Arid Zone Journal of Engineering, Technology and Environment, March, 2018; Vol.

14(1):143-152
Copyright © Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Print ISSN: 1596-2490, Electronic ISSN: 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

ESTIMATION OF WATER NEEDS OF SWEET POTATO (IPOMEA BATATA)

USING THE PENMAN-MONTEITH MODEL IN ABEOKUTA, SOUTHWESTERN
NIGERIA

O. T. Opafola1*, A. O. David2, N. S. Lawal3 and A.A. Babalola4

*1,2
Department of Civil Engineering, Olabisi Onabanjo University, P.M.B. 5026, Ibogun Campus, Ifo,
Ogun State, Nigeria.
3,4
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Olabisi Onabanjo University, P.M.B. 5026, Ibogun Campus, Ifo,
Ogun State, Nigeria.
*Corresponding Author’s e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract
Adequate knowledge of crop water needs is required for effective water management and application
in Abeokuta, a typical sub humid part of southwestern Nigeria. This research was carried out to
determine the crop water requirements, rainfall intensity and irrigation water requirements of sweet
potato for agricultural activities in Abeokuta. The estimation of water needs of sweet potato was
based on twenty-one years meteorological data. The meteorological data collected were used for the
estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ETo) using Penman – Monteith model. The results
obtained showed that the Monthly reference evapotranspiration (ET o) varied from 96.90 to 165.23
mm/month with a mean of 131.58 mm/month. The seasonal crop evapotranspiration (ETc) values for
early and late season sweet potato are 338.37 mm and 468.03 mm respectively. The rainfall intensity
of the study area varied from 0.20 – 8.56 mm/hr with mean of 4.22 mm/hr. The study showed that the
study area has low rainfall intensity values. However, this will promote steady infiltration of rainwater
into the soil hereby giving the soil adequate moisture content needed by the crop to attain its optimum
growth yield. The Irrigation water requirement was 22.80 mm and 473.87 mm for early and late
season respectively. To achieve optimum crop performance and production of quality yield sweet
potato in Abeokuta, supplementary irrigation is necessary during the early and late growing seasons of
the crop.

Keywords: Evapotranspiration, Irrigation water requirement, Penman-Monteith, Rainfall-

Intensity, Sweet Potato

1. Introduction
Sweet potato yield more and better quality roots on a well-drained, light, sandy loam or silt
loam soil while Rich, heavy soils produce high yields of low quality roots and extremely
poor, light sandy soils generally produce low yields of high quality roots (Motes and
Criswell, 2010). High yield and good quality of sweet potato depends on the availability of
water in the soil, quality of the seed stock, soil characteristics, temperature and other
environmental factors. Sweet potatoes are considered moderately tolerant to drought
conditions due to their low plant growth habit and extensive root system (Hammett et al.,
1982). Studies have shown that irrigation practice aided the increase of sweet potato yield
grown at several locations (Chukwu and Igboekwe, 2001; Attoe and Odey, 2012). However,
excessive irrigation should be avoided because poor soil aeration may cause poor storage root
induction or development (Chua and Kays, 1981). Availability of essential nutrients is
influenced by soil pH through its effect on Aluminum saturation percentage and on nutrient
fixation and release mechanisms (Eteng and Nwagbara, 2014).
Crop evapotranspiration (ETc) refers to the conditions when water is adequate for unrestricted
growth and development (Allen et al., 1998). It’s also referred to as water requirements in
mm/day or mm/month. For the determination of water consumption, or of crop
evapotranspiration (ETc), it is necessary to know the crop coefficients (Kc), which are
influenced by the developmental stages and the physiological attributes of the plant (albedo,
aerodynamic properties, height, resistance of vegetative canopy), and also by atmospheric

