Agte 322:Soil And Water Management Question Paper
Agte 322:Soil And Water Management
Course:Agriculture
Institution: Kenya Methodist University question papers
Exam Year:2012
KENYA METHODIST UNIVERSITY
END OF 1''st ''TRIMESTER 2012 EXAMINATIONS
FACULTY : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT : AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
UNIT CODE : AGTE 322
UNIT TITLE : SOIL AND WATER MANAGEMENT
TIME : 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS
This paper has two sections: Section I and Section II
Answer all the questions in Section I and only two questions in Section II.
SECTION I (Answer all the questions in this Section)
1. Describe four processes undergone by water drops during a rainstorm. (8 Marks)
2. The amount of run-off from a given rainfall can be estimated by various methods. State any of those methods and give a list of the required parameters and explain how they are used for run-off estimation.
(8 Marks)
3. Describe how evapo-transpiration varies with the stage of growth of a given crop. (8 Marks)
4. Discuss briefly four advantages of lining open canals. (8 Marks)
5. Discuss four conditions in which sprinkler irrigation is more suitable than surface irrigation. (8 Marks)
SECTION II (Answer any two questions in this Section)
6. Mean annual rainfall, arithmetic average, isohyetal method and representative area method are four methods commonly used in the analysis of rainfall data. Consider the data in the table below representing rainfall records for 5 (five) stations on a given catchment area.
Gauging
station Area of Thiessen
Polygon in KM2 Rainfall in Centimeters Precipitation in CM. KM2
A 6,000 21.25
B 5,400 19.00
C 6,125 13.25
D 5,250 10.50
E 5,000 7.50
Discuss briefly two reasons why rainfall data analysis is important before an irrigation method is designed.
(4 Marks)
Calculate the average rainfall for the catchment area using the two most appropriate methods.
(8 Marks)
State with reasons which one of the two methods chosen is likely to give a more representative average.
(3 Marks)
7. Explain how the following factors affect the frequency of irrigation.
Soil Texture
(3 Marks)
Soil Structure
(3 Marks)
Soil Porosity
(3 Marks)
Soil Depth
(3 Marks)
Root Zone
(3 Marks)
8. Discuss how the following factors influence the choice of an irrigation method.
Natural Conditions
(3 Marks)
Type of Crop
(3 Marks)
Farmer’s previous experience with irrigation
(3 Marks)
Required labor inputs
(3 Marks)
Costs and benefits
(3 Marks)
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