and is able to change
large quantities of liquid water into water vapour. The potential amount of radiation
that can reach the evaporating surface is determined by its location and time of the
year. Due to differences in the position of the sun, the potential radiation differs at
various latitudes and in different seasons. The actual solar radiation reaching the
evaporating surface depends on the turbidity of the atmosphere and the presence of
clouds which reflect and absorb major parts of the radiation. When assessing the
effect of solar radiation on evapotranspiration, one should also bear in mind that not
all available energy is used to vaporize water. Part of the solar energy is used to heat
up the atmosphere and the soil profile.

18
All climatic data are recorded in the following table

Table 2: Climatic data of the study area

Mounth Min Max Humidity Wind Sunshine Radiation ETO
Temp temp

[°C] [°C] % Km/day Hours MJ/m2/day Mm/day

January 16.1 33.2 39 190 8.2 18.8 4.94
February 19.1 36.2 40 190 8.1 20.1 5.52
March 23.1 38.2 41 207 8.0 21.3 6.42
April 25.8 38.9 49 233 7.1 20.5 6.66
May 25.6 37.2 68 259 7.9 21.5 6.01
June 23.7 34.2 81 251 7.6 20.7 4.86
July 22.3 31.7 99 216 6.8 19.6 3.58
August 21.8 30.7 97 190 6.1 18.7 3.45
September 21.8 32.0 91 156 6.6 19.2 3.79
October 22.6 35.2 74 156 8.1 20.5 4.69
November 19.2 35.7 59 147 8.5 19.4 4.63
December 16.7 33.5 51 173 8.2 18.3 4.50
Average 21.5 34.7 66 197 7.6 19.9 4.92

4.4 Land tenure and Famer’s organization

The seed farm of Loumbila belongs to the State of Burkina Faso. Indeed, this site is
managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Hydraulic and Fisheries Resources, through
the Regional Direction of Agriculture, Hydraulic and Fisheries Resources of Central
Plateau. The operation of the site is made by famers from the village of Loumbila
organized in Group with the support of an agriculture technician assigned to this
effect. The programming of each crop production is generally at a meeting of the
group of famers under the supervision of technicians. The group has 150 farmers
including 48 women.

4.5 Physical infrastructure

This is a perimeter with a total area of 60 hectares, constructed in the 1970s. But
today, only half of the site is operated due to a complete degradation of the other
part. It is a surface irrigation system with a pump station located about 1 km from the
site. The irrigation system that works has been rehabilitated and the other part
remained intact and unworkable.

19
It is to restore operation of 12 ha that we have chosen to propose the design of drip
irrigation system.

4.6 Constraints
The real constraint is the high operating costs due to pumping water for irrigation with
electrical energy.
Indeed, we know that, surface irrigation is a major consumer of water due to
evaporation and infiltration rate, very high.
The implementation of drip irrigation system could help to compare operating costs
with the existing system. In the case of satisfactory results for all, the other part
(surface irrigation) could be converted to drip irrigation.

4.7 Impacts of the study

The assessment of environmental, economic and social impacts of the study on the
area of the project can be tree orders:

4.7.1 Economic impacts

The demand for seed of good quality is very high in Burkina Faso. The market
remains available and seed famers earn much money. The money earned by
selling a portion of seed allows families to:

 Solve health problems by paying medical prescriptions;

 Children’s schooling;
 Construction of the housing with solid materials;
 Purchase of means of transport (motorbikes) and equipments.
Also yields are improved for famers who use these seeds.

4.7.2 Environmental impacts

From an environmental perspective the establishment of twelve hectares under
irrigation within the area could have positive impacts on the environment.

 From a positive perspective, irrigation would reduce the erosion risk within the
perimeter and also increase the opportunities for enhancing biodiversity
values.

20
  One of the most significant impacts of further irrigation in this area would be a
reduction in the amount of bare ground and corresponding reduction in wind
erosion risk.

4.7.3 Social impacts

It is generally accepted that irrigation can transform society as well as land and
landscapes. As land use intensifies through the irrigated perimeter and land use
changes occurred, it is expected that significant, mostly positive, social changes will
also occur.