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ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng

conditions which affect the evaporation of water from the soil. As recommended by Food and
Agricultural Organization (FAO) (Allen et al., 1998). Penman – Monteith (FAO-56 PM)
method is the most general and widely used model for estimating reference
evapotranspiration (ETo).
Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is defined as the rate of evaporation of an extended
surface of 8 to 15cm tall green grass cover actively growing completely shading the ground
and not short of water (Iren and Osodeke, 2006). This model takes into consideration several
climatic parameters such as relative humidy, solar radiation, air temperature and wind speed.
Evapotranspiration is one of the key processes in the hydrological cycle and it is the loss of
water to the atmosphere by the combined processes of evaporation from the soil and plant
surface and transpiration from plants (Allen et al., 1998). Broner and Schneekloth (2003)
reported that knowing seasonal crop water requirements is crucial for planning your crop
planting mixture especially during drought years. Efficient water management requires an
accurate ETo which can be derived from the meteorological variables. ETo is always the
important research subjects on hydrology, soil, agriculture, meteorology; ETo also has
important applications in water resources in arid areas, regional planning and management of
agricultural production (Price, 1984; Bastiaanssen, 2000). In the analysis of rainfall with
respect to crop water requirement, variables such as space, intensity, duration and frequency
are vital for comprehensive spatial rainfall analysis.
The precipitation deficit of the study had led to low yield and poor quality of sweet potato
production. However, this could be mitigated through the application of irrigation.
Hence, the objectives of this study were to determine the (i) crop water requirement of sweet
potato (ii) rainfall-intensity of the study area and (iii) irrigation water requirements of sweet
potato for sustainable agricultural activities in Abeokuta.

2 Materials and Methods

2.1 Study area
The study area is within Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State located in the southwestern part
of Nigeria in the derived Savannah region of the country and falls within latitude 7 ° 10´ N and
7° 15´ N and longitudes 3° 17´ E and 3° 26´ E. It has an average elevation of 74 m above sea
level. Abeokuta lies in the plane which is developed on rocks of the basement complex found
in the Savannah zone. It covers an approximate area of 40.63 km2. Abeokuta is drained by
River Ogun. The region is characterized by relatively high temperature with mean annual air
temperature and rainfall of about 30°C and 1238 mm respectively.

2.2 Methods
The study was based on 21 year (1990 -2010) meteorological data collected from the Nigeria
Meteorological Agency, Oshodi (NIMET). The meteorological data collected were used for
estimating the reference evapotranspiration (ETo) using Penman – Monteith model. Early
season fresh vine tips of about 0.20 - 0.25 m with 4 - 5 nodes, each were planted as described
by Etela and Kalio, (2011) on 1st of May, 2015 and harvested on the 23rd of August, 2015
while the late season cultivation was planted on 1st November and harvested on the 23 rd of
February, 2016.

2.2.1 Crop water requirement

The crop water requirement of sweet potato was determined using total growth period of
115days. The growth periods were separated into initial, crop development, mid-season, late
season stages of 25, 30, 30 and 30 days respectively. The estimation of crop
evapotranspiration (ETc) involves computation of Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) and
crop coefficient (Kc) with respect to its corresponding stage of development.

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Opafola, et al.: Estimation of water needs of sweet potato (Ipomea batata) using the Penman-
Monteith model in Abeokuta, South-western Nigeria AZOJETE, 14(1):143-152. ISSN 1596-2490;
e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

2.2.2 Estimation of Reference Evapotranspiration

The reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was estimated by FAO Penman-Monteith model
through the use of CROPWAT 8.0 software.

( ) ( )
…. …. … (1)
( )

Where; ETo = reference evapotranspiration [mm day-1], Rn = net radiation at the crop surface
[MJ m-2day -1], G = soil heat flux density [MJ m-2 day-1], T = mean daily air temperature at 2
m height [°C], u2 = wind speed at 2 m height [ms-1], es =saturation vapour pressure [kPa], ea
= actual vapour pressure [kPa],
es - ea = saturation vapour pressure deficit [kPa], D = slope vapour pressure curve [kPa °C -1],
= psychrometric constant [kPa°C-1].p

2.2.3 Estimation of Crop Coefficient (Kc)

Crop coefficients of 0.45, 0.75, 1.15 and 0.85 (Brouwer and Herbloem, 1986) were used for
the initial, crop development, mid-season and late season stages respectively. The Kc values
at each of the growth stage were converted to monthly Kc as shown in equation 2:

…. …. …. …. …. (2)
Where,
Kc is crop coefficient
N is Number of days the growth stage lasted and each month was assumed to have 30 days.

