Browsing by Author "Ewemoje, T. A."

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Assessing environmental impact of wastes from animal husbandary practices in a tropical environment
(Namik Kemal University, Faculty of Agriculture., 2011) Ewemoje, T. A.; Ewemoje, O. E.
Dumping of decaying wastes from animal pen as soil conditioners and pen wash water for irrigation is a common practice in developing countries. Releasing wastes to land and water may affect biological, chemical and physical properties of soils, plants and water. Hence, this paper assesses pollution effects of untreated animal husbandry wastes in tropical environment. Samplings were done on a daily basis over a 6-weeks period from the University of Ibadan Teaching and Research Farm which had been in operation for over 25-years. Assessing the degree of pollution was performed on the basis of Nitrate, Phosphorous, Potassium and Magnesium measurements in dump yard soil samples with average values ranging 0.38-0.40, 0.54-0.86, 0.16-0.37, and 0.58- 1.05 mg/I respectively. These values are higher than recommended FEPA standard, which makes the wastewater and slurries unsuitable for irrigated farming. Consumption of soluble nitrates and nitrites at this concentration could result to health problems such as methemoglobin. The pH of feacal discharge, wastewater, dump yard Soil being 6.5, 5.8, and 6.2 respectively were acidic. Heavy metals; Manganese and Iron ranged between 191-324 and 1.3-2.3 mg/kg respectively. Presence of heavy metals and trace elements in excess of FEPA/WHO recommended standards makes both feacal discharges and wastewater unsuitable for use as manure. Values of BODs, DO, and Temperature ranged 1350-1420mg/l, 0.55-0.75mg/l, and 27.0-0-33.5°C respectively. Observed high BODs and low DO values at an average temperature of 28-33°C fall short of the WHO water standard for irrigation, this is indicative of high polluting power of the wastewater.
Assessment of pollution effect of direct use of poultry faecal waste in fish ponds
(2006) Ogedengbe, K; Ewemoje, T. A.
The performance of some environmental parameters in fish pond of 1.5ha at the National Institute For Freshwater Fisheries Research (NlFER) in New Bussa, Kainji dam resulting from the direct utilization of fresh poultry faecal waste as fish food was assessed along with three other ponds; South West Pond One (SWP1) using wheat offal, dough, maggot plus some poultry waste as fish feed and South West Pond Two (SWP2) using 100% concentrate, wheat offal and dough as fish feed. A Natural Water Pond (NWP) containing some fishes was also used as control pond along with SWPI and SWP2 to assess the pond at NIFER labeled Northern Pond ( NP). Environmental parameters of water quality in fish pond that are considered important in the assessment study are Dissolved Oxygen (DO); PH Value; Turbidity; Temperature, and 5-day Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5). The temperature range is between 26-35C throughout the assessment work and this correspond with the optimum temperature for warm water fish growth. PH value of the study ponds fall within the excellent range. Also, turbidity in NP and SWP1 are very good thereby promoting effective ecosystem while SWP2 and NWP turbidity values are rather on the high side, hence photosynthesis is slightly affected. Dissolved Oxygen (DO) for the four ponds fall within 5-12 mg/l which is excellent for fish culture in ponds. BOD5 in the ponds is fairly high due to heavy manure loading with the exception of SWP2 which uses only concentrates as feed. NWP sources have the highest BODs value of 3.3 mg/l due to recharge from runoff water. From this assessment work it is evident that the direct utilization of poultry faecal waste as fish feed in fish ponds has great prospects if well monitored.
Best distribution and plotting positions of daily maximum flood estimation at Ona River in Ogun-Oshun River Basin, Nigeria
(International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, 2011) Ewemoje, T. A.; Ewemooje, O. S.