 The rural exodus will be reduced and youth will be settled;

 The design and operation of schemes will allow famers to grow crop (maize)
during the dry season. With the drip irrigation, they can do two cycles of
production (improved seeds of maize and vegetables for consumption) during
this period;
 The use of improved seeds produced during the rainy season will increase
yields. The food security of these populations may be absorbed a little bit and
even that of the surrounding populations because some of the seeds would be
sold;
 Time availability to do other activities because the duration of irrigation will be
reduced.

21
V- COMPUTATIONS AND DISINGN
This part describes and presents software and tools used for data collection, data
processing and analysis.

5.1 Google earth and the site dimensions determination

5.1.1 Description of Google earth

Google Earth is software owned by Google, allowing visualization of the Earth with an
assembly of aerial photographs or satellite. Google Earth allows you to travel the
world through a virtual globe and view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings,
and much more. With Google Earth's rich, geographical content, you are able to
experience a more realistic view of the world. You can fly to your favorite place,
search for businesses and even navigate through directions.
Google Earth is special multifunctional software.
Here, for the sake of our study, we used it to locate our site subject to the study.
Indeed, it permitted us to delimit our site and measure its size, geographic
coordinates, the slope and latitude.

5.1.2 Dimension of the site determination

Dimensions and coordinates of the site subject to the study are presented in the
following table.
Table 3: Data of the study site
Characteristics of site Measure
Total area Each block Each plot
Length 620 150 [m] 50 [m]
Width 220 200 [m] 50 [m]
Latitude 12°28’45,52”N - -
Longitude 1°25’13,26”W - -
Altitude 1470 m - -
Elevation1 282 - -
Elevation2 288 - -
Slope 0.9 - -

22
 Figure 2: Overview of the study site and the dam

5.2 New-LocClim_1.10 and climatic data

5.2.1 Description of New-LocClim_1.10

New LocClim is a tool for spatial interpolation of agroclimatic data. Since quite a
variety of tools for spatial interpolation of any data already exist, one might question
whether a new one is necessary. New LocClim is especially designed for the
interpolation of agroclimatic data, offering the possibility of producing climate maps
from user provided station data.

However, where such station data is unavailable, New LocClim is also capable of
producing climate maps of the average monthly climate conditions (8 variables) taken
from the agroclimatic database of the Agromet Group of the Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations.

Finally, to learn about the properties of different interpolation methods with respect to
different spatial fields, the nine methods provided by New LocClim can be compared
with respect to pre-given spatial fields.

New LocClim allows for an extensive investigation of interpolation errors and the
influence of different settings on the results. This allows optimising the interpolation
with respect to the data analysed.

23
Furthermore, statistical analysis of the interpolated spatial fields is provided and
detailed analysis for single geographic points can be drawn.

Thus, for our case, the software allowed us to determine the climatic data necessary
for the study. It appears in its entirety as follows:

Figure 3: View of New LocClim

5.2.2 Climatic data determination

The precipitation and the Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) coming from New
LocClim (and the meteorogical station of Ouagadougou) are shown in the following
table 4.

Table 4: Precipitation and ETo data from New LocClima

Best estimate Low estimate High estimate Standard error Bias
Prec (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)
January 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0
February 1.00 0.17 1.83 0.83 -0.44
March 3.00 0.33 5.67 2.67 0.67
April 25.00 16.86 33.14 8.14 1.44
May 55.00 38.68 71.32 16.32 0.33
June 100.00 92.56 107.44 7.44 -2.33
July 167.00 156.72 177.28 10.28 3.56
August 212.00 172.41 251.59 39.59 -2.00
September 123.00 116.21 129.79 6.79 -1.89
October 28.00 22.56 33.44 5.44 -2.33
November 2.00 1.06 2.94 0.94 -0.33
December 1.00 0.58 1.42 0.42 -0.22
Mean 59.75 51.51 67.99 8.24 -0.30

24
PET (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)
January 173.60 153.93 193.27 19.67 9.66
February 182.00 154.92 209.08 27.08 6.03
March 235.60 202.20 269.00 33.40 8.92
April 255.00 199.82 250.18 25.18 9.59
May 223.10 197.00 249.20 26.10 2.76
June 180.00 155.29 204.71 24.71 -4.94
July 158.10 136.44 179.76 21.66 -8.58
August 139.50 124.77 154.23 14.73 -3.18
September 138.00 122.06 153.94 15.94 -2.90
October 170.50 155.19 185.81 15.31 3.62
November 174.00 154.89 193.11 19.11 7.89
December 182.80 155.99 209.61 26.81 9.50
Mean 181.85 159.38 204.32 22.47 3.20

These data from New LocClim will be used in Cropwat 8.0 to estimate Crop Water
Requirement.