2.2.4 Estimation of Crop Evapotranspiration (ETc)

Crop evapotranspiration (ETc) was determined as:

…. …. …. …. (3)

Where; ETc = Crop evapotranspiration; ETo = Reference evapotranspiration; Kc = crop

coefficient

2.2.5 Rainfall Analysis

It is computed from rainfall records by determining the accumulation of rain for a selected
time interval:

( ) …. …. …. …. (4)
Where;
p1 and p2 are the accumulated precipitation.
t2 – t1 is the duration of precipitation.
The rainfall intensity, exceedence probability and return period was estimated using formula
given below (Uzoigwe et al., 2012);

( )
( )
… … … (5a)
( )
… … … (5b)
Where X = Mean of rainfall intensity, I = Rainfall intensity and n = number of occurrence

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ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng

( ) … …. … (5c)

… … … (5d)
Where p is exceedance probability, I is intensity and T is return period

2.2.6 Estimation of Irrigation Requirement

This was calculated as the difference between ETcrop and Effective Rainfall (ER) using the
formula of (Brouwer and Herbloem, 1986). Effective Rainfall (ER) was calculated as
follows:

…. …. …. …. (6)

Where; ER = Effective rainfall; R = Monthly rainfall

…. …. …. …. (7)
Where; IR = Irrigation requirement; ETc = Crop evapotranspiration

3. Results and Discussion

Table 1 presents the 21 years (1990 – 2010) meteorological data of Abeokuta. From the
Table, the mean rainfall of the study area is 101.18 mm. The highest rainfall amount was
recorded in the month of July with (205.40 mm), while the highest mean temperature was
recorded in month of March with (30.54 °C). The sunshine duration varied from 2.45 to 6.10
hr/day, while the mean solar radiation was 15.9 MJ/m2/day. Daily reference
evapotranspiration (ETo) varied from 3.13 to 5.60 mm/day with a mean of 4.34 mm/day,
while the monthly reference evapotranspiration (ETo) varied from 96.90 to 165.23 mm/month
with a mean of 131.58 mm/month. The ETo values were higher in the drier months of
December, January, February, March and April but lower in the wetter months of July,
August and September.
Table 3 highlights the estimated crop evapotranspiration (ETc) for early and late season sweet
potato. Table 4 displays the crop evapotranspiration (ETc), effective rainfall (ER) and
Irrigation requirement (IR) for the early and late season sweet potato. Table 2 shows the
estimation of rainfall-intensity of the study area. From the Table, the rainfall varied from 4.77
– 205.4 mm. The rainfall intensity of the study area varied from 0.20 – 8.56 mm/hr with the
mean of 4.2 2 mm/hr. Figure 1 shows the monthly rainfall record in Abeokuta. From figure 1,
the highest rainfall was recorded in the month of July, while the lowest was recorded in the
month of January. Figure 2 highlights the daily reference evapotranspiration record for each
month of the year. From figure 2, the highest daily ETo was recorded in the month of
February, while the lowest was recorded in the month of August. Figure 3 shows the curve of
rainfall intensity-return period constructed from the values shown in Table 2, the curve
displays an incremental progression pattern with respect to the values of rainfall intensity and
return period.