The paper discusses how Normal, Lognormal, and log-Pearson type 3 distributions were investigated as distributions for modelling at-site annual. maximum flood flows using the Hazen, Weibull, and California plotting positions at Ogun-Oshun river basin in Nigeria. All the probability distributions when matched with Weibull plotting position gave similar values near the center of the distribution but varied considerably in the tails. The Weibull plotting position when matched with Normal, Log-normal and Log Pearson Type III probability distributions gave the highest Coefficient of determinations of 0.967, 0.987, and 0.986 respectively. Hazen plotting position gave minimal errors with the RMSE of 6.988, 6.390, and 6.011 for Normal, Log-normal, and Log-Pearson Type III probability distributions respectively. This implies that, predicting statistically using Hazen plotting position, the central tendency of predicted values to deviate from observed flows will be minimal for the period under consideration. Minimum absolute differences of 2.3516 and 0.5763 at 25- and 50-year return periods' were obtained under the Log-Pearson Type III distribution when matched with Weibull plotting position, while an absolute difference of 0.2338 at 100-year return period was obtained under the Log-Pearson Type 1II distribution when matched with California .plotting position. Comparing the probability distributions, Log-Pearson Type III distribution with the least absolute differences for all the plotting positions is the best distribution among the three for Ona River under Ogun-Osun river basin study location.
Comparative evaluation of climatic data observation methods in Ibadan, Nigeria
(Kuwait University, 2010-06) Ewemoje, T. A.; Ewemooje, O. S.
Sustainability of agriculture is dependent upon availability of reliable climatic data for planning. Daily and monthly data were obtained for Ibadan, Nigeria from International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) automatic weather station and Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NMA) manual weather station Two methods were employed to analyse the data. First method (M1) used daily data to generate sets of linear equations. Each equation represents linear relationship between the climate parameter measured at station X (manual) and that same measured at station Y (automatic}. Second method (M2) used monthly values to analyse the data. Accuracy of regression method was analysed by calculating Error Variance (EV) between manual and automatic stations. Errors associated with deviation-based statistics (RMSE) are generally higher than regression-based statistics (EV) for all climate parameters considered. Introduced deviation and correlation based statistics of Mean Squared Deviation (MSD) and its components do not explicitly eliminate error introduced from linearity assumption in regression analysis. Hence, discrepancies have not been adequately explained, but with r < 0.50 in all the climate parameters, the model is weakly correlated with measurement. Analyses have shown that manually observed climate data should not be substituted with automatically observed climate data without correcting data bias/errors prior to usage
Cradle- to-gate life cycle assessment of poultry production system
(2011) Ewemoje, T. A.; Omotosho, O. A.; Abimbola, O. P.
The study assesses environmental impacts of hatchery production processes to point-of-lay and investigates effects of different scenarios on environmental load impacts in the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results. Functional unit of this LCA study is one poultry bird at point of lay and the activities associated within the system boundary. Results obtained showed that total contributions of the egg-point of lay system to global warming was 9.708kg of CO2 equivalents, 11.34 kg of CH4 equivalent, 0.2kg of N02, acidification was 2,713 x10-4kg of SO2 equivalents, 1.948 x 10-3 kg of NH3 equivalents, 2.167 x 10-3 kg of NOx equivalents and energy consumption was computed at 59.79KJ per bird, Hatchery process accounted for the highest consumption of energy of about 543.2J per bird, waste disposal accounted for about 6J per bird, while water pumping process consumed about 16J per bird, while feed production process-required about 46.5Jof energy, The LCA results showed that minimizing energy consumption in the hatchery process is the way forward in reducing environmental impact loads in a poultry system.Scenario analysis showed that using 100% public power supply will reduce the CO2, NOx and SO2 equivalents by 95.56%, 10.64% and 15.58%, while using 50-50% diesel public power supply will reduce CO2, NOx and 502 equivalents by 47.78%, 5.22% and 21.50% respectively.
Design of a gravitational drip irrigation system
(2005-02) Ewemoje, T. A.