5.3 SPAW and soil data determination

5.3.1 Description of SPAW

The SPAW (Soil-Plant-Air-Water) computer model simulates the daily hydrologic
water budgets of agricultural landscapes by two connected routines, one for farm
fields and a second for impoundments such as wetland ponds, lagoons or reservoirs.
Climate, soil and vegetation data files for field and pond projects are selected from
those prepared and stored with a system of interactive screens. Various
combinations of the data files readily represent multiple landscape and ponding
variations.

The objective of the SPAW model was to understand and predict agricultural
hydrology and its interactions with soils and crop production without undue burden of
computation time or input details. This required continual vigilance of the many
choices required for the representation of each physical, chemical and biological
process to achieve a "reasonable" and "balanced" approximation of the real world
with numerical solutions. In our case we used the software to determine soil data for
Crop water Requirements estimation in Cropwat.

5.3.2 Soil data determination

Data used in the software for soil characteristics determination are: 60% of sand,
15% of clay, 2% of organic mater and 2% of gravel. The figure and the characteristics
are shown as follows.

25
 Figure 4: Presentation of characteristics of the soil

The data below coming from the software are used in Cropwat for Crop Water
Requirements estimation.
Table 5: Data of the study soil
Soil characteristics Values
Texture class Sandy Loam
Wilting point 10.9 % Vol
Field capacity 21.5 % Vol
Saturation 44.5 % Vol
Available water 0.11 cm/cm

5.4 VeProLGs (1.6.0) and design parameter determination

5.4.1 Description of VeProLGs

Ve.Pro.LGs is a computer program for the verification and design of drip line and
areas of planting to save water and energy. Ve.Pro.LGs is a software application that
performs operational tests on equipment design and dimensioning of drip irrigation,
with the aim of increasing the uniformity of distribution of irrigation to save water and
reduce energy consumption .Through the use of Ve.Pro.LG / s is possible to evaluate
the functioning of entire sectors of irrigation on field crops, trees, flowers and plants,
although grown on slopes and strongly with changes in elevation along the line.
In particular, the program has operational tools that allow:

26
  To verify the operation of equipment already installed, identifying any changes
to improve performance
 Guide the design choices in the construction of new facilities according to
criteria of high efficiency;
 Provide useful parameters for site management;
 Involve the evaluation of functional performance of the plants the costs of
amortization of the purchase of drip lines and energy costs for water delivery.

5.4.2 Data for Irrigation Uniformity distribution Determination

Data useful and chosen in the software for the uniformity of irrigation distribution
determination are recorded in following table.

Table 6: Data for uniformity determination

Input data Characteristics
Drip line Streamline 80 d.16 q.1,49 s. 0,4(2000)
Head pipe (50 m) PE BD PFA 4 DN 75
Head pressure 4.0 m.w.c
Slop 0.9
Line side 1 50 m

Using these data in the software, one obtains the figure below.

27
 Figure 5: Uniformity of irrigation determination

The uniformity of irrigation distribution on the plot of 0.25 ha determined is 95.8%, the
area flow rate is 2.5 l/s and the irrigation intensity is 3.6 mm/hour. This uniformity is
finally used in Cropwat to estimate Crop Water Requirements.

5.5 CROPWAT 8.0 and Crop Water Requirements and irrigation scheduling

5.5.1 Description of CROPWAT 8.0

CROPWAT is a decision support tool developed by the Land and Water
Development Division of FAO
(http://www.fao.org/nr/water/infores_databases_cropwat.html).
CROPWAT 8.0 for Windows is a computer program for the calculation of crop water
requirements and irrigation requirements based on soil, climate and crop data. In
addition, the program allows the development of irrigation schedules for different
management conditions and the calculation of scheme water supply for varying crop
patterns. CROPWAT 8.0 can also be used to evaluate farmers’ irrigation practices
and to estimate crop performance under both rainfed and irrigated conditions.

28
All calculation procedures used in CROPWAT 8.0 are based on the two FAO
publications of the Irrigation and Drainage Series, namely, No. 56 "Crop
Evapotranspiration - Guidelines for computing crop water requirements” and
No. 33 titled "Yield response to water".