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Opafola, et al.: Estimation of water needs of sweet potato (Ipomea batata) using the Penman-Monteith model in Abeokuta, South-western Nigeria
AZOJETE, 14(1):143-152. ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

Table 1: Mean of 21 Years (1990 to 2010) climatic data of Abeokuta

Max Min Mean Wind Max. Min. Mean Solar
Rainfall Sunshine ETo ETo
Month Temp Temp Temp speed RH RH RH Radiation
(mm/month) (hours) mm/day mm/month
(°C) (°C) (°C) (m/s) (%) (%) (%) MJ/m2/day
Jan 4.77 34.48 22.96 28.03 2.55 70.29 42.29 56.29 5.13 15.60 4.83 149.63
Feb 25.70 36.27 24.70 30.49 3.00 73.29 41.57 57.43 5.15 16.70 5.60 156.78
Mar 52.66 35.65 24.41 30.54 2.86 78.24 51.76 65.00 5.24 17.50 5.33 165.23
Apr 129.27 34.16 24.60 29.38 2.89 81.29 61.24 71.27 5.15 17.40 4.86 145.89
May 146.92 32.46 24.07 28.28 2.52 82.33 68.33 75.33 5.55 17.50 4.41 136.73
Jun 188.66 31.00 23.52 27.26 2.41 85.14 73.70 79.42 4.25 15.20 3.73 112.02
Jul 205.40 29.69 23.00 26.35 2.41 87.43 76.67 82.05 3.15 13.70 3.29 102.00
Aug 105.71 28.80 22.78 25.79 2.41 87.67 76.43 82.05 2.45 13.00 3.13 96.90
Sep 202.91 30.10 23.13 26.62 2.36 86.86 73.71 80.29 3.00 13.90 3.38 101.26
Oct 125.70 31.90 23.62 28.64 2.37 85.38 67.62 76.50 5.80 17.70 4.26 131.93
Nov 16.33 33.62 23.65 28.64 2.37 82.76 54.10 68.43 6.10 17.20 4.55 136.47
Dec 10.13 34.16 23.82 28.99 2.40 75.81 48.91 62.36 5.60 15.90 4.65 144.14
Total 1214.16 392.29 284.26 339.01 30.55 976.49 736.33 856.41 56.57 191.30 52.02 1578.98
Mean 101.18 32.69 23.69 28.25 2.55 81.37 61.36 71.37 4.71 15.90 4.34 131.58
Key: ETo = Reference crop evapotranspiration; Max = maximum; Min = minimum; Temp = Temperature; RH = Relative humidy

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Table 2: Estimation of Rainfall-Intensity of the Study Area

Rainfall Intensity Exceedance Return
Rank Daily Rainfall (mm)
(mm/hr) Probability period
1 205.40 8.56 0.09 11.26
2 202.91 8.46 0.09 10.63
3 188.66 7.86 0.13 7.79
4 146.92 6.12 0.28 3.64
5 129.27 5.39 0.36 2.82
6 125.70 5.24 0.37 2.68
7 105.71 4.41 0.47 2.11
8 52.66 2.19 - -
9 25.70 1.07 - -
10 16.33 0.68 - -
11 10.13 0.42 - -
12 4.77 0.20 - -
Mean 4.22
Standard Dev. 3.21
Skewness 0.04
Alpha 2138.76
Beta 0.07
Gamma -144.14

Figure 1: Monthly rainfall record of the study area

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Opafola, et al.: Estimation of water needs of sweet potato (Ipomea batata) using the Penman-
Monteith model in Abeokuta, South-western Nigeria AZOJETE, 14(1):143-152. ISSN 1596-2490;
e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

180

Reference Evapotranspiration (ETo)

160
140
120
100
80
ETo
60
40
20
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Month of the Year

Figure 2: Reference evapotranspiration trends of the study area

Figure 3: Rainfall intensity-return period curve

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ISSN 1596-2490; e-ISSN 2545-5818; www.azojete.com.ng

Crop evapotranspiration for early and late season sweet potato

The crop coefficient (Kc) values for different growth stages were adjusted using equation (2)
Kc values were 0.40, 0.75, 1.15 and 0.85 for May, June, July and August respectively for the
early season sweet potato and 0.40, 0.75, 1.15 and 0.85 for November, December, January
and February respectively for the late season sweet potato (Table 3). The seasonal crop
evapotranspiration (ETc) values for early and late season sweet potato are 338.37 mm and
468.03 mm respectively. The wide range between the seasonal ETc values could be due to the
differences in the reference evapotranspiration ensuing from the variation in climatic
conditions for evapotranspiration.

