Determination of Significant Factor and T -Statistics of soil moisture and temperature for effective irrigation management

Abstract

A study was conducted at the Experimental farm of the Department of Agricultural and Bio-environmental Engineering, Yaba College of Technology, Epe Campus Nigeria which lies on latitude 60. 58’ N, and longitude 30. 96’E. Tomato crop (Eva F1 variety developed in the Teaching Research Farm) was used due to its advantage over other species. Therm 500 Digital soil thermometer was used to measure soil temperature, soil moisture, and pH level. The readings were taken at three different depths of 20 cm, 40 cm, and 60 cm respectively based on the root depth of tomatoes which is 60 cm. Data were analyzed using two different statistical software of Microsoft Excel and XL Compare analytical tools. Microsoft Excel was used to analyze the soil moisture and temperature raw data generated for the different depths of 20 cm, 40 cm, and 60 cm for sixty days. XL Compare statistical tool was used to carry out a comparative analysis between soil moisture and temperature data. The finding indicated that soil temperature increases with a decrease in soil moisture content, and they were significantly different at p = 0.02. The significant factor of soil temperature was greater than that of soil moisture which means that more attention is to be paid to soil temperature in irrigation management as this will enable curb or reduce the incident of crop failure due to soil heat influx