CROPWAT 8.0 includes standard crop and soil data. When local data are available,
these data files can be easily modified or new ones can be created. Likewise, if local
climatic data are not available, these can be obtained for over 5,000 stations
worldwide from CLIMWAT, the associated climatic database. The development of
irrigation schedules in CROPWAT 8.0 is based on a daily soil-water balance using
various user-defined options for water supply and irrigation management conditions.
Scheme water supply is calculated according to the cropping pattern defined by the
user, which can include up to 20 crops.

CROPWAT 8.0 is a Windows program based on the previous DOS versions. Apart
from a completely redesigned user interface, CROPWAT 8.0 for Windows includes a
host of updated and new features, including:

 Monthly, decade and daily input of climatic data for calculation of reference
evapotranspiration (ETo);
 Backward compatibility to allow use of data from CLIMWAT database ;
 Possibility to estimate climatic data in the absence of measured values ;
 Decade and daily calculation of crop water requirements based on updated
calculation algorithms including adjustment of crop-coefficient values ;
 Calculation of crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling for paddy &
upland rice, using a newly developed procedure to calculate water
requirements including the land preparation period ;
 Interactive user adjustable irrigation schedules ;
 Daily soil water balance output tables ;
 Easy saving and retrieval of sessions and of user-defined irrigation schedules ;
 Graphical presentations of input data, crop water requirements and irrigation
schedules ;
 Easy import/export of data and graphics through clipboard or ASCII text files ;
 Extensive printing routines, supporting all windows-based printers
 Context-sensitive help system ;

29
  Multilingual interface and help system: English, Spanish, French and Russian.

5.5.2 Determination of crop irrigation schedule

The crop irrigation schedule coming from Cropwat estimation useful for the maize
crop irrigation is recorded in the following table.

Table 7: Data of crop irrigation schedule

Date Day Stage Rain Ks ETa Depl Net Irr Deficit Loss Gr. Irr Flow
mm Fract % % mm mm mm mm l/s/ha
03 Nov 1 Init 1.0 0.07 7 97 29.6 0.0 0.0 25.5 3.57
12 Nov 10 Init 0.0 1.00 100 47 16.5 0.0 0.0 25.8 0.22
21 Nov 19 Init 0.0 1.00 100 44 17.9 0.0 0.0 29.4 0.24
30 Nov 28 Dev 0.0 1.00 100 47 21.3 0.0 0.0 30.1 0.28
7 Dec 35 Dev 0.2 1.00 100 50 24.5 0.0 0.0 29.7 0.41
13 Dec 41 Dev 0.2 1.00 100 47 24.7 0.0 0.0 30.0 0.49
19 Dev 47 Dev 00 1.00 100 51 28.2 0.0 0.0 30.8 0.56
24 Dec 52 Dev 00 1.00 100 49 28.9 0.0 0.0 31.4 0.68
29 Dec 57 Mid 00 1.00 100 48 28.5 0.0 0.0 31.8 0.67
03 Jan 62 Mid 00 1.00 100 48 28.8 0.0 0.0 32.5 0.68
8 Jan 67 Mid 00 1.00 100 49 29.6 0.0 0.0 33.0 0.68
13 Jan 72 Mid 00 1.00 100 50 30.2 0.0 0.0 33.1 0.71
18 Jan 77 Mid 00 1.00 100 51 30.6 0.0 0.0 33.0 0.72
23 Jan 82 Mid 00 1.00 100 52 31.2 0.0 0.0 30.5 0.74
28 Jan 87 Mid 0.2 1.00 100 53 31.7 0.0 0.0 37.1 0.75
2 Feb 92 Mid 00 1.00 100 53 31.8 0.0 0.0 33.1 0.75
7 Feb 97 End 00 1.00 0 53 31.7 0.0 0.0 33.0 0.77
12 Feb 102 End 00 1.00 100 49 29.3 0.0 0.0 30.5 0.76
19 Feb 109 Ned 00 1.00 0 59 35.7 0.0 0.0 37.1 0.61
1 Mars 119 End 00 1.00 100 63 38.0 0.0 0.0 39.6 0.46
7 Mars End End 00 1.00 0 22 0.0 0.0