The design and cost analysis of gravitational drip irrigation system was carried out in the Department of Agricultural Engineering Faculty of Technology University of Ibadan. This irrigation system was designed to suit farmlands not more than one hectare for small-scale farmers to irrigate vegetable crops. Before the design proper, preliminary studies were carried out and climatological data were collected, which was used to determine the rate of crop evapotranspiration used for the system's design i.e. 4.56mm/day for Ibadan climatic zone. The system has 100 laterals each of which is 50m long with each lateral having pressure-compensating emitters to distribute water and the mainline also 100m long. A model of the gravitational drip irrigation system was designed and tested. The test carried out on the model system shows that it can deliver 2.1-liter/hour of water with an operating head of 0.969m and the overall system's efficiency was found to be 94%. The efficiency of the system coupled with the installation and cost analysis shows that the system can be acquired and maintained by peasant farmers and still performs creditably well, when compared to the conventional drip irrigation system.
Design, construction and performance evaluation of a drip irrigation system
(2004) Ewemoje, T. A.; Adewole, O. A.; Enujowo, O. O.
A gravitational drip irrigation system was designed and constructed using available materials; and tested for the use of small-scale farmers. The system has 4 laterals each 4m long, with each of the laterals having pressure-compensating emitters. This was evaluated based on its efficiency. Tests show that discharge per lateral is 8 1/hr And each of the emitters can deliver 2.1 1/hr with an operating head of 0.97m. The crop water requirement was based on the evapotranspiration rate for Ibadan climatic zone that was given as 5 mm/day. Water conveyance efficiency was 99%; Application efficiency approximates to 94.5% while overall system efficiency was 94.05 %. These results corroborate with Jess (2001) who put the overall efficiency of drip irrigation system at 90 % and above. The total cost of ownership was estimated at N10,030 while the total operating and maintenance cost was N308, as at February 2004.The efficiency of the system coupled with the cost of installation, maintenance and repair show that it is cost effective and viable.
Determination of discharge coefficient of rectangular side weirs
(2001) Ogedengbe, K; Ewemoje, T. A.
The characteristics of flow over side weirs are taken into consideration to verify the discharge coefficient for suberitical flow conditions under the assumption of constant- specific energy. The main channel discharge, length of weir crest and sill height of the weir are treated as controlled variables. The discharge coefficient Cd is found to depend on the upstream Froude No F1 and also on the ratio of sill height to upstream flow depth S/Y1. Simple linear regression analysis was conducted to establish the relationship of Cd with both F1 and S/Y1 taken separately while multiple regression analysis was conducted to establish the relationship of Cd with both F1 and S/Y1 taken together. Cd decreases with increase in F1 while Cd increases with increase in S/Y1 ratio when taken separately. When taken together, it was clearly evident that variation in Cd was largely due to S/Y1 ratio while the effect of F1 was relatively negligible.
The development and evaluation of a flat-type wooden incubator
(School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology (SAAT), Federal University of Technology, Akure, 1998) Ewemoje, T. A.; Olorunnisola, A. O.
"A flat-type, 60-egg capacity incubator was designed, constructed and tested. The incubator differs from existing designs in that the cabinet was made from a 3-ply, 4mm thick interior grade plywood to reduce cost and at the same time enhance heat insulation. Also, two domestic kerosene lanterns were provided to supplement heat generation by three 40 W electric bulbs during electricity outages as commonly experienced in Nigeria.When tested with 30 eggs of a commonly sold chicken breed, incubated at average temperature of 38° C and relatively humidity of 58%, the chicks were hatched within 20 days. Relatively high percentages of fertility and hatchability of 86.2% and 76% respectively, as well as a relatively low chick mortality rate of 18.5% were recorded. "
Evaluation of three methods for estimating leaf area index of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)
(Kuwait University, Faculty of Engineering and Petroleum, 2011-03) Ewemoje, T. A.; Raji, A. O.
Leaf Area Index (LAI) is a concept that cuts across agricultural sciences and agricultural engineering with an encapsulating feature in environmental engineering. It is one of the most difficult to quantify properly owing to large spatial and temporal variability. This paper discusses briefly LAI and the use of three methods which are non-destructive in determination of its value for cowpea, namely: the empirical formulae, the graphical and the image processing methods. Cowpea seeds were planted and samples were marked for determination of LAI by the three methods. The results showed that image processing as a more accurate and promising method compared to the other two
Groundwater recharge estimation from modified soil moisture balance approach at the University Of Ibadan, lbadan, Nigeria.
