Determination of crop water requirements of maize in nigeria by using fao cropwat 8.0

Abstract

Water demand is increasing day by day in the entire world, which is why waterscarcity is among the most disturbed issues in current time. Crop water requirementsestimation is a reliable way of managing water used by agriculture. This research wasconducted to determine the crop water requirements of the major crop (Maize) grow inNigeria, at four aridity zones which are, Semi-Arid, Moist Sub-Humid, Dry Sub-Humid andHumid zones and to compare the difference in water demands of the maize in the four zonesin order to come out with best region to grow maize in Nigeria with more efficiency and lesswater demands. CROPWAT 8.0 was used in carrying out the research using Penman-Monteith method which was regarded as the best method by FAO. The result showed thateffective rainfall was sufficient to provide the crop (Maize) with the required water it neededto grow in both Moist Sub-Humid, Dry Sub-Humid, and Humid zone while irrigation waterwas needed to be added to rainfall water in order to achieve the crop water requirements ofthe maize in Semi-Arid zone. Thus, the three (3) zones were more efficient in Maizeproduction.