From crop irrigation schedule in Cropwat the total gross irrigation and the total net
irrigation are respectively 592.4 mm and 568.7 mm for all the cycle of the maize
cultivation. The gross irrigation value (39.6mm) will be used to calculate the duration
of irrigation

30
5.6 EPANET 2.0 and design of the irrigation scheme

5.6.1 Description of EPANET 2.0

Software That Models the Hydraulic and Water Quality Behavior of Water Distribution
Piping Systems.
Developed by EPA's Water Supply and Water Resources Division
(www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/dw/epanet.html) EPANET is software that models water
distribution piping systems. It is a Windows 95/98/NT/XP program that performs
extended-period simulation of the hydraulic and water quality behavior within
pressurized pipe networks.

Pipe networks consist of pipes, nodes (pipe junctions), pumps, valves, and storage
tanks or reservoirs. EPANET tracks the flow of water in each pipe, the pressure at
each node, the height of the water in each tank, and the concentration of a chemical
species throughout the network during a simulation period. Chemical species, water
age, source, and tracing can be simulated.

EPANET provides an integrated computer environment for editing network input data,
running hydraulic and water quality simulations, and viewing the results in a variety of
formats. These include color-coded network maps, data tables, time series graphs,
and contour plots.

EPANET provides a fully equipped, extended-period hydraulic analysis package that

can:

 Handle systems of any size ;

 Compute friction head loss using the Hazen-Williams, the Darcy Weisbach, or
the Chezy-Manning head loss formula;
 Include minor head losses for bends, fittings, etc;
 Model constant or variable speed pumps;
 Compute pumping energy and cost ;
 Model various types of valves, including shutoff, check, pressure regulating,
and flow control;
 Allow storage tanks to have any shape (i.e., surface area can vary with
height);

31
  Consider multiple demand categories at nodes, each with its own pattern of
time variation;
 Model pressure-dependent flow issuing from emitters (sprinkler heads);
 Base system operation on simple tank level or timer controls as well as on
complex rule-based controls.

5.6.2 The plan of irrigation scheme

The whole plan of the irrigation scheme is composed of 48 plots of 0.25 ha each. The
source of water (dam) used for irrigation is located at 800 km from the perimeter. The
plot (A) at the downstream of the perimeter is chosen to make the design in order to
ensure that the pressure and the base demand of the plot is sufficient and
satisfactory and may be sufficient to cover any plot at any point on the perimeter. The
scheme is as follows:

32
VI RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The results and discussions of the study present and analyze different parameters of
irrigation management and the irrigation network.

6.1 Irrigation requirements

To calculate the volume useful for irrigation we took the greater value of gross
irrigation (39.6 mm) from crop irrigation schedule table in Cropwat and divided it by 6
days. The result is 6.6 mm/days. The required volume (in m 3) for 0.25 ha is
calculating multiplying the result converted in m/day by the area (in m 2). Thus the
total volume for maize cultivation (cycle of maize is 125 days) for the different areas
is calculated and recorded in the table below.
Table 8: Different volume of water
Gross irrigation for each area 0.25 ha 01 ha 01 block (2 ha) Whole area (12 ha)

In m3 2 062.5 8 250 16 500 99.000

The volume of water for maize cultivation on 0.25 ha is 2 062.5 m 3.

The Irrigation Requirements per day is 2 062.5 m 3 /125 days = 16.5 m3/days. This
value will be used to calculate the duration of irrigation.

6.2 Duration of irrigation

To calculate the duration of irrigation we used the value of gross irrigation (16.5
m3/days) for the plot of 0.25 ha.

The base demand of the plot determined in Ve.Pro.LGs is 9 m 3/h. The duration of
irrigation obtained is 16.5 m3/day/9 m3/h = 1h 49.8 mn. This time could be estimated
to 1 h 55 mn.

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6.3 The irrigation network
Here we present the irrigation network of the 12 hectares even though the design has
concerned 0.25 hectare. Indeed, the capacity of the pump selected (Q=80m3/h) for
the proper functioning of the network, provides irrigation to both two hectares (one
block) in the same duration of irrigation.

The desired flow at the head of the plot is 9 m3 and pressure that can convey this
flow is 4 mw.c. The variation of pressure (minimum and maximum pressure) for the
proper functioning of the perimeter is between 4 and 4.25 mw.c. Thus, the network is
as follows:

Figure 6: Irrigation network for twelve ha

The figure below presents an overview of the plot (A) with drip lines.