(2006) Ewemoje, T. A.; Oluwalogbon, D. O.
Amount of water that may be extracted from an aquifer without depletion is primarily dependent on recharge. Thus, a quantitative evaluation of spatial and temporal groundwater recharge distribution is a pre-requisite for operating groundwater resource system in an optimal manner. A step-by step procedure of National Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) was used to estimate groundwater recharge based upon modified soil moisture balance approach at the University of Ibadan which covers about 1032 hectares of land. The methodology incorporates the theory of NRCS method of finding storage index. Water recharges were highest in sandy clay loam (59.0% Sand, 11.4% Silt, 29.6% Clay) between 113.1-122.5cm/hr, followed by sandy clay (58.1% sand, 8.9% silt, 33.0% clay) with values between 41.6- 55.3cm/hr and sandy clay (56.8% sand, 7.5% silt, 35.7% clay) between 38.4-47.9cm/hr. This methodology gives better estimates of groundwater recharge because it takes into consideration climatic data, land use pattern and soil properties of study location. However, conventional methods of precipitation minus evapotranspiration minus runoff, is subjective to measurement errors and the method of calculating groundwater recharge by multiplying a constant specific yield value by the water table rise over a certain time interval may also be erroneous, especially in shallow aquifers.
Hatchery production optimisation using Monte Carlo approach
(2012) Ewemoje, T. A.; Ewemooje, O. S.
Optimization of hatchery production processes was carried out using the Monte Carlo method. In the economics of engineering, decisions with the objective of the investor identifying an optimum solution. An investor chooses his or her optimal solution from the set of scenarios that offer maximum expected return for varying levels of risk. Outcomes associated with these random numbers are then analysed to determine the likely results and the associated risks. Taking a major day old hatchery as a case study, data were obtained from the daily production spreadsheet for a period of six years (2003-2008). Excel spreadsheet was used in simulating 6,631 iterations for each day old chick production quantity. Hatching 45000 fertile eggs always yields the largest expected profit when compared with the profit margin of hatching 5000, 15000, 25000 or 35000 fertile eggs. Therefore it appears as if hatching 45000 fertile eggs is the optimum production decision. Producing below the optimum production quantity, the mean profit obtained is very much lowered compared to the mean profit of the optimum 45000 production quantity. Also, production risks are higher below the optimum 45000 production quantity. This situation implies underutilization of the hatchery production system.
Life cycle assessment of point-of-lay birds to frozen chicken production in Southwestern Nigeria
(2011) Ewemoje, T. A.; |Abimbola, O. P.; Omotosho, O. A.
Modelling and simulation of ephemeral streamflow in Ibadan, Nigera
(Faculty of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo Uniersity, Ile-Ife, 2008-05) Ewemoje, T. A.; Sangodoyin, Y.
" Flow variability of ephemeral rivers due to spatial and temporal distribution of rain fall and unregulated exploitation of water resources is a major cause of severe water supply shortages. With appropriate conservation planning of surface waste resources through hydrological modeling, timing of extraction of large volume without adverse effects on downstream requirement can be predicted. This study attempts to develop water balance components for evaluating flow characteristics essential for conservation planning of ephemeral streams. Daily meteorological data spanning 1973-2006, obtained from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan weather station were used in developing predominant water balance model components of Ona Stream. Daily infiltration values were obtained using Crawford and Linsley’s model and interflow based on soil moisture levels. Data were statistically analyzed and developed models validated using 10 years meteorological data. Analyses showed that 93.4, 91.5 and 55.0 % variability in runoff was due to precipitation, groundwater storage and interflow respectively. Precipitation, interflow and groundwater storage were significant while evapotranspiration was insignificant (P.0.05) for runoff prediction. The water balance models simulated acceptable hydrologic processes such as interflow and groundwater storage which are generally difficult to measure directly. The R2 values obtained from validation range from 0.79 to 0.99. The water balance model thus improved the reliability of streamflow computation and other flow characteristics of the ephemeral Ona stream. It would appear that the ephemeral streamflow investigated depended more on the magnitude of precipitation interflow and groundwater flow while evapotranspiration (a major source of water loss in hydrologic water balance model) has relatively little effect on streamflow characteristics."
