Evaluation of the performance of the irrigation system in irrigated perimeter of Mucoso (Angola)

Abstract

In recent decades, the world population has grown rapidly, having surpassed the 7 billion mark in 2017. Projections indicate that in 2050, this number will rise to more than 9 billion. This increase will imply greater consumption of resources, namely water and food, on a planetary scale. It is the task of the agricultural sector, especially irrigated agriculture, to respond to this need and produce enough food to meet the growing food demand. It is necessary, however, to ensure that water consumption by the agricultural sector is balanced. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the performance of irrigation systems by determining uniformity coefficients of water distribution on the plot considering the water needs of the cultural occupation. To this end, water was collected in two plots: citrus, whose size is 3 x 6 m, and banana, whose size is 2 x 2 m. To do this, the containers were placed at the beginning of the line, at one third, at two thirds and at the end, as per Keller and Karmeli (1975). The uniformity coefficients were classified as fair for the citrus fruit portion (81,6%) and poor for the banana portion (69,4%). The evaluation of the performance of the irrigation systems, carried out through the determination of uniformity coefficients of water distribution on the plot, made it possible to verify that the performance of the systems is far from what was desired, namely, taking into account the values reported in much of the literature.