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 Figure 7: View of a plot with drip lines

The following figure is an extract from the plot (A) to show visually the lines, spacing
between crop lines and drippers.

Figure 8: View of drip lines and spacing

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6.4 Different pipe sizes
The different pipes sizes used in the design and that can convey water from the dam
to the parcel are recorded in the table below.

Table 9: Characteristics of the pipe

Different pipes Description Diameter of pipes

Mainline Pipe connecting the supply line to the 205 mm (800m)

pimping unit

Supply line Pipe connecting the mainline to side 273.05 mm (104m)

line
Side lines or Pipe connecting the supply line to the 273.05 (587m)
laterals valve
Valve Device used to close or open water 75 mm
between side line and the head pipe
head pipe Pipe connecting the drip line and 75 mm (50m)
convey water to the plot
Drip lines Line that contains drippers 16 mm

6.5 Characteristics of the irrigation network at a plot

The type of drip line chosen for the design is Streamline 80 d.16 q.1,49 s. 0,4(2000).
The spacing between crop lines is 0.8 m. Therefore we need a total length of 3 125 m
of drip line on a surface of 0.25 ha.

The length of the head pipe at the plot is 50 m and the type is PE DB PFA 4 DN 75.
These characteristics are summarized in the following table:

Table 10: Characteristics of materials and equipment used

Material Characteristics
Drip line Streamline 80 d.16 q.1,49 s. 0,4(2000)
Total length of drip lines for 3 125 m
the plot
Type of Head pipe PE BD PFA 4 DN 75 (Polietilene BD PFA 4)
Length of Head pipe 50 m
Capacity of the pump 80 m3/h
Pressure at the plot 4 mw.c
Base demand 9 m3

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CONCLUSION
The conduct of the study of the thesis allows us to know the technical feasibility of the
project. Indeed, thanks to the methodological approach, the topic, subject of our
study was discussed in all its contours.
The existence of positive factors and potential (soil, irrigation water), the availability of
technical may allow the execution and the implementation of the project of the
irrigation scheme.

The estimation of crop water requirement has been done using software (Cropwat,
VeProLGs ...). Combining data from the software allowed us to obtain results and
determine the water requirements needed for maize cultivation on an area of 0.25 ha.
The uniformity of distribution obtained is 96% indicating a good efficiency. The total
gross irrigation for the entire cycle of corn on 0.25 ha are estimated to 1 481 m3.
For the scheme design, strictly speaking, the software EPANET allowed to determine
the pressure necessary to convey water from the dam up the parcel, thus ensuring
water base demand. The base demand is estimate to 9 m3 for the plot and the
variation of the pressure is between 4 and 4.25 mw.c.
For the management the duration of irrigation of the plot of 0.25 ha is 1h 25 mn. The
results obtained in this study pointed out that for the proper functioning of the
capacity of pump (80m3) chosen may irrigate simultaneously one block (2 ha).

As perspectives, much remains to be done to improve the functioning of the system.

Indeed additive work for adding filters is very necessary because first of all, drip
irrigation requires clear water to prevent clogging of drippers. Also we could consider
fertigation, thing essential for a correct application of fertilizers in order to increase
productivity, quality and profitability. In addition it reduces labor and time
requirements.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Irrigation Water Management: Training Manual No. 1 - Introduction to
Irrigation/ FAO - food and agriculture organization of the United Nations

 Irrigation Water Management: Training Manual No. 8, Structures for water

control and distribution

 Irrigation Manual: Planning, Development Monitoring and Evaluation of

Irrigated Agriculture with Farmer Participation Developed by Andreas P.
SAVVA Karen FRENKEN Volume II Module 7

 Irrigation Manual: Planning, Development Monitoring and Evaluation of

Irrigated Agriculture with Farmer Participation Volume III Module 8

 Water report 22: Deficit Irrigation Practices, FAO

 Rapport de formulation du programme régional de développement durable de

l’agriculture irriguée dans le plateau central, Décembre 2010

ANNEXES
Annexes include Successive steps and data of Crop Water Requirements. They also
present the characteristics of the pump.

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Table 11: Crop irrigation schedule

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Table 12: Scheme of supply
Characteristics of the pump

Figure 9: Characteristics of the pump

41