Modelling interconnectedness of subsurface flow processes from a simple conceptual infiltration model
(University of Ghana, 2009) Ewemoje, T. A.; Sangodoyin, A. Y.
"The study determined subsurface flow processes of 92.3 ha catchment area in order to examine functional relationship among the surface and subsurface flow variables from the water balance components data. Days without rainfall had zero infiltration while peak values of infiltrated water corresponded with peak rainfall. However, the Crawford and Linsley infiltration model was deficient by its inability to distinguish between days of zero rainfall and days when rainfall was less than 1.0 mm. Interflow occurred continuously even when there was no rainfall. This was shown to be responsible for the stream flows on dry days. Hence, total subsurface flows, a combination of interflow and groundwater flow, had the two components contributing to stream flow on days with rainfall. On days without rainfall, the interflow component was the only contributor to subsurface flows."
On the adequacy of evapotranspiration estimate using Priestly-Taylor's approach
(2006) Ewemoje, T. A.; Sangodoyin, A. Y.
The measurement of potential evapotranspiration ET 0 using Priestly – Taylor (P-T) formula in humid tropical region was carried out at Shasha along Ojoo- Moniya road, Akinyele Local Government in the Ibadan Metropolitan Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. The difficulty and limitations of obtaining weather and vegetation input data in most of the evapotranspiration (ET) empirical formula are overcame in the P-T equation that is based more on physical parameters than being purely empirical. ET 0 estimation of the study location was evaluated for two months using 1973 - 2002 daily climatological data obtained from a nearby weather station. The P-T method gave poor R2 values of 0.056 and 0.167 for July and August 2004. However, an adjusted P-T model values gave R2 values of 0.949 and 0.986 respectively. Validating the adjusted P- T model using year 2000 daily weather data of the study location for July and August gave R2 values of 0.905 and 0.915. The P-T; model efficiency in computing evapotranspiration was 62.3% for July and 49.2% for August. The findings indicate that the adjusted P-T model is a good method of ET0 estimation in the humid tropics where there is dearth of input data, and even when available, the data are usually expensive to obtain for research purposes.
Optimum soil conditioning for Celosia Argentea propagation subjected to irrigation scheduling
(2008) Ewemoje, T. A.; Majekodunmi, J. O.
Celosia argentea was planted on Agricultural and Environmental Engineering Department experimental field. The field was divided into nine plots of three different soil nutrient conditions (organic, inorganic, and control), labelled A1, A2, A3; B1, B2, B3; C1, C2, C3, respectively Plant growth parameters were measured and analyzed weekly starting from the third Week After Planting (WAP) to the sixth WAP when the crop was harvested. Growth parameters included height, stern girth, leaf area, and number of leaves. Maximum crop evapotranspiration rate based on Penman Montieth evapotranspiration equation were obtained using a CROPWAT 4 Windows Version 4.3 Software and subsequently, the irrigation amount required per day was determined. Measured data were analyzed statistically using the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) option of the Statistical Analysis System (SAS), Version 7.03. The results are presented in tables while the Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) was used to separate the means based on their significant differences in order to determine the effects of variable water application rates and different nutrient conditions on growth parameters. It was concluded that Celosia argentea thrives better on soil with high content of organic matter, which retained more water than the inorganic soil nutrient condition and the control with no soil conditioning. Hence, under high economic pressure due to high poverty level in developing countries, application of organic fertilizer which is relatively cheaper than the inorganic chemical fertilizer can help maximize production with positive net returns and reduce environmental pollution from organic wastes produced mainly from agricultural industry
Partial root zone drying application in the propagation of vegetable in Northern Nigeria
(Trans Tech Publications, Swizerland, 2012) Abimbola, O. P.; Ewemoje, T. A.
