Design and Development of a Time Saving and Cost-Effective Irrigation Facility for Peasants and Urban Vegetable Production

Water is a major component of every living organism, the most inevitable in all plant species as it plays a vital role in their growth and development which in turn translates to a high yield of cultivated crops. Scarcity of water in urban and semi-urban areas of the sub-Saharan Africa as a result of adverse effects of urbanization processes and resultant effects of climate change pertinently require for efficient management and use of the scarce resource (water) in order to meet up with the high demand for food by the alarming population increase. A time-saving and cost-effective irrigation system for peasants and urban vegetable production was designed and constructed. The construction of the irrigation system was simple and cost-effective. It was found to easy to be used and requires little or no maintenance. Its simple construction makes it possible to be utilized in wooden or plastic boxes for the nursery and raising of vegetables crops in areas with limited or unavailable land space such as terraces, balcony and rooftop decking. The sub-irrigation system could supply optimally 21.89 liters of water to a 1 m × 3 m seedbed between the spaces of two days and 5 days in a week or as may be required within the time frame of the season. This sub-irrigation facility eliminates the drudgery associated with other methods of supplementary water application and it is more time-management efficient.