Table 3: Estimation of crop evapotranspiration for early and late season sweet potato.
Months ETo (mm/month) Kc ETc (mm/month)
Early season Sweet Potato
May 136.73 0.40 54.69
June 112.02 0.75 84.02
July 102.00 1.15 117.30
August 96.90 0.85 82.37
Seasonal Values 447.65 3.15 338.37

Late season Sweet Potato

November 136.47 0.40 54.59
December 144.14 0.75 108.11
January 149.63 1.15 172.07
February 156.78 0.85 133.26
Seasonal Values 587.02 3.15 468.03

Table 4: Estimation of crop evapotranspiration, effective rainfall and irrigation water

requirement of sweet potato
Months ETc (mm/month) ER (mm) Irrigation water requirement (IR)
Early season Sweet Potato
May 54.69 92.54 0.00
June 84.02 125.93 0.00
July 117.30 139.32 0.00
August 82.37 59.57 22.80
Seasonal Values 338.37 417.35 22.80

Late season Sweet Potato

November 54.59 -0.20 54.79
December 108.11 -3.92 112.03
January 172.07 -7.14 179.21
February 133.26 5.42 127.84
Seasonal Values 468.03 -5.84 473.87

Effective rainfall and irrigation water requirement of early and late sweet potato
Table 4 displays the crop evapotranspiration (ETc), effective rainfall (ER) and Irrigation
requirement (IR) for the early and late season sweet potato. From the table, effective rainfall
for early season was 417.35 mm, while that of late season was -5.84 mm. Irrigation water
requirement was 22.80 mm and 473.87 mm for early and late season respectively. During the
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Opafola, et al.: Estimation of water needs of sweet potato (Ipomea batata) using the Penman-
Monteith model in Abeokuta, South-western Nigeria AZOJETE, 14(1):143-152. ISSN 1596-2490;
e-ISSN 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng

early season growing period, effective rainfall was higher than the crop water need (ETc) of
sweet potato throughout the growth period expect for the month of August with IR of 22.80
mm which coincides with the late season stage. This suggests that irrigation supplement was
required during the late season stage of sweet potato to meet its crop water demand.
Conversely, effective rainfall (ER) was lower than the crop water need (ETc) throughout the
growth period of late season sweet potato cultivation. However, supplemental irrigation
during the entire growth stages of late season sweet potato will be required to meet the
optimum yield goals of the farmer. Seasonal water need and peak water use rates are directly
related to yield goal. High-yield goals have a high water demand. A water supply that
restricts either the seasonal amount or rate of application limits the potential yield (Attoe and
Odey, 2012).

4. Conclusion
The rate of evapotranspiration from plants and soil depend on various climatic conditions.
Optimum yield of a crop is dependent on adequate water need and sufficient nutrients. High
intensity rainfall has a negative impact on the soil surface due to the gravitational force of
water droplets. The rainfall analysis showed that the study area is characterized with low
rainfall intensity with a mean value of 4.22 mm/hr. Consequently, this will enhance steady
infiltration of rainwater into the soil hereby giving the soil adequate moisture content needed
by the crop to attain its optimum growth yield. Effective rainfall (ER) was lower than the
crop water need (ETc) throughout the late season growth stages of late season sweet potato
cultivation. In the early season, ER was lower than ETc only in the late season growth stage.
However, supplemental irrigation is necessary during the growth stages where crop water
need is greater than effective rainfall. The inadequate rainfall recorded during the late season
growth stages could result to low yield and poor quality of sweet potato production.
However, this could be mitigated through the artificial application of water to the crop also
known as irrigation hence enhancing the yield and performance of the crop.

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