DETERMINATION OF WATER REQUIREMENTS FOR IRRIGATING HIBISCUS (ROSA SINENSIS) IN MAIDUGURI METROPOLIS

Crop water requirements are essential for any water conservation study in crop production. This is particularly important in arid and semi-arid regions where water is increasingly becoming scarce. In this study, theoretical Landscape water requirements for hibiscus (Rosa sinensis) irrigated in Maiduguri metropolis which experiences rainfall only from July to September annually were determined. In order to obtain the landscape water requirement, computations of reference evapotranspiration (ETo), Landscape evapotranspiration (ETL) and Landscape Area (LA) were done using appropriate equations in the Penman-Monteith formula and CROPWAT 8.0 software. Assumptions of factor for the plant species (Ks), microclimate factor (Kmc), plant density (Kd), spacing from standard WUCOLS values and using climatic data from Nigerian Meteorological (NIMET) centre, Maiduguri, Nigeria were also considered. The highest evapotranspiration and water requirements of 6.59 mm.day-1 and 1.19 L.day-1 were obtained in May while the lowest of 3.65 mm.day-1 and 0.66 L.day-1 in December respectively.