"This study compares the response of Amaranthus candatus vegetable to root-to-shoot signals of soil drying and assesses applicability of the use of partial root zone drying (PRD) technique in increasing water-use efficiency. From a completely block randomized design, seeds were grown on three plots with each having three replicates. Three treatments were compared: half of the root system watered and half droughted by delivering 50% less crop water requirement (CWR) per irrigation depicted as 50%PRD; both halves of the root system received water application of 50% less crop water requirement per irrigation (50%CWR); while in the control treatment, both halves received 100% crop water requirement (100%CWR). The wetted and dried sides of the root system of 50%PRD were alternated on a 7-day cycle throughout experimental period. Effects of the differences in water-use on growth parameters, such as plant height, stem girth; number of leaves and leaf area were examined. Weights at harvest and root-to-shoot ratios were also compared. Drying half of the root system caused marked declines in all growth parameters in 50%CWR but only slight declines in 50%PRD. Since the main effect of water stress on Amaranthus is yield reduction, achieving better yields requires an optimum water supply from planting until ripening. Average edible wet weights (yields) of the 50%PRD and 50%CWR water applications when compared with the control were 81% and 25% respectively. The higher yield in 50%PRD may be attributed to high stomata sensitivity to drought signaling, as indicated by relatively low root to shoot ratio of 0.33. This lower ratio for 50%PRD treatment, compared to 50%CWR and 100%CWR with 0.40 and 0.66 values, was an indication of healthier and more profitable plants in 50%PRD because the decrease came from a greater shoot size."
Performance evaluation of drip irrigation and fertigation system for sweet maize and telfairia occidentalis
(Trans Tech Publications, Swizerland, 2007) Afolayan, S. O.; Ewemoje, T. A.; Lateef, S. A.; Ajayi, E.
Studies were conducted to evaluate the performance of drip irrigation and fertigation system on the yields of sweet maize and telfairia occidentalis. Three treatments: watering once per week (6.38 litres) (WI), twice (11.66 litres) (W2) and thrice (17.16 litrcs) (W3) were applied to sweet maize. Four treatments: 12 litres (WI), 15 litres (W2) 17.0 litres (W3), 22.05 litres (W4) and four fertigation levels: 54.6kg/ha (F1); 68.06kg/ha (F2); 81.92kg/ha (F3) and 95.39kg/ha (F4) were applied to telfairia occidentalis. Growth and yield of the crops were monitored. W2 was optimum for sweet maize cultivation while (F2W2) was recommended for telfairia occidentalis.
Performance evaluation of drip irrigation system using sweet corn under variable water application
(2006) Ewemoje, T. A.; Lateef, S. A.; Afolayan, S. O.
Gravitational drip irrigation system was developed using available materials. The system consisting of 4.0 1/hr Netafim pressure-compensating emitters was used to irrigate 0.0015 ha of land where sweet corn was planted under variable water applications in a randomised complete block design with three treatments. Treatment one (W1) received water once per week, treatment two (W2) received water twice per week, while third treatment (W3) received water thrice per week. W1 received 229mm per emitter; W2 received 437mm per emitter, while 653mm per emitter was applied to W3 throuqhout the experimentation period. Total biomass yield including bulk weight, stem weight, root weight and cob yield were determined using top loading digital weighing balance. Results obtained which were subjected to statistical analysis at 5% significant level show that there were significant differences in the crop growth, biomass and cob yield. Watering thrice per week resulted in the highest leaf area, plant height, root depth and weight. However, watering twice per week provided the highest fresh weight and cob yield. The trend in biomass yield showed that W2 performed better. Watering twice per week appeared optimum for cultivation of sweet corn during water scarce season in Ibadan, Nigeria.